Lab tests show rice “edible”

Govt to carry out the auction strategy.

Lab tests show rice 'edible'
Phumtham Wechayachai, center straight, Commerce Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and other officials eat decade-old rice in Surin at the beginning of the month. ( Photo: Ministry of Commerce )

After a lab test revealed that the corn is also safe for use, the government will deal with its program to bid off the wheat from Yingluck Shinawatra’s promising scheme that had been stored in two warehouses in Surin for ten years.

Phumtham Wechayachai, the deputy prime minister and trade minister, is visiting Italy. A secret laboratory tested samples taken from the two stores in Surin to determine whether they were free of mycotoxins and other chemical residues.

A writer from a secret media outlet sent the tests in.

” I’m happy about the result, especially since the samples were sent in by journalists”, he said, adding the samples were also sent to the Department of Medical Sciences ( DMSc ) for further analysis.

Mr. Phumtham said he has given the Public Warehouse Organisation the task of creating the terms of reference and drawing up the arrangements for the bidding now that it has been established that the rice is safe for consumption.

Dr Yongyot Thammavudhi, DMSc director- standard, said on Sunday&nbsp, the section has finished testing the corn samples from the Commerce Ministry. Today’s press conference did reveal the outcome.

Srettha Thavisin, the prime minister, has stated that the government wants a balanced body to assess the quality of the grain to determine whether it is suitable for export.

” If the customers want us to examine the rice’s value, we are ready to do thus. The prime minister said that corn that is in good condition and free of chemical contaminants will fetch a high price.

In order to help the government generate some income, Mr. Phumtham has urged the government to auction off 15, 000 tonnes of grain left over from the past government’s grain pledging scheme in order to generate some revenue.

Mr Phumtham said the bid is expected to collect about 270 million baht, and lower storeroom fees, which may reach up to 380, 000 ringgit per month.

He stated that the grain is anticipated to be exported to Africa.

The deputy head of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, Mr. Phumtham, led a group of authorities and reporters to check two wheat warehouses in Surin, which showed that the grain had been stored there for ten years and is still nutritious.

The minister claimed that the warehouses were sealed to prevent parasites and water from entering while the rice at both stores had been meticulously preserved and often fumigated.

However, critics claim that the rice appeared to be in” great condition” because it has been subjected to numerous cleaning cycles for more than ten years.

If the corn has gone through at least 60 cleaning cycles, which reviewers believe are harmful to people’s wellbeing, then it needs to be fumigated every two weeks.

Weerachai Phutdhawong, a well-known natural science pro who was asked by a media shop to analyze samples taken from Surin, also claimed to have discovered aflatoxins on the rice. An increased risk of kidney cancers has been linked to flatoxins.

Detractors are also concerned about the impact of the discussion on Thai rice’s standing abroad.

The Yingluck corn- promising system, which ran from 2011 to 2014, was the largest wheat market treatment programme in Thai history.

Without imposing any restrictions on the amount of money that farmers can buy during the plan, the government purchased grains far above market value.

As a result, there were loss totaling hundreds of billions of ringgit.

Yingluck fled the nation in 2017, just before the Supreme Court handed her a five-year prison term for obstructing wheat sales plagued by fraud.

When the program ended in May 2014, approximately 18.6 million kilograms of grain remained.

On Sept 10, 2018, the management of excellent minister Prayut Chan- o- gan sold 17.8 million tonnes or 95.7 % of the property, generating a income of about 146 billion baht.