Suriyas withdrew the cabinet agenda proposing a 6.5 billion baht central budget to promote biofertilizers replacing chemical fertilizers, stating it did not meet urgent criteria and plans to revise the plan for careful consideration.
At 09:45 on 19 May 2026 at the Government House, Suriyas Junrungreangkit, Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, spoke about the cabinet proposal for a 6.5 billion baht central budget for a biofertilizer and bioproduct project to replace fertilizer shortages caused by the Middle East conflict. The Department of Agriculture Science had proposed this to the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives for cabinet submission. However, on 18 May, the Auditor General notified the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary that the project might not qualify as an especially urgent case for central budget use. Therefore, for prudence, the Minister withdrew the project from the cabinet agenda to review all aspects thoroughly and decide on the next steps.
When asked if another project would replace the central budget proposal to resolve fertilizer shortages for farmers, Suriyas said he would first review the Office of the Auditor General’s remarks carefully before considering the direction of future actions.