RUBBER REPLANT. III

closed

The project would comprise: (i) a four-year time slice of the Office of the Rubber Replanting Aid Fund's (ORRAF) agricultural development program, including new rubber replanting and continuation and completion of past replantings to maturity; (ii) ORRAF's related field administration, management and training costs; (iii) upgrading of the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand's (RRIT) research centers; (iv) the Department of Agricultural Extension (DOAE) group processing and marketing centers and replanter training; and (v) technical assistance to improve (a) ORRAF's organization and management structure; and (b) RRIT's adaptive research, base line surveys and linkages between research and extension. Under the proposed loan, the ORRAF program would also be modified to: ensure more cost effective use of financial and staff resources; re-orient targets, resources and procedures to reach the more needy rubber smallholders under a special Needy Rubber Smallholder Development Program.