New Thai policy to curb Xayaboury production
New Thai policy to curb Xayaboury production
The Thai government has revamped its policy on sweetcorn imports from Xayaboury province, reducing the amount to 200 tonnes a week, compared to the previous allowance of an unlimited amount between March and June.
The provincial authorities say this restriction will place a burden on farmers because at harvest time they will have a large surplus of the crop, with no other ready market.
Thailand has long been the most attractive market for sweetcorn growers because of its close proximity and ease of transport.
The new policy also requires farmers to produce a sanitary certificate, which guarantees the quality of the crop.
To help the sweetcorn traders to expand their businesses the Thai authorities have shown them how to preserve and clean the product before it is exported.
Sweetcorn is still a priority commercial crop in the province, providing a better income for the local farmers to improve their living conditions and contribute to provincial economic development.
The authorities are expecting a smaller harvest this year, however, as the number of farmers growing sweetcorn and the amount of it that each will grow are likely to have decreased.
Last year farmers in the province produced about 328,000 tonnes of sweetcorn but this is expected to drop to 310,000 tonnes this year, a provincial Commerce and Industry Department official, Mr Khamxay, told Vientiane Times yesterday.
Each year, the province exports 60-70 percent of its total production to Thailand with the rest supplied to the domestic market and exp orted to China, he said.
Mr Khamxay said that despite the number of farmers growing this crop having decreased the price has remained stable at about 800-1,000 kip a kg from the farmers and over 2,000 kip a kg for export.
Other commercial crops being grown by farmers in the province are job-tear fruit followed by cassava.
In the first six months of this year the country earned about US$35.5 m illion from sweetcorn exports, which makes the crop the second highest earner after rubber, according to the Agriculture Department.
An important concern for the Agriculture Department officials is that most of the Lao farmers lack the technical expertise to improve the quality of their crop.
Despite the department having the technical assistance to help them do this there are many farming families unable to take advantage.
However, the department is now allocating priority areas for promotion and trying to encourage domestic and foreign investment on concession land for agricultural produce.
vientiane times
