"Impacts of Depreciated Currency on Agriculture in Thailand"
Japan Agricultural Research Quarterly (JARQ) , Vol.33, No.3, 1999,
Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences (JIRCAS)
Summary
This article estimates the impact of currency depreciation, that took place on July 2 in Thailand, on agriculture especially on prices and production by estimating and constructing demand-supply models for main agricultural commodities. As a result, it was found that the most favored sectors were upland crops which compete in the world market and for which dollar prices are given, and the broiler meat export sector which has a significant market share in Japan, although the contraction of the domestic market exceeded the expansion in export. The next favored sector was the rice in the rainy season for which few imported input materials are used and the output price depends on export. Domestic sectors such as pork and eggs were worth off because of the contraction of the domestic market. If we consider the recent economic recession in Thailand, the impact of the factors indicated above is amplified, although the increase in the number of migrants from urban to rural areas may lead to the decrease in the farmers' income per capita.
(note)This research is based on the Thailand-Japan joint project named as "Econometric Model Building of Agriculture in Thailand" sponsored and coordinated by JICA and JIRCAS, and conducted in the Office of Agricultural Economics, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand.