Sugar Cane Office Kubota/AMS/Sugar Plants Setting New Cane Indutry Business Model.
22-4-2019—Today (Monday April 22, 2019)Miss Worawan ChitArun Secretary General of Office of Cane and Sugar Board told DPM Somkid Jatusripitak chairing the executive meeting of Ministry of Industry that she believed that by the target and mechanical measure the office had set, the fired cane would turn down to zero within the next three years.
She disclosed that by using more sugar cane cutting machines together with transforming sugar cane plantation to match with the sugar cane cutting machine for better efficiency, it will also support the reduction of the fired cane for sugar plant to turn to zero within three years.
Secretary General Worawan told the media that the reason why Thailand’s must take up to three-year time to eliminate the concerning Fire-Cane harming public environment and health because Thailand has not enough cutting machine producer to produce 4,000 cane cutting machine within a short period of time.
Now Thailand’s sugar cane industry in using about 2,000 cutting car machines which each year can cut just about 30% of total sugar cane farm in Thailand.While Thailand need 4,000 units more cane cutting machine car to serve the remaining 70% which 57% were fired-cane and the others 13% cut by labor.
“Now a day Thailand has only 3-5 agricultural machine producers ; Thai Roong Reung can produce 100 cane cutting machines/ year, while Agricultural Machinery Association (AMS) can produce lese than 30 machines/year, but we need 4,000 units of cane cutting machine in order to stop all fired-cane to be delivered to sugar plants.”said Secretary General Worawan.
According to Kubota, we need 200 horse power kind of sugar cane cutting machine, by the reason that, the remaining sugar cane farm has yet used machine for cutting are mostly smaller farm, which spread around difference area. While the plantation method will be also need to consult with the cutting machine producer to adjust the plantation to meet the design of the machine which also consider to suit the plantation, said Miss Warawan.
The machines which now used by the sugar cane farmers are mostly big size with 350 horse power, such as John Deer and Case or original Austof brand. The machine is suit or cutting huge amount of sugar cane in a short period of time.The farmers who bought the size of machine normally own or has at least 2,000 rai of sugar cane farmland in the same group.
She said to support sugar cane farmers to use cutting machine, government must support them 1% interest low rate for 2 billion baht loan. This year we will request government to compensate 70 million baht interest for the farmer in this purpose.
“In order to have sugar cane farmers reducing fired-cane and use more machine cutting, farmers, it need 1% interest rate loan for formers to purchase or pay for labor cost or cane cutting service. It need government to compensate 4% for the loan interest burden which it was over the 3% maximum compensation that Finance Ministry can give according to the law.”
“Normally Agricultural and Cooperative compensated 2% interest, but it still remain 5% interest that must pay for the loan. Then in order to help sugar cane farmers to gain 1% interest rate for the loan. I will try to propose the proposal to the Minister within this week, in order to be able to talk to Finance Ministry before propose it to cabinet meeting to consider to approved and have it implemented soon to quickly solve the air pollution and sugar cane cutting labor shortage.”
Kubota and Agricultural Machinery Association (AMS) and Sugar plant owners had agree with Office of The Board of Sugar Cane to join planning to set a new business model to provide the farmer. The meeting and MOU signing will be held on 25th April, 2019 and Century Hotel.
