Floods: Damage to farms & crops

Record 7.3% crop production growth in 1st half of year replaced by lost rice crops, flooded rice fields (9.01 million rai) with 51 billion baht in damage.

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Floods to take B72bn toll on crops, H1 saw highest sector growth in a decade by Walailak Keeratipipatpong

The floods that have been ravaging the Chao Phraya River basin for four months have caused damages worth 72 billion baht to Thailand's agricultural sector and trimmed its growth forecast to only 1% from 3% projected earlier.

The country's worst flooding in several decades has also taken away the opportunity for Thai farmers to benefit from rising farm prices, especially of rice, said Apichart Jongskul, secretary-general of the Office of Agricultural Economics. 

"If it wasn't for the floods, farmers should have earned more income this year due to high offer prices under the rice pledging programme and strong prices of many crops in the first three quarters," he said. 

In the first half of this year, strong prices of crops such as rubber, oil palm, sugarcane and cassava drove the growth of Thailand's farm economy over the period to expand by 7.3% year-on-year, the highest rate in 10 years. 

The bullish performance led the OAE to raise its annual growth projection to between 4.3% and 5.3%, up from a range of 1.4% to 2.4% earlier. However, the slow global economy and flooding in July later forced the agency to cut its growth forecast to 3% in August. 

The latest survey of the agency found that up to 1.4 million farmers have been affected by flash floods that have devastated over 30 provinces since July. 

Of the total, 1.1 million are rice farmers and the rest deal with livestock, fishery and other crops. 

The Agricultural Extension Department reported that 9.01 million rai of rice paddies across the country have been flooded over the past three months. It said 7.21 million rai were in critical condition, with damages up to 51 billion baht. 

"The recovery of many farmlands may take longer. It might not be possible for many farmers to resume next year as their houses were also heavily damaged," said Mr Apichart. 

The floods will also affect the farm economy next year unless farmers are in areas that are well-irrigated or have sufficient water to resume growing the second crop as fast as possible. 

On the bright side, the floods will lead to significant changes in risk management to more effectively deal with natural disasters and harsh conditions. 

He said water experts from outside the public sector should join the committee that manages water from dams and reservoirs nationwide. 

Currently, the committee's members are all government officials from the Royal Irrigation Department, the Royal Thai Navy's Hydrographic Department, the Meteorological Department and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat). Moreover, they only meet on a fixed schedule, leaving the decisions to manage water from dams largely in the hands of Egat and the Royal Irrigation Department. 

Critics said that despite abnormally frequent storms and monsoons this year, mismanagement in releasing water from major dams, especially the Bhumibol and the Sirikit dams, was widely blamed for the disaster.

The meddling of politicians by diverting water flows to allow farmers in certain provinces to finish harvesting paddy is believed to have made the situation even worse. 

Agriculture Minister Theera Wongsamut admitted to Parliament last week that he had asked officials to delay releasing water from the Bhumibol dam because rice farmers in the central plains were about to harvest.    

The central plains are where the second-crop rice is grown, covering 3.8 million of the 9.8 million rai of fields in the country that have sufficient water to support the second crop. 

"Even as these provinces such as Suphan Buri produce strong yields, it's not worthwhile given the massive losses inflicted by such manipulation," the source said. 

Meanwhile, Mr Apichart said relief packages to help affected farmers resume operations quickly are on the drawing board. They include free essentials such as rice seeds, three-year debt moratorium for farm cooperatives and improvements to infrastructure.

The assistance is part of the compensation approved by the government at the rates of 2,222 baht a rai for damaged rice farms, 3,350 baht a rai for field crops such as maize, and 5,098 baht a rai of orchards. 

(Source: Bangkok Post, Floods to take B72bn toll on crops, H1 saw highest sector growth in a decade, 16/11/2011, Walailak Keeratipipatpong, link)

Flood Management Vocabulary

toll - normally the number of people killed or injured in an accident or disaster, but can refer to damage such number of job losses or rais of farmland destroyed, etc
take toll - cause damage

floods to take B72bn toll on crops

ravage - destroy
river basin - the area of land that produces water "runoff" when it rains that drains into the river, the land that drains into the river, also called "river drainage basin" (See Wikipedia)

floods that have been ravaging the Chao Phraya River basin

H1 - the first half of the year, the first six months of the year
sector - a part of the economy ภาคเศรษฐกิจของประเทศ (public sector = government, private sector = all businesses, household sector = families and consumers, banking sector,...) (See Wikipedia)
decade - a period of ten years ทศวรรษ, ระยะเวลา 10 ปี

