ສົນທະນາທົ່ວໄປ

Natural disasters and a shortage of seeds have caused rice production in Laos to miss government targets for the second consecutive year – dealing a blow to its hopes of becoming a rice-exporting nation.

Laos produced 2.7 million tons of rice in 2012, 10,000 tons short of the official target set, according to official figures.

“Laos was not able to produce enough rice to meet the target because of a lack of seed, and in particular because farmers do not understand how to use the seed correctly, which reduces the quality of the rice yield,” an agriculture official told Radio Free Asia’s Lao Service, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Floods were another factor, mostly in the low-lying areas along the Mekong River,” he added.

Laos aims to produce 4.2 million tons of rice by 2015 to become a rice-exporter like its neighbours.

Last year it announced plans to join Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia in setting up a rice exporting cooperative to gain leverage on the international market.