Rice and the Climate Crisis: Thai rice farmers struggle against climate-driven challenges

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In part one of a four-part series on Earth Day looking at how climate change is impacting rice production and trade, farmers in Thailand tell CNA they are regularly grappling with adverse weather patterns that are impacting their output and livelihood.

This farmer has seen plenty of seasons in his years in the fields. But now as his retirement looms closer, watching another crop suffer is hard to comprehend.

It means, yet again, the production of Thailand’s most important crop has been compromised, causing market turbulence, food security concerns and leaving millions of Thai households facing economic difficulties. Wichat, 36, rents the fields where he farms, like many who are unable to purchase their own land. With his rice submerged in waters that took an age to drain, this seasonal setback will cost him dearly.

In 2019, the country experienced the lowest amount of rain for a decade, causing severe water shortages. The Mekong River fell to record low levels and rice cultivation suffered significantly. Nithat Charoenthammaraksa runs a rice network, which produces and collects rice seeds for about 400 farming households. Despite providing guidance about the most suitable cultivars to plant, and supporting the growing process, he said that the past decade has been challenging.

Indeed, under different future scenarios, rice production could actually increase in irrigated areas while at the same time drastically be stunted in rainfed regions, according to research by Witsanu Attavanich, an associate professor of Economics at Kasetsart University. A starting point, he said, is for the national government to restructure the way it gives financial support to farmers who have lost their crops due to extreme weather.

 

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