El Nino driving Thai govt to wean farmers off water-intensive rice

Bangkok

RICE farmer Prapatpon Rungsatien perches on a plastic chair in a classroom in rural Thailand. Ceiling fans stir the humid air as she and 49 of her neighbours hunker down for a talk on South-east Asian economics.

Ms Prapatpon, 48, returned to school last month for a state- funded training programme designed to wean farmers off water-intensive rice and teach them how to grow other crops. With lessons spanning everything from accounting to chicken husbandry, the government is trying to reduce a record stockpile of the cereal at a time when farmers are facing the worst drought in two decades.

The government in Thailand, typically the world's largest rice exporter, has advised farmers on producing alternatives to the crop for a decade. Now, in the face of diminishing water and plunging prices, it's getting more serious. A banner at the front of the classroom in a village in Sangkaburi district, Chai Nat province, bears the ruling…