Global sugar prices have nosedived – and that's far from sweet for Thailand, which has 3.5 million sugarcane growers in an industry worth nine billion US dollars a year.

There's been a bumper crop of sugar in Thailand this year. That would normally be a cause for celebration, but production has also been high in other countries, notably China, Brazil, India and Pakistan.

That's led to a global surplus. Prices have fallen by more than two-thirds, from 36 US cents per pound in 2011 to just 11 cents now, with a forecast they could go even lower.

Some places are seeing prices at the same level they were 20 years ago.

"The price is falling but the cost of growing is the same, fertilizer still costs [spends] the same. I don't know what to do, I wait for the government to help,” said Thailand sugar grower Wattana Pongsai.

He's seen his income fall by more than a third at his 50-rai (20-acre) plantation at Kanchanaburi in western Thailand.

"I have to watch my spending because my income is decreasing. I have to try to spread my money so it lasts the whole year," said Wattana.

"My land is on a hill and can only be used for plating sugarcane. You need low-lying land to plant rice. 

"I won't quit but it will be hard to survive."  

The Thai government – which wants to end state subsidies – has nevertheless approved a half-a-billion dollar support package for the sugar industry.

In the past, the government paid a subsidy to growers based on the market price but Brazil – the number one exporter compared to Thailand the number two – complained that this breached World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

Now the government can only provide funds to purchase materials, such as fertilizer. There's an upper limit on state help of no more than 10 percent of the value of the national crop.

"It's not enough," said Naradhip Anantasuk, manager of the Thailand Sugarcane Planters' Federation. "It can lessen the planters' burden – but the government is being held back by WTO rules so they can't help us as much as they used to."

Many farmers were encouraged to switch to sugar by the Thai government after seeing prices fall for rice, sweetcorn and cassava.

But this has seen annual production of sugarcane increase from 94 million tons to 135 million tons, a factor in bringing down the price. A number of growers now feel the government owes them more support.

In light of the slump, Thailand has held back 500,000 tons of planned exports and will try to sell it to biofuel producers inside the country.

And it's not just sugar growers who are finding it hard to be competitive in a country often called "the world's kitchen." 

Thailand is one of the top two rice producers, but there's a constant need for state subsidies. The government says farmers must become more efficient.

Handouts and low-cost loans have also been given to 500,000 cassava growers in the last two years.

In 2018 there's a big oversupply of coconuts, leading to falling prices and a massive stockpile in Thailand.

In the main growing area in western Thailand's Prachuap Khiri Khan, up to 80 percent of people are involved in the coconut business.

Warehouse owners who bought coconuts from farmers but now cannot sell them have debts of around six million dollars.

Thailand remains one of the world's most productive agricultural nations, but analysts say there's an urgent need for government-level management of crop growing and geographical distribution to ensure price stability and farmers' livelihoods.