"sugarcane"

Sugarcane growers and sugar manufacturers have joined a campaign against the practice of burning plantations before each harvest, which is partly blamed for the increase of harmful particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) in the air.

The Cabinet on Tuesday approved a THB6.056 billion subsidy for sugarcane farmers who cut fresh cane for sugar factories instead of burning them, in a bid to reduce air pollution caused by the burning of plantations, deputy government spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek said.

The Thai Sugar Millers Corp (TSMC) has set the price for 10 CCS (commercial cane sugar) at Bt1,000 per tonne in a bid to encourage farmers to grow more sugarcane.

The Cabinet on Monday set the price of final-stage sugarcane with a sweetness of 10 commercial cane sugar (CCS) at Bt833.22 per tonne and set the yield rate for processed sugar for the 2019/2020 crop year at 357.09 per tonne, the government’s deputy spokesperson Ratchada Thanadirek said.

Khon Kaen Sugar Industry Pcl (KSL) expects sales next year to rise about 10 per cent, driven by a 20 per cent increase in the sugar price from 13-14 cents to 16-17 cents per pound.

The Ministry of Industry has proposed offering cash subsidies to sugarcane farmers nationwide with a total budget of Bt10.231 billion.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of agriculture in the first quarter of 2020 contracted by 4.8 per cent, compared to the same period in 2019, Rapibhat Chandarasrivongs, the Office of Agricultural Economics secretary-general, said.

A student and his parents had to take refuge in a relative's home after their house in Kanchanaburi province was destroyed by a fire that spread from a nearby sugarcane plantation on Tuesday (January 28).

An academic has warned that the government’s plan to build more sugar factories and biomass power plants may worsen air quality by releasing more particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM 2.5).

Thung Fon Police Station was notified on Monday (January 20) of a corpse found in a sugarcane plantation. A joint team of police officers, medical personnel from the Thung Fon Hospital and rescue volunteers was dispatched to the scene.

Industry Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit is planning to transform the Thailand Sugarcane Breeding Centre (TSBC) into the hub of sugarcane breeding in Southeast Asia with world-class modern technologies and innovations.

In a September exchange with a local group, Mitr Phol Sugar Co executive Paitoon Praphatharo promised that a proposed new Mitr Ban Pai sugar factory would not affect the environment and would save on transportation costs.