As the world most significant economic contributor, farming is widely regards as the heart of any nation economy. Nation such Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia and some other nation are putting farming and harvesting as their first economy priority.
Farming provide food for people, why doesn't it be regards as vital?
When globalization and capitalism start to spread and influencing.. the perspectives of farming has been changed... to good and bad.
Government are starting to intervene a little bit by drafting bills, agency are squeezing the poor rural farmers, middle-man were buying the harvested goods at a very low price and sell it for a price that utterly unacceptable. This phenomena were not anymore happened in United States but undoubtedly occur in a poorer country such as Cambodia and Vietnam.
Yes, we all are shouting the same slogans. "Free Trade", but does that mean it's free to squeeze?
I've been to Isaan, Thailand, where most of the household economy are abruptly depending on planting and harvesting paddy. Most of the farmers are deriving less than USD 10 a day per ca pita. Some of them are even more worst, get hooked up with loan shark which in other hand giving them a high interest rates where sometime it is irrational in finance and economic perspectives. The Thai government are not to be blamed for all of this as they has already provide the necessary assistant as what they could, but the offer from other party are more fascinating compares to government offer.
The instant pills to help the farmers in Isaan is to invest in large sum of money to procure a more sophisticated machinery for doing the harvesting job, creates a body that will regulates the market price and the ceiling price so that the middle-man could not even monopolizing the price, providing a micro type of loans which are solely meant for farming purpose to farmers, creating a self-conscious and sense of pride to the farmers, and diversify the paddy market so that it would not be stagnated and also have a competitive value in commodity market.
In Malaysia for instantly, farmers over there are also facing the same issues, based on Professor Ungku Aziz research in 70's, the condition of the farmers and the farming industry are absolute sad. There's discrimination, abuse of prices, deregulate trade and corruption. Time by time, after several effort done by the government, those sentiment are decreasing, but hardy, it is impossible to wipe it off. Up till today, Malaysian Government has spended RM 2 billion per annum just to buy fertilizer and the productivity can only cover 60 to 70 percent for Malaysian, and this amount is a huge sums for a small consumption, ad the initiative done by the government is to diversify the application of the paddy, just like what has Japan does, recycle it....
It is predicted could covers back at least 30 to 38 percent per annum.
Anyway, if the farming industry could be saves in a short time, it is perhaps that the industry is going to collapse.
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