H1 saw highest sector growth in a decade

forecast - a statement about what will happen in the future based on information available now พยากรณ์
trimmed forecast - reduced the forecast amount
projected - expected, forecast; the amount that experts believe something will be in the future

trimmed its growth forecast to only 1% from 3% projected earlier.

worst - most + bad
worst flooding in several decades - there has not been a flood this bad for 10, 20, 30, ... years

opportunity - a situation when it is possible to do something that you want to do (See glossary)
benefit - to get help or an advantage from something ผลประโยชน์

taken away the opportunity for Thai farmers to benefit from rising farm prices

income - money that people receive from work or some other source, used for household consumption and saving
if it wasn't for the floods, farmers should have earned more income this year

cassava - a plant used to make tapioca and also natural fuel for cars (See Wikipedia)
drove growth - caused something to get bigger (grow)

expand - to become larger ขายตัวออกไป
rate - the level or speed at which something happens or changes, or the amount or number of times it happens or changes in a particular period อัตรา

In the first half of this year, strong prices of crops such as rubber, oil palm, sugarcane and cassava drove the growth of Thailand's farm economy over the period to expand by 7.3% year-on-year, the highest rate in 10 years. 

bullish - belief that the stock market or the economy is going to get better in the near future, optimism
performance - how well or badly something works (or whether an investment provides a reasonable return)
bullish performance - they did very well so you think the future will be good (optimistic)

annual - happening once a year ประจำปี
projection - a calculation or guess about the future based on information that you have การคาดคะเน
annual growth projection - the amount that the economy will grow this year, according to experts

range - all the numbers between two numbers
a range of 1.4% to 2.4%

global - throughout the world; all over the world, including the whole world  ทั่วโลก ทั้งโลก
the slow global economy

survey - gathering information about what people think about different subjects (public opionion) by asking large numbers of people questions and counting their answers, and then using statistics, graphs, and tables to present results (See Wikipedia) การสำรวจความเห็น

flash floods - floods that happen quickly (water enters a place quickly, suddenly, unexpectedly)

devastated - badly damaged or destroyed ถูกทำลายล้าง
up to 1.4 million farmers have been affected by flash floods that have devastated over 30 provinces since July. 

livestock - animals such as cows, cattle, and sheep that are raised for commercial products such as meat, skins, or wool (See Wikipedia) ปศุสัตว์
fishery - 1. a fish farm; 2. an area of water where fish are caught so they can be sold พื้นที่ในการจับปลา

agricultural extension - "the application of scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through farmer education. The field of extension now encompasses a wider range of communication and learning activities organised for rural people by professionals from different disciplines, including agriculture, agricultural marketing, health, and business studies" (See Wikipedia)

Agricultural Extension Department

rice paddies - rice fields

critical - very important, very serious and dangerous; a  future situation will be affected by it สำคัญยิ่ง
critical condition - a very serious and dangerous situation

recovery - 1. getting something back, after it was lost; 2. when the economy gets better (more jobs, higher incomes) การฟื้นฟูสภาพ 3. becoming strong and healthy again after an illness or a problem ฟื้นฟู
recovery of  farmlands - getting farmlands back after they were damaged or destroyed; the process of repairing farmlands

resume - to begin again after stopping for a period of time ดำเนินต่อไปใหม่, กลับมาอีกครั้ง (ธุรกิจ) ที่ฟื้นตัวอีกครั้ง
It might not be possible for many farmers to resume next year

sufficient - enough พอเพียง
sufficient water - enough water
irrigate - send water to land to grown crops
well-irrigated land - land that has enough water to grow crops
areas that are well-irrigated or have sufficient water to resume growing the second crop as fast as possible. 

significant - large enough to be important or have an effect ที่สำคัญยิ่ง
lead to significant changes - big important changes will happen, as a result of this happening

risk - danger, how likely or possible it is for a bad event that causes harm and damage ความเสี่ยง
effectively - working well and producing the results that they wanted

natural - found in nature (not made in a factory by humans) ตามธรรมชาติ
disaster - something very bad that happens and causes a lot of damage or kills a lot of people ความหายนะ ภัยพิบัติ
natural disaster - a disaster such as an earthquake, tsunami, floods, storm, etc created by nature, not people alone

harsh - strict, unkind and very strong; showing no sympathy or understanding harsh reality อย่างรุนแรง

