Centre promotes organic rice cultivation for export
Centre promotes organic rice cultivation for export
Organic black rice looks set to become one of the new export products of Laos as demand for the health food rises in local and foreign markets.
“The demand for the organic black rice in China is unlimited, therefore it is possible to make it one of our new export products” Thasano Rice Research and Seed Multiplication Centre Director, Dr Phoudalay Latvilavong, said on Thursday.
The Savannakhet based centre director spoke to Vientiane Times after welcoming Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong and his delegation to the centre earlier this week. The premier wanted to give moral support to centre officials to provide seed and technical assistance to Savannakhet rice growers.
Dr Phoudalay said that the centre produced organic black rice for sale, aiming to attract local and foreign buyers, adding that the price of the grain with the ‘little frog' trademark is now 15,000 kip per kg while the price of the normal glutinous rice is only about 4,000 kip per kg.
According to information from the centre, the Little Frog Organic Sticky Black Rice is one of the local black rice varieties, which the centre selected and is encouraging farmers in Champhone district, Savannakhet province, to cultivate in one of its pilot projects.
The farmers are advised to raise frogs in the rice fields so that they will eat the insects, helping the farmers to save large amounts of money from not having to buy pesticides. The frogs will also be sold after the rice harvest, creating extra income for the rice growers.
The farmers are also advised to use natural fertilisers so that their products can be certified as organic goods and healthy food. A number of people, especially those with high incomes, now prefer to consume organic foods as they believe that organic food will help to protect their health.
Dr Phoudalay said that despite research showing the advantages for farmers to grow organic and traditional rice crops for domestic and foreign markets, it is not easy to convince them to support the plan, adding that the farmers believe cultivation of organic rice does not provide them with a high yield.
“The farmers have shifted to cultivation of new rice varieties and it is difficult to persuade them to come back to grow organic and traditional rice,” she said.
She said that the yield from organic black rice cultivation was only 1.5 to 2 tonnes per hectare while farmers can get about four tonnes per hectare from growing new rice varieties.
The Thasano Rice Research and Seed Multiplication Centre is one of the agricultural centres which provide seeds and technical support for rice growers in Savannakhet. The centre began rice research in 1998 and has produced 10 rice varieties since then.
The popular rice varieties which the centre supplies to Savannakhet farmers, are Thasano 3, 7, 8 and 9 and Homsavan rice
vientiane times
