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Natural disasters threaten agricultural output targets
Laos is facing a major challenge to boost agricultural output to meet domestic demand next fiscal year after recent floods destroyed large areas of farmland in the country, according to economists.
The comments came after farmers nationwide began to count the costs of tropical storm Nok-Ten which hit Laos last weekend, while large parts of the country were still recovering from tropical storm Haima in late June.
The two storms destroyed large areas of agricultural crops, irrigation systems and infrastructure in central and northern parts of the country, which threatens to compromise the achievement of the nation's agricultural production plan for next year.
“The natural disasters have created additional pressure on the Lao government to address the high inflation rate,” National Economic Research Institution Acting Director General Dr Leeber Leebuapao said on Monday.
He said that the relevant sect ors should increase cooperation to restore damaged and destroyed agricultural areas and provide assistance to farmers so they can replant rice and other cash crops to ensure a reliable supply of food to the domestic market.
A sufficient supply of goods to the market is one of the main conditions for stable prices. The government plans to boost agricultural output next year to counter the current high food prices in the country.
According to the 2011-12 National Socio-Economic Development Plan, which the National Assembly approved in June, the government plans to ensure 950,000 hectares of rice is cultivated next fiscal year; aiming to supply about 3.6 million tonnes to the market, a 6 percent increase on this year's crop.
It also plans to encourage farmers to grow various cash crops on 203,000 hectares, an 8 percent increase compared to the present fiscal year. Of the total cash crop plantation area, 30,000 hectares will be used to cultivate sweet corn, with an expected output of 120 tonnes.
The government also plans to ensure that 38,000 hectares of fruit trees are farmed next fiscal year, supplying 460 tonnes of produce, as well as 105,000 hectares of vegetables, providing about 1,050 tonnes of produce.
It also expects that the total coffee plantation area in the country will reach 65,000 hectares next fiscal year, providing an output of 90,000 tonnes, along with 18,000 hectares of soybean supplying 27,000 tonnes of produce and 32, 000 hectares of beans yielding 60,800 tonnes.
The government expects that the total sugarcane cultivation area in Laos will reach 22,000 tonnes next fiscal year, enough to supply 880,000 tonnes of produce; while the cultivation area of tobacco will reach 8,000 hectares, resulting in a production output of about 72,000 tonnes of the crop.
vientiane times
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