Savannakhet to be model rice exporter

Savannakhet to be model rice exporter

Savannakhet province will be home to the country's first model rice-for-export scheme under a recently announced government project.

Supported by the ministries of Agriculture and Forestry and Industry and Commerce, the project will offer training for farmers in rice growing techniques to produce a high yield and surplus for export.

Provincial agriculture section head, Mr Khamsaeng Sorphabmixay, told Vientiane Times that authorities had selected volunteer farmers from 13 villages of the province's Champhone district to be part of the project.

He said the chosen areas were suitable for rice growing because they already had irrigation systems in place to guarantee appropriate growing conditions, as well as good cultivation land.

Farmers living in the district are traditionally rice producers, as well as growing other cash crops and breeding livestock for their income, Mr Khamsaeng said.

“We plan to encourage farmers in the target areas to plant 500ha this wet season, and grow even more next year if the project is a success,” he said.

Most rice planted under the project will be white rice, with some seeds provided by Lao agricultural promotion operators, and training offered by provincial agricultural staff.

After harvest, Mr Khamsaeng said, farmers and authorities will look to export companies to sell the surplus rice in neighbouring countries or further afield.

As a province, Savannakhet can produce sufficient rice for its own consumption and some surplus to sell at market.

Last year, the provincial agriculture and forestry sector encouraged farmers to grow more than 600,000 tonnes of rice, of which half would be surplus, Mr Khamsaeng said.

However, most of the extra rice is the sticky variety and is used to supply the domestic market.

Laos currently produces an annual ric e surplus of more than 1 million tonnes for domestic consumption, but only about 100,000 tonnes of rice products (including paddy and polished rice) were reported as exported to places like Vietnam, Thailand, China and the European market last year.

Many rural farmers are still growing only enough rice to meet the needs of their family.

To promote Lao rice for export and integrate with the regional and international market in the future, the government has welcomed domestic and foreign investment in the sector to improve the quality of rice yields.

The Asian Development Bank has p redicted Laos will be able to switch from being a rice importer to a minor rice exporter over the next decade if it can maintain current grain production and consumption growth rates.

vientiane times