Thailand’s Agriculture Ministry has earmarked Bt569.5m to tackle expected longan pricing problems during the July to August season in the eight northern provinces, reports the Bangkok Post.
Around Bt370m will be used to fund low-interest loans for longan growers and the rest offered as a subsidy, most of which will be spent on fruit transport and distribution.
Around 40,000 tonnes of the predicted 293,000-tonne crop will be exported, and 50,000 tonnes sold domestically. The rest is destined for the processing sector, the paper said.
Agriculture Ministry officials assured longan growers that they would be offered good prices. Double A (AA) grade longan is expected to fetch at least Bt18/kg while the A grade fruit should receive no less than Bt14/kg.
