FeelThailand

The agriculture sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product declined from 39.4 percent in 1961 to 12.2 percent in 1993 due primarily to the rapid expansion of other sectors of the economy. However, agriculture will continue to be a dominant sector of the Thai economy for years to come.

In 1993, farm population comprised approximately 57 percent of the total labour force. If the people indirectly engaged in agri-business industries were also included in the estimate, labour force absorption by agriculture totaled 57.2 percent.

Agriculture exports were the major source of foreign exchange earning during the 1960s and 1970s. However, as Thailand’s progress towards industrialization increased, manufactured exports gained importance. In 1993, exports of agricultural products amounted to only about 18.1 percent of total exports compared with the share of 40 percent in 1982.

Major Crops Field crops, which accounted for 50 percent of agricutural output in 1993 , increased at an annual average rate of 8 percent between 1961 and 1993. Agricutural production was still dominated by seven major crops: rice, tapioca, rubber, maize, sugar-cane, mung beans and tobacco leaves, most of which were grown primarily for export.

Since 1970 the increase in crop production have come from both the expansion of cultivated areas and improvements in yields. In response to high agricultural prices, the total area planted has continued to increase. Furthermore, farmers are switching from crops with relatively low returns per hectare to those with higher earnings. Performance, however, varies considerably: sugar-cane, rubber and tapioca yields have been increasing significantly, rice and maize yields growing slowly, and kenaf yeild declining. The trend towards crop diversification continues in response to price incentives as the proportion of cropped area devoted to rice declines.

Although the national average rice yield has remained low, a recent trend clearly indicates certain structural changes in production. At present, rice cultivation is undertaken in intensive irrigated areas, wet-season irrigated areas, and rainfed areas. Intensive irrigated areas, which enable farmers to produce at least two crops a year, increased phenomenally from 407,488 hectares in 1977/78 to 4,240,000 hectares in 1992/93. Furthermore, there is ample evidence that yields in both intensive and wet-season irrigated areas have risen sharply during the past five years. About four million hectares of paddy land now benefit from wet-season flood control to keep fields free of excess water which would damage crops. Nevertheless, the remaining six million hectares represent rice production in rainfed areas where limited access to modern technology and inputs results in low yields.

Livestock Livestock production is second in importance in the agricultural sector. Between 1988 and 1993, its share of the total GDP of agriculture declined from 1.7 percent to 1.3 percent.

The Government has been trying to improve beef and dairy production through cross-breeding and artificial insemination using high-grade stock imported from United States, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, and Australia. LIkewise, indigenous breeds of swine have been improved through cross-breeding with pure-breds imported from aboard. The Livestock Department has set up swine breeding centres throughout the country and has conducted a nationwide artificial insemination programme.

Of all livestock raised for the market, poultry has improved the most. Pure-bred chickens are popular among poultry raisers and research in breeding and management with the aim of improving egg production and feed conversion rate has been conducted with great success. As a result, frozen chickens have become one of the country’s important exports.

Forestry A 1993 satellite photo survey showed that forest areas in Thailand had diminished to only 13.35 million hectares or about 26 percent of the country’s total land area. Thus, during 1973-1993 deforestation had claimed about 8.8 million hectares. Most of the devasted forest areas are located in the Northeast, the North, the upper part of the Central Plains and the West; where there was extensive slash-and-burn agricultural practive by villagers and illegal log poaching.

In view of the depletion of forest resources and the government’s restrictions on cutting, the growth rate of forestry output declined from an annual average of 2.61 percent during the Second Five-Year Plan (1982-1986). The Royal Forest Department undertook various reforestation projects in various areas of 607,492 hectares in 1980, 648,512 hectares in 1987 and about 1,000,000 hectares in 1993.

Fisheries Thailand’s fishing industry is dependent on marine catches. Fish from natural fresh waters, commercial fish farms, and irrigated paddy fields account for less than 10 percent of the total catch. The remainder comes from the sea.

During the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1982-1986) fishery output increased by an annual average of 2.45 percent as compared with the 4.49 percent per year during the Fourth Plan (1977-1981), 3.4 percent per year during the Third Plan (1972-1976), and 18.6 percent per year during the Second Plan (1967-1971). Depletion of marine resources during the Sixth Five-Year Plan (1987-1991) reduced fishery output so much that the government is effectively enforcing regulated fishing to ensure sustainable yields for both present and future generations. An alternative which the government has undertaken to encourage the production of fish helps to expand freshwater fish farms to offset declining marine catches. Towards this end, about 45 freshwater fishery stations have been set up.

To overcome the effect of 200-mile economic zone, the government has promoted private joint fishing ventures with foreign countries aimed at alleviating the problem of limited fishing sources, in addition to private joint ventures in the waters of Indonesia, Malasia, Bangladesh, Australia, India, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar. Further expansion of such joint ventures holds bright prospects.

Mining The mining industry in Thailand is dominated by tin. However, with later developments, the output of other minerals such as fluorites, gypsum and lignite has become more prominent. In addition, significant increases in the output of a number of other minerals such as iron, antimony, manganese and lead have been achieved. During the Third Five-Year Plan (1972-1976), new mineral deposits were found and output expanded to include tungsten (wolfram and scheelite), barite and zinc. The value of zinc production rose from 377.4 million baht in 1984 to 1,974 million baht in 1993. Mineral output in Thailand to a significant extent depends on foreign demand as domestic consumption remains low.

During the past decade, the mining sector expanded slowly. Its share in the total Gross Domestic Product remained fairely stable at about 2.5 percent.