Eastern Fruit Corridor project to be proposed to cabinet

CHANTHABURI, Feb 5 (TNA) -- The Ministry of Industry will be seeking cabinet approval to set up a central fruit wholesale market which will be called the Eastern Fruit Corridor (EFC). Minister for Industry Uttama Savanayana announced that the ministry will be tabling the proposal at the retreat cabinet meeting in Chanthaburi tomorrow. Currently, farmers and middlemen agree on the price of an entire season's harvest before hand. A down payment is paid which effectively commits farmers to the agreed price leaving them with little or no leverage. It is the reson that the EFC is being proposed to help fruit growers. The ministry want to set up a central fruit market that is up to international standards that will provide the highest bargaining power possible for farmers. Plans are for the EFC to be established in the Smart Park in Rayong province located within the borders of the Eastern Economic Corridor. An estimated budget of 1.58 billion Baht will be needed for the project. If successful, projected revenues of 51.931 billion baht will be generated by the EFC. Digital technologies to standardise fruit trading modelled after the Netherlands' electronic flower bidding system will be employed. It is hoped that with the EFC eastern fruit farmers will be able to earn 2 - 3 times more than they do now thereby sidestepping both the problems of shortages due to under supply and flooding by oversupply. In the long run, this will raise and eventually stabilise fruit prices and attract new investments into the sector. As export values for fresh as well as processed fruits rise so too will employment in the eastern provinces. By then there would be no need for government subsidies to shore up agriculture prices. (TNA)