In 2014, farm income1 fell in line with declining agricultural
prices, while agricultural output increased slightly.
Farm income declined for the third consecutive year, owing
to depressed prices of rubber, rice and sugarcane — Thailand’s
top three economic crops that accounted for an overwhelming
59 percent of total agricultural output. Rubber, rice and sugarcane
prices dropped by 26, 18 and 5 percent respectively. Low agricultural
prices were attributable to three key factors: 1) rubber prices fell
markedly on the back of lower global demand, particularly Chinese
demand because China had a large stock of rubber. In addition,
the slump in oil prices encouraged the switch from natural rubber
to synthetic rubber in some cases, 2) rice prices declined following
the end of the rice pledging scheme and the offloading of
government rice stockpiles, and 3) sugarcane prices fell due to
global excess supply caused by expansion of output in major
world producers, especially Brazil.