The farmers in the Suphan Buri province of Thailand which is also the rice bowl of the country, are increasingly becoming desperate to irrigate their parched fields. This is because the region is currently experiencing its worst drought in over a decade.
The rainfall season is under way and out of a total of 67 provinces seven of them are experiencing a drought. Nearly a third of the country has been forced to resort to water rationing. The Thai government has lowered its forecast of the total rice output by more than 2 million tones for this year. This drop in the output of rice could lead to rise in prices which were at its lowest since January 2008 because of huge stockpile by the previous government. The government has requested the farmers to stop unauthorized pumping of water from the canals.
Back in June the authorities estimated that the drought could slow down the economic growth rate by 0.5 per cent this year. There is a possibility the canal waters could dry up by the end of the month, if it does not rain by then.
The drought has been attributed to lack of rain bearing systems over the region. Normally during this period rain bearing systems cross Philippines and enter Thailand but, this year these systems have curved northward away from Thailand. The authorities have forecasted rain for the drought hit regions by August.
Image credit: bangkokpost.com
