El Nino drought expected in Thailand

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El Nino drought expected in Thailand 
Bangkok Post: 16 Feb 2010
Most serious drought in 5 years forecast
Thailand faces the likelihood of the most serious water shortage in five years because of the return of El Nino, the Interior Ministry's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department warned on Monday.

Director-general Anucha Mokkhawes said the first effects would likely be felt in the upper parts of the North and Northeast regions. Irrigated zones were not hit, but outside these zones water shortages for agriculture were already in evidence.

Central and Eastern provinces had also begun to experience drought in the upper parts of the regions, and the affects would spread. The South would also be hit, but not seriously.

Mr Anucha said the El Nino threat was expected to result in the lowest rainfall in five years. This would also increase the risk from forest fires.

He said farmers in 23 provinces in the Chao Phraya river basin - Kamphaeng Phet, Tak, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, Uttaradit, Uthai Thani, Bangkok, Chainat, Nonthaburi, Lop Buri, Saraburi, Sing Buri, Ang Thong, Pathum Thani, Ayutthaya, Chachoengsao, Nakhon Nayok, Samut Prakan, Suphan Buri, Samut Sakhon and Nakhon Pathom - were advised not to grow second-season rice and to instead grow short-lived crops such as beans, corn, sugarcane and cassava, which need less water.

All industrial plants are required to lay down a plan for water use and look for alternative sources of water.

If people were more economical in their use of water in general this would, to an extent, cushion the adverse severity of the dry season, Mr Anucha said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/168535/most-serious-drought-in-5-yrs-forecast

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Thai farmers brace for water shortages 
Bangkok Post: 24 Feb 2010
Farmers brace for bitter 'water war'
Hundreds of villages crippled by drought


An early drought is raising fears of a "water war" among rice farmers, the Royal Irrigation Department says.

Large reservoirs and dams are only about 66% full, director-general Chalit Damrongsak said yesterday.

The department fears there will not be enough irrigation water to last through the hot season.

The country could not avoid a severe drought if water use exceeded earlier predictions, Mr Chalit said.

The situation in the central provinces was particularly worrying. Too many farmers there were growing off-season rice which uses large amounts of water, he said.

No more than 9.5 million rai of off-season rice should be grown this year if a severe water shortage was to be avoided. But 11.4 million rai was already being cultivated, mostly in the Central Plains.

Farmers are looking to invest in a second crop of off-season rice despite the looming threat of drought, the department said.

The water war was a matter "of when, not if", Mr Chalit said.

Poor water management would result in serious hardship for farmers.

The department has prepared 1,200 additional water pumps and 295 water tanks to be distributed to drought-stricken areas to ease the impact of the shortage.

Close to 600 water pumps have recently been sent to 36 provinces.

Farmers were growing off-season rice because it fetches higher prices, said Prasert Kosalwit, chief of the Rice Department.

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Theera Wongsamut said eight artificial rain-making centres would be reopened on Friday.

The ministry hopes the centres would help double the amount of rainfall in drought-affected areas during the dry season.

The 8th Royal Irrigation Office in Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday described the water shortage in much of the lower Northeast as "alarming". Buri Ram is the hardest hit province.

In the South, the Waterworks Authority Office in Surat Thani's Koh Samui district said there were enough tap water supplies on the island to last the next three or four months.

Hotels and resorts have been advised to stock up on water.

In the North, residents in some areas of Tak's Muang district are buying drinking water because of tap water shortages.

Parts of the province are also blanketed by haze from a forest fire in neighbouring Burma.

Mae Hong Son has begun to suffer from air pollution caused by the billowing smoke In Nan, more than 500 villages in 13 districts have been declared drought-stricken. More than 50,000 rai of farmland has been damaged.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/33402/farmers-brace-for-bitter-water-war
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Farmers to rally in Bangkok on Friday

Bangkok Post * Published: 24/02/2010 at 09:59 AM

Farmers from the Central, North and Northeast regions will rally outside Government House on Friday to ask for assistance from the government, Wichian Puanglamjiag, vice chairman of Thai Farmers Association said on Wednesday morning.

Farmers from Suphan Buri, Nakhon Pathom, Ang Thong, Sing Buri, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Chainat, Nakhon Sawan, Phichit, Kampaeng Petch, Pitsanulok, Sukhothai and from several provinces in the Northeast will travel by pickup trucks and farm tractors to gather in front of Government House, said Mr Wichian.

“Farmers demand concrete measures to help them overcome the problem of low rice prices Farmers do not like the farm income guarantee scheme being imposed by the state,” he said.

He denied the rally was politically motivated, saying it was for the survival of all farmers.

“If the demand is ignored, the farmers might join forces with the red-shirts in rallying against the government,” he warned.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions will on Friday give its ruling on the seizure of 76 billion baht in frozen assets from ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/169513/farmers-to-rally-at-govt-house-on-friday

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Isaan farms battle drought and pests 
Bangkok Post: 22 Mar 2010
Farms battle drought, bug pest in Isan

Bugs are ravaging cassava plantations in Nakhon Ratchasima and several major water sources are drying up in the latest calamities to beset farmers in the Northeast.

Nakhon Ratchasima agricultural office chief Sawat Buengkrai said more than 170,000 rai of the 1.9 million rai planted with cassava had been damaged by mealybugs.

Dry weather had caused the bug infestation to spread quickly, he said.

He urged cassava planters to soak their plant stems in bug control chemicals before planting, to prevent mealybugs from ravaging their crops.

The chemical cost 200 baht a rai, but it was an effective measure to control the disease, he said.

Drought has also hit the province with the water level in Lam Takhong reservoir, a main water source, dropping sharply.

Chakkrit Chaengkorn, director of the Lam Takhong water supply project, said the reservoir held 123 million cubic metres of water, or 39% of its capacity of 314 million cubic metres.

The reservoir recently stopped supplying water for farming activities as it would affect tap water production for people in Sikhiu, Sung Noen, Kham Thale So, Muang and Chalerm Phrakiat districts, he said.

Water supplies would be badly affected unless it rained next month.

In Tak, the water level in Hua Fai reservoir has dropped to a critical level. Its holding capacity is 5.5 million cubic metres, but the water level had fallen to just 700,000 cubic metres, said Pitsanu Choppradit, chief of the Irrigation Project 3 in Mae Sot district.

Farmers outside irrigated areas have been hit by drought and water shortages, he said.

Tak governor Samart Loifa yesterday declared five more districts disaster zones, taking the total to nine districts.

The districts affected by drought are Muang, Mae Sot, Sam Ngao, Ban Tak, Wang Chao, Mae Ramat, Tha Song Yang, Phop Phra, and Umphang. In Udon Thani, 20 districts have been declared disaster zones.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/34828/farms-battle-drought-bug-pest-in-isan