Bamboo boom anticipated
The Agricultural Land Reform Office will launch a pilot project to encourage farmers to grow more bamboo to support toothpick and chopstick exports.
The office said it would use 200 rai of land to grow a type of bamboo that can be used to make toothpicks and chopsticks. Total exports of the two products reached 6,000 tonnes worth Bt500 million last year, it said. Major export markets include Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the US, the UK and the Netherlands, said Anant Phoositthikul, secretary-general of the office. The market for the two products is expected to grow thanks to the higher quality of Thai products compared with rivals, particularly those from China. Growing more bamboo will also reduce environmental problems caused by farmers removing it from forests, Anant said. "The project will return moisture to the environment and develop other value-added goods from bamboo. The farmers will reach the break even point in five years," he said. It costs farmers about Bt1,000 per rai to grow bamboo. Anant said the office would also provide support for farmers to breed 400 cows in the bamboo-growing area. Moreover, it will also support the development of 300 fish farms. These programmes will reduce household spending in the area by Bt5,000 per house in the bamboo-growing area each year, he said. One area targeted for promoting bamboo farms is Phrae where there are 11 toothpick and chopstick manufacturers.
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