ALTERNATIVE CROPS / CONTAMINATED LAND
Govt urging farmers to grow sugarcane
The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry is encouraging farmers in Mae Sot district of Tak whose land is contaminated with cadmium to grow sugarcane as a raw material for ethanol production. The move follows the ban on the growing of edible crops in contaminated areas.
Some areas have been left unused and local farmers are being given support to grow sugarcane as a raw material to produce ethanol.
Deputy permanent secretary for agriculture Yukol Limlaemthong said the campaign was targeting farmers in the Mae Tao river basin that covered around 13,000 rai of land and was contaminated with cadmium.
The contamination is believed to have come from natural deposits and a privately-run factory.
The sugarcane is expected to generate enough income for farmers to sustain their livelihoods as it fetches good prices and there is plenty of demand, he said.
Sugarcane is already grown on 6,000 rai of contaminated land previously used to grow edible crops.
An ethanol factory, Mae Sot Clean Energy, which is a joint venture between Padaeng Industry Plc, Thai Oil Plc and Petrogreen Co, will be completed within this year and the ministry will also encourage farmers on 42,000 rai of surrounding land to grow sugarcane, Mr Yukol said.
When completed, the plant will create 600 new industrial jobs. Around 2,000 farming households are also expected to be able to earn a regular income from growing sugarcane, with up to 10,000 additional workers being hired in the harvest season.
Bangkok Post Jan. 31, 2008