A rice field in Laos (Source:VNA) Vientiane (VNA) – The Lao government plans to export one million tonnes of rice this year and ensure 2.1 million tonnes for domestic consumption.
The 2016 target also includes 400,000 tonnes of rice for reserve purposes and 60,000 tonnes for seeding, said Saypadeth Chounlamany, Director of the Department of Planning and Cooperation under the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
The ministry has set the goal of 31 percent growth for the agro-forestry sector in the 2015-2016 period, bringing its share in the national Gross Domestic Products (GDP) to 22.7 percent.
To achieve the goal, the Lao government has encouraged local farmers to raise area under wet rice cultivation to 1 million hectares and that of upland rice to 100,000 hectares to produce 4.2 million tonnes of rice annually.-VNA
