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VIENTIANE, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Lao rice production this fiscal year may be less than targeted as both natural disaster, including drought and flooding, as well as insects have impacted crop yields.
The Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry has estimated farmers around the country to produce 4.2 million tons of rice this fiscal year (till September 30), among which 600,000 tons from dry season rice, 3.4 million tons of wet season rice, and another 200,000 tons of upland rice.
The ministry encouraged farmers to plant 113,000 hectares of dry season rice but only 99,315 hectares were planted while the actual harvested fields were 98,678 hectares as cold weather impacted this year's yields, Lao state-run Vientiane Times online newspaper reported Wednesday.
Agriculture officials expect that dry season rice production this year would reach only 500,000 tonnes.
The lower than targeted numbers of dry season rice could be due to different reasons including shortage of water, a shift to produce other commercial crops, and some farmers simply changing jobs, officials say.
Currently, most farmers around the country are ploughing to prepare their land for planting wet season rice with some farmers already finished sowing their rice seeds.
To reach the targeted 3.4 million tons of rice during this wet season, the ministry has directed the provincial agriculture and forestry sectors to provide advice in new techniques and higher productivity methods with the help of using good quality seeds and modern machines where possible.
The agriculture and forestry sector had also received 20 billion kip (2.5 million U.S. dollars) from the government's budget to repair and improve over 160 irrigation projects to prevent drought impact.
Most provinces have finished the implementation of these projects while some are still under operation, according to irrigation authorities.
The ministry has also purchased almost 200 water pumps for provinces to use in water shortage emergencies but is still concerned about the impact of droughts on irrigated rice fields.
Natural disasters, especially drought and flooding, destroy thousands of hectares of crops each year and they are still a major contributing factor to Lao farmers not reaching their targets.
The ministry estimates around 2.1 million tons of total rice production this year will be used for domestic consumption with another 1 million tons for sale and export. Enditem
