Increasing agricultural exports requires more cooperation

Increasing agricultural exports requires more cooperation

All parties involved need to accept greater responsibility for carrying out their duties if the country is to expand its exports of agricultural produce.

The country is currently well behind its neighbours in the Asean region in the of its agricultural exports according to the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Ms Khemmani Pholsena.

Ms Khemmani made the comment at the National Assembly meeting yesterday. Coordination and responsibility within each relevant sector are not yet strongly established, she said.

“To increase the amount of food and agricultural products that we export and improve the quality and quantity we produce, we need four things to work efficiently together,” Ms Khemmani explained.

Firstly, the government should help to encourage farmers and business entrepreneurs to produce bigger and better crops by formulating a suitable policy on loans, costs (electricity, etc.) and technical assistance.

“Secondly, we have to use scientific systems to improve the quality and quantity of the yield,” she said.

Thirdly, entrepreneurs should take more responsibility for establishing farming cooperatives and provide more training to help the farmers.

Finall y every farmer should be aware that their crops could be used for local sales and for export because at the moment most Lao farmers are still growing crops using traditional methods, and many of them only produce sufficient for their own family's consu mption.

Despite the government having set up a committee to work on this issue, some sectors still fail to act on this and carry out their responsibilities.

The prin cipal aim of increasing agricultural exports is to make agriculture a major income earner for the country and the farmers themselves and to contribute more towards socio- economic development for eventual poverty elimination.

The volume of agricultural production in Laos is constantly increasing year by year, according to the government.

This year the government expects rice production will reach four million tonnes, against a reported 3.28 million tonnes last y ear.

The government is also expecting the farmers to produce 64,670 tonnes of maize, 3,124 tonnes of soybeans and 10,700 tonnes of peanuts.

The government aims to promote increasing production of commercial crops and ensure sustainability in order to improve farming families' living conditions and contribute more to socio-economic development.

For poverty reduction, the government, more particularly the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, will continue to coordinate with the relevant sectors in formulating regulations and new improved measures.

The major commercial crops currently being exported by Laos are rice, coffee, maize, beans, sugar and cassava.

vientiane times