By Thai Newsroom Reporters
LYCHEE ORCHARDISTS IN Samut Songkhram are desperately looking for a government subsidy amidst speculated losses in this year’s indigenous occupation.
According to Chaiyan Jiamsiri, head of the Network for Fruit Orchardist Councils of Samut Songkhram, a combined volume of lychee grown in the country’s smallest province is expected to be very little to none at all due to unfavourable weather conditions.
The lychee trees in Amphawa and Bang Khonthi districts will not yield fruit if the temperature does not drop below 18 to 20 degrees Celsius throughout this month, Chaiyan said.
An estimated 100,000 lychee trees in those districts of Samut Songkhram had combinedly produced a low quantity of about 200 tonnes of the sweet-and-sour fruit due to the unpermitting weather over the last few years.
The lychee orchardists who are currently concerned over the likelihood that they will operate at loss, given very little to no fruit to sell in the next few months, will most certainly need a government subsidy so they could continue with their indigenous occupation, Chaiyan said.
The Samut Songkhram lychee had sold for a range of 200 to 400 baht a kilo in ex-orchard prices primarily due to very low quantities over the last several years.
The lychee orchards throughout the western districts adjacent to Maeklong River have sharply decreased in size from about 10,000 rai to only about 5,000 rai of land today.
Many of the Amphawa and Bang Khonthi orchardists have earlier given up either in part or in whole on growing their lychee and instead turned to coconut, pomelo and other fruits, according to the head of the orchardists network.
The Samut Songkhram lychee is viewed as indigenously unique in appearance and taste, compared to that grown in Chiang Mai, the country’s largest lychee producing province and elsewhere.
CAPTION:
Top and Front Page: Samut Songkhram lychees. Photos: Thai Rath
Also read: Urgent: Pita survives ITV case, returning to House of Representatives
US aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt now sailing in Indo-Pacific region
Flood-resistant rice genus to be promoted in low-lying terrains
First batch of 2,000 cattle being exported to Vietnam
Red onions galore heading for petrol pumps
Phang Nga folk against lithium mining after discovery of deposits
Human Rights Watch report flags how dying rule of law will hit travel & tourism