On the bright side, the floods will lead to significant changes in risk management to more effectively deal with natural disasters and harsh conditions. 

nationwide - throughout a whole country ทั่วทั้งประเทศ

dams -  large cement structure built in middle of  river to block and store water เขื่อน, เขื่อนกั้นน้ำ
reservoirs - the lake created when a dam is used to block and store water

the committee that manages water from dams and reservoirs nationwide. 

fixed - not changing 
meets on a fixed schedule - meets at certain times that never change (even during a natural disaster such as a flood, for example) 
leaving decisions in the hands of EGAT - does not make any decisions itself, just tells EGAT to make all the decisions 

the committee only meets on a fixed schedule, leaving the decisions to manage water from dams largely in the hands of Egat and the Royal Irrigation Department. 

frequent - happening often เกิดขึ้นบ่อย
abnormally frequent - happening more often than usual
monsoons - the heavy rains in Southeast Asia and India during the rainy season (See Wikipedia)

abnormally frequent storms and monsoons this year

mismanagement - not managing well, resulting in failure or poor performance; organising or controlling something badly การจัดการผิด

widely blamed for the disaster

meddling - getting involved and influencing decisions in areas that are none of your business (example: her friend meddled in her marrital affairs)
meddling politicians - politicians getting involved in areas that they should not be involved in (in order to serve the people in their district ... but perhaps damage the whole country in the process, local interests not always the same as the national interest)

diverting water flows - making water go in another direction

harvesting - collecting a crop from the fields การเก็บเกี่ยว
paddy - rice after it has been harvested from the field ข้าวเปลือก

The meddling of politicians by diverting water flows to allow farmers in certain provinces to finish harvesting paddy

delay - to make something happen at a later time than originally planned or expected เลื่อน
delay - when you have to wait longer than expected for something to happen, or the time that you have to wait การเลื่อน
harvest - gathering fully grown crops from the field เก็บเกี่ยว การเก็บเกี่ยวผลผลิต
he had asked officials to delay releasing water from the Bhumibol dam because rice farmers in the central plains were about to harvest.    

the central plains are where the second-crop rice is grown,

support - have what is needed to handle something (here: land having enough water to grow a second crop) 
have sufficient water to support the second crop

worthwhile - useful, important or good enough to be a suitable reward for the money or time spent or the effort made คุ้มค่ากับความพยายาม something that is useful or enjoyable to do ("worth" the time and effort)
massive - very large in size, amount or numberใหญ่โต มหาศาล
manipulation - controlling or influencing something for personal gain

yields - producing an amount of food; how much crop a farmer gets from farming one hectare of land ผลผลิต
provinces such as Suphan Buri produce strong yields, it's not worthwhile given the massive losses inflicted by such manipulation

source - someone who gives the media information แหล่งข่าว

relief - help for improving a bad physical condition or a bad situation การผ่อนคลาย, การบรรเทา การช่วยให้พ้นภัย money, food, medicine etc. that is given to help people in places where there has been a natural disaster, war, etc. เครื่องบรรเทาสาธารณภัย
relief packages - needed things such as food and medicine given to people in need such as people living in flood areas

on the drawing board - still planning the project

essentials - the important basic things that are needed for daily living (food, clothes, shelter)
free essentials - the basic things needed for daily living given away for free

debt - an amount of money that you owe หนี้
moratorium - temporary stopping of an activity
debt moratorium - allowing borrowers to not make payments on their loans for a period of time การพักชำระหนี้
three-year debt moratorium

farm cooperatives - a group of farmers that join together to sell their crops

infrastructure - the high-cost facilities that everyone in the economy shares (water, roads, electricity, trains) สาธารณูปโภค
improvements to infrastructure

assistance - help (given to someone)
compensation - money paid to a person for some loss or damage they suffered การจ่า่ยเงินชดเชย
the assistance is part of the compensation approved by the government

maize - a kind of corn (made into flour and fed to animals) ข้าวโพด  (See Wikipedia)

orchard - a farm with fruit trees สวนผลไม้
5,098 baht a rai of orchards