THE government needs to clarify its policy direction on whether or how to promote cassava plantation. Otherwise, cassava planters will be vulnerable to the changing government policies.... For instance, while the Yingluck government said it would go ahead with its populist policies to benefit the farmers, cassava planters have felt anegative side to these policies. Local planters have been directly affected by the reduction in diesel pricesbecause cassava produce is used in ethanol production.

...Over the past four months, local planters have suffered from changing domestic policy. The lower prices of diesel and benzene made gasohol less attractive because of the lower price margin. Drivers shifted back to diesel and benzene until the Yingluck government later announced it was cutting the gasohol price.Cassava planters bore the brunt of drastic changes in the government's policy.

From the middle of 2010 to early last year, the cassava prices rose sharply because the previous government set a policy to promote the use of gasohol by keeping gasohol prices lower than traditional fuel.

Many farmers convertedtheir farms to cassava plantations in the hope of earning more from this economic crop. The price of cassava, howev-er, saw a declining trend from the middle of last year partly because gasohol was not competitive in terms of price, compared to traditional fuel. ...The government should set a clear policy on planting cassava, whether it will continue to promote biodiesel, and how it would help ease the impact on local farmers of the liberalisation of agricultural imports. ..-(Jan9)