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Thousands of rai of farmland in this northern province will soon be full of
sugarcane as farmers turn to grow crops that can be used to create ethanol
for biofuel, February 2007 by Supamart Kasem.

Farmers in the province whose land has been contaminated with cadmium are
being encouraged to grow sugarcane in a joint state and private sector
campaign to promote alternative crops to rice and edible plants.

About 2,080 hectares of land along the Mae Tao river basin in Mae Sot is
known to be contaminated.

The sugarcane from the campaign will supply an ethanol-producing factory
which is being set up by the recently established Mae Sot Clean Energy Co.
When it opens next year, the factory hopes to produce 100,000 litres of
ethanol a day.

The state-run Mae Tao River Basin Development Centre offers 900 (26.4 USD)
baht per tonne of sugarcane, as well as compensation for affected farmers
who make the switch to non-edible crops.

However, due to rising demand, the centre is pushing for 8,000 hectares of
uncontaminated land in Mae Ramat and Phop Phra districts to join the
programme and also grow sugarcane.

Mae Sot Clean Energy is a joint venture between Padaeng Industry Plc,
Petrogreen Co Ltd and Thai Oil Plc. It is building a 1.5-billion-baht (38.3
million USD) ethanol production plant. The ethanol produced will be used to
create gasohol, which is a blend of 10% crop-derived ethanol and 90%
gasoline.

"The company's investment coincides with the government's project to promote
the farming of non-edible crops in 2,080 hectares of cadmium-tainted land,"
said Tak governor Chumporn Polrak.

He said the higher returns prompted 310 out of 800 landowners in the
cadmium-tainted areas to plant sugarcane, with the crop now covering about
848 hectares.

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