Thailand's sugar production may actually jump about 5 million tonnes in the next five years as millers expand capacity and the government encourages farmers to switch to sugar cane from rice.
Twelve new sugar processing plants may be added to the already existing 52 factories over the next few years.
Farmers favour planting sugar cane as it can withstand drought and survive floods, unlike rice or cassava.
Sugar cane also gives farmers better income compared with other crops.
Sugar cane output is set to climb to 180 million tonnes by 2026, yielding around 20 million tonnes of sugar while the area under the crop will expand to 16 million rai from 10 million rai now.
Increased output will be mainly sold in Asia and also used for ethanol (used as a fuel for automobiles) and also for biochemical production