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Laos: New facility set to improve rice quality
The Khaolao Company has invested more than seven billion kip to install a rice dryer and quality control facilities at its new plant in Vientiane, which can process 1,200 tonnes of rice.
An opening ceremony was held at the factory yesterday attended by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Office Deputy Head Dr Bounay Nounouannavong and company Director Mr Outhai Taymany.
Minister of Energy and Mines Dr Soulivong Daravong and officials from various agriculture and forestry agencies were also present.
The aim of the new facility is to ensure quality control and cut losses in crop harvests. This will increase the quality and price of rice, and bring in more income for farmers.
Mr Outhai said “In 2009, my company teamed up with the National Agriculture and Forestry Extension Service to promote, improve and commercialise rice cultivation.”
“The first problem with most of the rice produced is its poor quality. When mixed together there are certain varieties of rice that cannot be sold, either because of their colour or smell.''
Some of the problems encountered were due to a lack of drying and long term storing facilities, he added.
Many farmers are unable to produce good quality rice because, especially in weather extremes such as flooding, they have no sure way to protect the grain.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, each year Lao farmers lose 10-15 percent of their rice harvest.
To improve farmers' incomes and living conditions, it is essential to improve the rice production process. The amount of rice lost during and post harvest is of serious concern.
Mr Outhai said that even a one percent recovery rate of lost crops would enable 10 factories like this one to be built.
The factory is well equipped with modern machinery which will ensure better quality rice, giving farmers the opportunity to enhance their production and income.
“Before I decided to set up the Khaolao Company in 2005, the government and especially the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry sent me for training in Vietnam where I learnt about rice harvesting, its technical aspects and crop protection,'' he said.
Mr Outhai began promoting these new techniques in Laos in 2006, using smaller dryers that can process between 500kg and about 4 tonnes of rice seed at one time.
The company has distributed 138 small sized dryers in 14 provinces but many more are needed.
The company will collect and buy rice from farmer groups and teach them new harvesting methods that will enable them to improve rice quality.
To prevent decay and ensure proper drying, rice should be collected within 10 hours of being harvested and dried within 24 hours. If the crop is too far away and too bulky to transport in a short time, the company will install a medium sized dryer for the farmer group.
vientiane times
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