Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone addresses the agriculture and forestry meeting on Jan 23, 2024. - VT
VIENTIANE: Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone has called for agriculture and forestry departments to boost domestic productivity for export and minimize imports of products that Laos can produce.
The PM made the call when addressing a meeting held in Vientiane on Tuesday (Jan 23), attended by Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr Phet Phomphiphak and provincial officials.
At the meeting, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry summarised its achievements during the year 2023 and outlined its plans for 2024.
The PM highlighted some challenges which need to be addressed. For instance, agriculture production groups are also not well organised and do not achieve high crop yields, even though there is plenty of land available, he added.
Farming methods remain basic and unfocused so that yields in the dry season are especially low, and do not come close to meeting demand.
Farmers are poorly educated in the science of crop cultivation and do not use any form of mechanisation, the prime minister observed.
In addition, effective management and protection of forests lacks support from local communities, while developers are being awarded concessions on vast swathes of land so that deforestation is increasing.
In response, the ministry promised to do more to protect forested areas in remote parts of the country this year.
Reports covering agriculture and forestry development in rural areas from 2021 to 2023 referred to the need to increase crop yields and food production so that less food needed to be imported and more was produced for domestic consumption and export.
Efforts in this direction were largely unsuccessful, however, because of the shortage of seeds and fertiliser, the lack of animal feed, and the overall high cost of agricultural production and inputs. - Vientiane Times/ANN
