Crop exports continue to rise in Laos
Crop exports continue to rise in Laos
Income from the export of commercial crops continues to grow every year and investment in the agricultural sector has also increased.
Most of the exported crops are sweetcorn, Job's tears, rice, cassava and sugarcane, according to the Agriculture Department.
At a meeting in Vientiane held from July 19-20, the department Director General, Dr Monthathip Chanphengxay reported that in 2010 the country received US$125 million from crop exports. Last year that figure doubled to US$250 million.
Other important crops including peanuts, cabbage, and bananas are being grown on a larger scale and industrial processing capacity has also increased.
The number of private companies investing in the agricultural sector grew to 13 for the fiscal year 2011-2012 with a total investment of US$24 million.
Most of the crops invested in are rice, cassava, sweetcorn, coffee, and bananas, said Dr Monthathip. She explained that the department will work to encourage farmers and companies to expand cultivation into more areas.
For the next fiscal year, the department is encouraging farmers to produce 57,000 tonnes of coffee, one million tonnes of sweetcorn, 740,000 tonnes of cassava and 1.5 million tonnes of sugarcane, Dr Monthathip said.
Increased production will lead to improved socio-economic development for Lao families and better living conditions.
Most exports are now unprocessed but the government hopes to bring more processing facilities to Laos in order to add value to the exported products. Many companies have already set up such factories and others have plans to do the same in the near future.
However, the government will try to direct the growers attention to producing a higher quality of crops to match the goods from overseas competition, because Lao farmers have good soil conditions and growing areas to allow for organically grown produce suitable for local sale and export.
Most sweetcorn is planted in Xayaboury, Luang Prabang, Oudomxay, Xieng Khuang, Bokeo and Vientiane provinces and 160,000 hectares of land are projected to be used this year according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry .
Sugarcane is a popular commercial crop and most is planted in Savannakhet province but Champassak, Saravan and Attapeu provinces are seeing increased cultivation.
Coffee is produced on around 40,000 hectares of land primarily in the southern provinces and exports are expected to reach 46,300 tonnes next year.
Most of the cassava produced in Borikhamxay and Vientiane provinces is supplied to the Lao Indochina Public Company Tapioca Factory, located Pakngum district in Vientiane.
vientiane times
