“The measure is aimed at preventing the rice price from falling,” Chutima Bunyapraphasara, permanent secretary of the Commerce Ministry, said yesterday.

“The price of rice in the domestic market should average Bt8,000-Bt9,000 per tonne of paddy so that farmers will not get hurt from falling prices when supplies are abundant in the market,” she said.

The budget can buy almost half of total rice production, or 12.5 million tonnes from the 27.7 million tonnes of paddy expected to be reaped during the 2016-17 harvest season.

The 2016-17 rice harvest is expected to drop by 12 per cent because of the reduction in planting areas. Of the 27.7 million tonnes, 23.29 million tonnes will come from the main crop and 3.88 million tonnes from the second crop.

The Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives will use the Bt3.9 billion to support the rice-purchase scheme.

Two million tonnes of paddy rice are expected to be pawned, mostly Hom Mali (jasmine) and sticky rice form the Northeast.

Farmers will receive Bt1,500 per tonne for stocking their rice for two months after harvesting it.

The government will also provide a soft loan for the direct purchase of 2.5 million tonnes of paddy.

The Commerce Ministry will ask millers to help purchase about 8 million tonnes of paddy for holding two to six months so that rice will not face an oversupply problem during the harvest from November to February.