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On Thursday, Commerce Minister Porntiva Nakasai implied that the government might introduce rice pledging to shore up prices in the short term. She instructed the ministry's permanent secretary to look at ways to shore up the grain's prices, but added later that she favoured the option of taking rice from farmers at the pledged price of more than Bt10,000 per tonne.

Ironically, her initiative was not welcomed by traders, who see the rice-pledging programme as a waste of money, especially since it is unlikely to keep the price of rice high enough in the long run. Besides, the rice-pledging programme has always been controversial, because it has enough loopholes for people involved to benefit at the expense of taxpayers' money.

Of course, rice has been Thailand's main agricultural product. Rice farming is the occupation of millions of Thais, and it is these millions that every political party needs to woo. However, the government should think of measures that boost farmers' competitiveness instead of launching populist programmes every time the prices drop.

Thai rice exports are no longer competitive in the world market because domestic rice-pledging programmes have pushed prices up to an unrealistic level. The previous government decided to pledge rice at Bt14,000 per tonne, which is several thousand baht more than the market price. Rice pledging has distorted the market prices, with Thai rice climbing against market trends, which are seeing a decline in demand and prices.

Previous rice-pledging schemes made it more difficult for Thai exporters to compete. The government had to build huge rice stockpiles and spend thousand of billions of baht each year on the prolonged pledging scheme. However, when the government decided to release this huge amount of rice, it started affecting the market price.

Instead of coming up with short-term pledging programmes, the government should instead focus on measures to ensure sustainable growth in the rice industry. Otherwise, Thai exports would depend on external and uncontrollable factors.

Last year, Thailand successfully achieved its export target of 10.01 million tonnes of rice, simply because of the global food crisis and the fact that two major rice-exporting countries, Vietnam and India, were limiting their sale.

Now, however, Vietnam is back on track, with its export volume expected to increase by 11.8 per cent to 5.2 million tonnes this year. Rice from Vietnam is exported at nearly US$200 (Bt7,140) less than Thai rice. Things will become even tougher for Thailand this year, because India is expected to start exporting rice again.

Setting up a rice-pledging programme is well and good, but the government should also think about other options that can produce better and more sustainable results for Thai farmers.

First of all, the government must realise that rice-pledging programmes give farmers unrealistic expectations and discourage them from boosting their productivity. A Thai farmer's yield per rai, on average, is 416 kilograms, compared to Vietnam's average yield of more than 600kg per rai.

Besides, if the government continues to hoard rice, it may have to deal with too much rice and not enough demand. In other words, ineffective government measures end up harming exporters and farmers in the long run.

The government could be wrong in assuming that everybody would be delighted to get easy money from the government's populist policies. Actually, what the industry needs to sustain the rice sector in the long term is the promotion of rice production that enables Thai farmers to compete in the world market in the long run.

Sadly, every government fails to see and paint a comprehensive picture. Each ministry responds with a knee-jerk reaction to immediate problems.

Instead of considering the rice-pledging scheme as a magic wand, the government should consider other options, such as direct subsidies for farmers, systematic assistance to help farmers boost their per rai yield or adding value to their produce by using green technology to target high-income markets.

Cooperation with the Agriculture Ministry is needed to develop high-quality rice. If farmers can achieve higher per-rai yield, they will not have to worry about fluctuating incomes at harvest seasons.

Rice is a sacred commodity in Thailand, and deserves serious attention. If Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva needs to expand his support base in the rural areas, his government will have to address this issue and ensure sustainable growth in the future.