Thais asked to cut rice production

BANGKOK: Thailand’s prime minister told farmers to cultivate less rice to help the country manage its intensifying water crisis, as experts called this year’s drought the worst in decades.

Prayut Chan-Ocha, the junta leader who grabbed power in a military coup two years ago, said his administration was working on a 20-year strategy to diversify the country’s agricultural sector, which has long relied on irrigation-intensive rice production.