From July 15-17, 2025, Ms. Sucharee Picha, Director of the Office of Agricultural Economics Zone 1, chaired focus group meetings to study para rubber crop insurance. These meetings were held as part of the “Study on Approaches to Develop Opportunities for Income Generation and Agricultural Sustainability” project for the 2025 fiscal year. The provinces covered were Chiang Rai, Phayao, Lampang, and Chiang Mai. Agencies from both within and outside the Ministry of Agriculture, farmers, large-scale farming groups, farmer groups, and other relevant stakeholders participated, offering opinions and suggestions on the study’s findings. The project’s objectives are to study the demand for para rubber crop insurance models and to develop suitable para rubber crop insurance guidelines that align with farmers’ needs.
During the meetings, Ms. Wipawan Srijamlong, a skilled policy and planning analyst, presented preliminary study results from a survey of 203 farmers. The findings indicated that most para rubber farmers are elderly, and their cultivation areas are primarily on Sor Por Kor 4-01 land (Agricultural Land Reform Office land). The main source of funding is self-financing, and most labor comes from within the household. The primary peril identified was fire or forest fire. The age range for which farmers desire insurance coverage is for trees that have been yielding for 7 years or more, but not exceeding 30 years. Regarding the insurance model, 71% of farmers expressed a desire for insurance through government projects or agencies, and 80.7% of farmers were interested in para rubber crop insurance. For farmers who were not interested, the reasons cited included low risk in their cultivation areas, their ability to bear the risk themselves, and their preference to await further clarity on the project.
