Maize farmers to enjoy high prices
Maize farmers to enjoy high prices
Trade officials in XiengKhuang province have confirmed that maize farmers will be able to sell their crops for higher prices after the next harvest.
Provincial authorities met with representatives of buyers from Vietnam in Nonghed district in the last two weeks and discussed the price of corn which is a serious issue after it dropped last year.
Deputy Director of the Provincial Industry and Commerce Department,MrBounkhongNanthavong told Vientiane Times yesterday that Vietnamese buyers will pay 1,300 kip per kilo this year, an increase from 1,050 kip last year.
Maize is one of the crops being promoted in the province for commercial purposes and the provincial authority also gives priority to managing the price to help protect the benefits of farmers.
In the next two weeks farmers will start harvesting their crops and their main export markets are in Vietnam and China. The Namkan border checkpoint is the gateway to export corn to the Vietnamese market.
Mr Bounkhong said that Vietnam will have stronger purchasing power than the buyers from China.
Last year Vietnamese buyers offered a cheaper price for maize from Xieng Khuang province in the north of Laos because the country had already imported a lot of corn from Brazil and this destabilised market pricing.
Mr Bounkhong said that Vietnam will continue to import corn from Brazil, but Vietnam ese buyers will buy corn in Xieng Khuang province at the higher price because maize grown in the province provides more flour.
This year the provincial trade sec tor expected to export 120,000 tonnes of corn to overseas markets for a total value of 156 billion kip,a slight increase over last year.
Next week the provincial trade officials plan to meet with representatives of buyers from Vietnam and China to discuss issues that are related to exports.
The trade official confirmed that, the purchase and sale of maize in the province has few problems. This is not the same in other provinces such as Xayaboury which has a border with Thailand. Farmers there often have problems with buyers as they do not always agree to buy the crop.
Mr Bounkhong said that the provincial authority has made substantial efforts to encourage farmers to enter into purchase contracts with buyers to prevent possible problems with their trading, but the farmers have refused to do this because they have seen that the maize market in Xieng Khuang province does not have any problems yet. The farmers are able to sell all their produce without difficulty.
The areas in the province where there is the largest amount of corn grown are Kham and Phoukoud districts. Corn cultivation for commercial purposes has boomed since 2005 which has contributed significantly to the improvements in the living conditions of the local people.
Some families can earn 40-50 million kip per year from growing maize, the trade official said.
Besides corn, the province also has v arious agricultural products for export such as non-forest crops, rice and animals.
