BANGKOK, Jan 14 (TNA) – The Agriculture and
Cooperatives Ministry has launched a three-year campaign to support enthusiastic
younger generation to carry on the jobs of their parents as farmers.
Deputy Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Mananya
Thaiset said the programme would screen
determined people with the family background in farming and support them to
start up their farm at their hometown upcountry, so they will be reunited with
their families and become trainers in respective areas.
Mananya said that Thailand is moving towards an aging
society and children of farmers leave their homes to work in the cities,
contributing to farm labor shortage.
Participants are required to be not over 50 years old
and have their own land or can rent a land for farming.
If they do not have the land, the ministry will
allocate land in the 17 cooperative estate areas for them to do farming in the
form of collaborative farming,
she said.
Initially, the ministry has planned to accept at least
500 participants. So far, 5,000 people,
including 14 PhD candidates applied for the programme.
The application date is opened until the end of this
month and the selected persons will announced on March 2. (TNA)
