Sweetcorn yields rise despite smaller cultivation area
Sweetcorn yields rise despite smaller cultivation area
Canned fruit and vegetable producer Lao Agro Industry Company reported that last year's sweetcorn yields by farmers in Vientiane province rose by over 2,400 tonnes while the land area being used dropped by about 164 hectares.
“The farmers grew more than 5,500 tonnes of sweetcorn last year while they could only grow just over 3,000 tonnes in 2011,” a member of the company's technical staff, Mr Chavakorn Thongbai, said last Friday.
The farmers, mostly in Thoulakhom district, grow the corn for supply to the local factory for canning and export to both EU and Asian markets.
The report noted that their production had increased each year rising from about 802 tonnes in 2008 to 1,960 tonnes in 2009 and 2,856 tonnes in 2010.
Mr Chavakorn said last year's yields were high because the fields did not get flooded as they had in 2011.
The report noted, however, that the greater harvest of 5,500 tonnes was grown on only about 543 hectares of farmland while in the previous year the lower figure of over 3,000 tonnes was achieved on a much larger area of about 706.4 hectares.
He explained that the planted area was reduced by about 164 hectares because the farmers didn't plant in the areas that were likely to get flooded in the wet season.
However the harvest increased because the farmers paid attention to the advice and new techniques provided by the company, “and that caused the corn to grown in greater quantities,” he said.
“This year, we plan to have a corn harvest of at least 4,000 tonnes but this will be produced on just 480 hectares. ”
The company cans sweetcorn as well as producing pickled garlic and cabbage, rambutan in syrup, baby corn in brine, bamboo shoots, sweetcorn milk and palm seeds on its 5-hectare site in Thoulakhom. It sources most of its produce from forests and local farms, although some vegetables are imported.
It also plans to have new products in the future, including concentrated juice, which will be made from pineapples and passion fruit bought from local farms.
The company can produce an average of 3,600 tonnes of canned and bottled fruit and vegetables each year, with about 5 percent sold on the domestic market, while the remaining 95 percent is exported.
Currently the company has a large number of foreign buyers in both the EU and Asean countries, including the UK, France, Germany, Poland, Vietnam and Thailand, while it is focusing on finding more buyers in Asia.
The company's factory employs 300 people when there is a large supply of corn, its workforce comprising both permanent and temporary staff.
It has three international accreditations which certify production and product quality, namely Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) and British Retail Consortium (BRC).
vientiane times
