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 He noted that the agricultural sector remains the backbone of the economy, and despite a decline in prices, the trend is still bright as consumption will continue growing.

 Farmers have launched protests against the sharp decline in commodity products mainly rice, corn and para rubber.

 The Cabinet on Tuesday approved the pledging programme for rice and corn, while the Commerce Ministry is assigned to find measures to lower the production costs. Production costs have been increasing, mainly due to the higher prices of fertilisers and feedmeal.

 Farmers in Chiang Mai just dispersed on Wednesday, after the Cabinet approved the corn pledging scheme. Sanguan Nipuna, the protesters' leader, said the scheme is temporary, running until February 2009. He expected farmers to witness another problem in the next harvest season and called for the government's long-term measures. He noted that corn imports have been rising due to free-trade agreements, while Thai farmers suffer from higher fertiliser prices. 

 Para rubber price in the past two weeks have dropped by Bt5-10 per kg, to Bt30-Bt35 against nearly Bt100 in June 2006. Natural rubber prices have been pulled down in tandem with the price of synthetic rubber prices, following lower demand in the vehicle market.

 Yala official Phasan Limpataphan said that some farmers are seeking new careers, to compensate a revenue drop at times when expenses are heading up.