“The rain that should have fallen does not fall. The rice field has dried up.” Nongbua, Nakhon Sawan Province, northern Thailand on the 9th. Rice farmer Witchai Kanonsri (52) sighed.
About 15% of the approximately 11 hectares of rice fields have no seedlings grown, and have fallen brown. The ground is cracked, and the rice that still has a green color is thin, so you don't know when it will fall. “Since the remaining rice has less water, the yield and quality will be lower than usual.”
The annual income is about 700,000 baht (about 2.46 million yen), but this year is expected to be “at most 400,000 baht”. There is a possibility that there will be no profit due to spending about 300,000 baht on agricultural equipment and pesticides. “I would like to expect government disaster subsidies, but the screening is strict and I can't predict how much I can get,” he dropped.
Thailand was hit by a record drought this year. The amount of rainfall from March to July, the transition from the dry season to the rainy season, was 21% less than normal. Farmland was dried up in various places, and farmers were severely damaged.
The dam water storage rate fell to 20-30% in various places, such as four dams drying up in Nakhonratchasima prefecture in the northeastern part. A private research company estimates that the economic damage caused by drought is about 52 billion yen. The Thai government has decided to take budgetary measures to save farmers with debts.
Drought is a unique phenomenon this year ...
