Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives on Friday unveiled its 2000-2021 drought-risk-management (DRM) plan, designed to "prevent a repeat of the severe water shortages that hit farmers earlier this year."

Severe water shortage leads to difficulties in plantation agriculture, said the ministry's deputy permanent secretary Samran Saraban, adding that the ministry had drawn up a blueprint or "Smart DRM" to control the usage of water and redirect water channels to irrigation zones.

Smart DRM will help guide government agencies to solve farmers' drought-related issues, Samran added.

The Smart DRM guidelines will be presented to an agriculture-planning subcommittee considering plans for agricultural land nationwide.

In February, Thailand's Office of the National Water Resources (ONWR) reported that the country had been tackling the worst drought in 40 years.

Thailand's commercial Bank of Ayudhya's Krungsri Research in February said the drought in early 2020 may cost the country 46 billion baht (1.47 billion U.S. dollars), or 0.27 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).