Wednesday, 19 June 2013 17:30
Posted by Muhammad Iqbal
BANGKOK: Thailand said on Wednesday that it would slash the price paid to rice farmers under a controversial scheme that caused the kingdom to lose its place as the world's top exporter of the commodity last year.The country has paid its farmers around 50 percent more than the market value for rice since 2011 in an effort to boost incomes in the rural heartlands of the ruling party.The government tries to sell the rice in world markets but faces stiff competition from rival producers such as Vietnam and India, and lost about 137 billion baht ($4.5 billion) from the scheme in the year to January.In an effort to reduce the cost, the price paid will be reduced by 20 percent, to 12,000 baht ($388) per ton, according to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's office."We have to lower the price because this scheme has cost a lot of money," said Varathep Rattanakorn, ...