Development of Agribusiness Enterprises - Asian Productivity ...

Table 1. Cultivated Area, Yield, Production and Value of Crops in Thailand, 1997/98
Crops
Area
(000 ha)
Production
(000 mt)
- 167 -
Yield
(mt/ha)
Value
(US$ million)
Main rice crop 9,113.28 18,789 2.06 3,275.39
Second rice crop 1,156.96 4,791 4.14 825.37
Maize 1,396.64 3,832 2.74 421.52
Cassava 1,071.04 15,591 14.56 491.12
Sugar cane 943.52 46,873 49.68 594.12
Para rubber 1,831.04 2,169 1.18 1,262.90
Source: Office of Agricultural Economics, 1999.
The National Economic and Social Development Plans (NESDPs) also emphasize the
commercialization of agriculture, thus moving away from subsistence farming towards
intensive mono-crop production for export. However, the proportion of agricultural GDP
declined to almost 25 percent in the third NESDP period and to just over 10 percent in the
seventh NESDP period, respectively (Table 2). Table 3 shows GDP value in the agriculture
sector from the third to the seventh NESDP, including crops, livestock and fisheries.
Table 2. GDP Value, Third to Seventh NESDP, 1972-96
Sector
Third Plan
1972-76
Fourth Plan
1977-81
Fifth Plan
1982-86
Sixth Plan
1987-91
(Unit: Percent)
Seventh Plan
1992-96
Agriculture 25.08 21.39 19.01 14.88 10.30
Non-agriculture 74.92 78.61 80.99 85.12 89.70
Source: National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), 1997.
Table 3. GDP Value of the Agriculture Sector, 1971-96
Sector
Third Plan
1972-76
Fourth Plan
1977-81
Fifth Plan
1982-86
Sixth Plan
1987-91
(Unit: Percent)
Seventh Plan
1992-96
Crops 60.8 60.7 63.2 61.9 61.3
Livestock 8.8 9.9 9.5 10.6 10.7
Fisheries 9.8 9.7 9.7 10.7 11.7
Forestry
Simple agriculture processed
products and
10.4 7.7 5.3 3.2 0.6
agriculture services 10.2 12.0 12.3 13.6 15.7
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: NESDB, 1997.
Export Earnings Situation
Exports of principal agricultural products in 1997 are detailed in Table 4.