Bangkok, The Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT) revealed that bio-fermented water from black-chinned tilapia will be distributed to farmers in the large-scale rubber plantation project in early September. It reiterated that the budget for purchasing black-chinned tilapia as raw materials came from the Rubber Development Fund for the RAOT's business operations, not part of the budget for maintaining rubber price stability or supporting replanting. It reiterated that this is to help rubber farmers and support the resolution of the black-chinned tilapia problem, which is an urgent national agenda. Mr. Peik Lertwangpong, Chairman of the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT), and Mr. Sukthat Tangwiriyakul, Deputy Governor for Operations, Acting Governor of the RAOT, announced the project to purchase black-chinned tilapia to use as raw materials for the production of bio-fermented water, stating that the RAOT used the budget from the Rubber Development Fund, Section 13, to be used in the RAOT's operations under th e project to sell production factors for 50 million baht, confirming that it is not a budget for maintaining rubber price stability or supporting tree planting instead. Initially, it is planned to purchase 1,000 tons at 15 baht per kilogram, in collaboration with the Department of Fisheries, registering fish farms as purchasing points in 16 provinces where outbreaks have been found. Purchases will begin on August 1st, and then they will be given to volunteer soil doctors or rubber farmer institutions that have applied for the project to produce bio-fermented liquid according to the formula of the Land Development Department. They will then be delivered to the RAOT to distribute to farmers for use in rubber plantations in the large-scale project of over 200,000 rai, which will be available for distribution in September. The RAOT already has a budget for purchasing fertilizers to distribute to farmers in welfare gardens. Currently, it supports the use of organic fertilizers or nutrients in combination with ch emical fertilizers, which will help add secondary and micronutrients, as well as improve soil quality, allowing rubber trees to absorb nutrients better. Using mixed fertilizers will help reduce production costs by 25 percent of the total fertilizer cost, and also help increase rubber production. In addition to distributing to farmers in the welfare gardens, the business unit of the RAOT will also sell to interested rubber farmers. From the market price of fermented fish water, which is sold at 200 baht per liter, the RAOT sells it for only 99 baht per liter to help rubber plantations and alleviate the impact of the spread of the black-chinned tilapia, which is a national crisis.-512-Thai News Agency From the price of fermented fish sauce in the market selling at 200 baht per liter, it is a way to reduce production costs and increase productivity in the rubber plantations of the project to solve the problem to alleviate the suffering of farmers in purchasing black-chinned tilapia to produce organic fermented water for use in agriculture. The RAOT has set the purchase price of black-chinned tilapia at 512 baht per kilogram. Source: Thai News Agency
