Govt plans rice stockpile
Govt plans rice stockpile
The Lao government plans to stockpile about 950,000 tonnes of rice next fiscal year, amid worries about rising food prices in the country over next few months.
According to the National-Socio Economic Development Plan for 2012/2013, which will be put into practice in October, the government plans to stockpile a large amount of rice. It will stockpile a sufficient supply of the staple food to keep the market stable, for at least a three month period.
The stockpiled rice will be released onto the market to secure a stable supply of the staple food, and keep a lid on inflationary pressures.
At present, the price of rice in Vientiane is now stable at between 65,000 to 135,000 kip per 12 kilogrammes, depending on quality. However statisticians at the Lao National Statistics Bureau have warned the government and consumers about the possibility of rice price hikes over next few months.
They said that Lao farmers traditionally like to stop selling rice from August to December, until they harvest new crops. The wet season also causes difficulties for traders, when it comes to transporting rice from production bases in the countryside to city markets.
One of the main factors which could cause the price of rice to increase over the next few months was that the country failed to achieve rice production targets last year, as large areas of farmland and agriculture production bases were damaged during recent floods, according to the statistics bureau.
The government is now imposing stronger restrictions on rice exports. Despite the fact that many consumers are happy with the government's measures to prevent the outflow of rice from the country, economists and traders warned that the move could discourage farmers from growing extra rice.
“The farmers are now complaining that the price of rice is very low and want the sector concerned to help them to sell rice at a better price,” a rice trader said, adding that if farmers do not grow rice, it will cause a shortage in supply in the future.
According to the traders, t here are many examples which the sector concerned can learn from, such as the price of pork, which has been fluctuating over the previous few years. At one point, pig farmers stopped raising pigs as they thought the price of pork was too low, which lead to a spike in the price of the pork hike over the following years.
Agricultural officials have recommended that the government should come up with a policy to guarantee the price of agricultural crops instead of limiting exports of rice, so as they can encourage farmers to grow rice for both the domestic and world markets.
The Ministry of Planning and Investment expects that the country will produce 3.8 million tonnes of rice in the 2012/2013 fiscal year, to meet the growing demands of an expanding population. The country plans seven major rice plantation projects in the country, to ensure that rice production targets can be reached.
vientiane times
