Crop fair aims to reap rewards for farmers
The department is hosting the Vientiane Crop Trade Fair at Lao-ITECC on Saturday, to help farmers expand their customer base and inspire more people to buy locally grown farm produce. The fair will feature produce grown in Vientiane’s nine districts. Organisers say the fair aims to build awareness among Vientiane residents about the quality of home-grown produce and encourage the cultivation of organically farmed crops in the capital. The event will serve as a platform to inspire Lao people to buy and consume localproducesothecountry can cut back on the import of non-essential foreign goods. The fair will place special emphasis on the One District, One Product scheme, which promotes goods produced by model families as well as crops grown by organic farmers’ groups.
Organisers see the fair as an opportunity for producers, distributors and consumers to boost trade, identify direct wholesale markets, and improve the conditions for vegetable cultivation and fruit supply. These combined efforts will result in a brighter future for Lao farmers and boost the sale of their produce in local markets. This will benefit the economy and stimulate the formation of working groups to roll out policies that promote domestic goods in the interest of consumers.
Experts on agricultural production say there is increasing demand for quality agricultural produce from international markets, so there are export opportunities for Laos’ agricultural products. But this will only happen if more is done to develop farming and farm produce to meet overseas market requirements. In 2018, bananas were the most exported crop with a value of US$209 million, accounting for 30 percent of all agricultural exports. This was followed by US$70 million worth of coffee exports and US$24 million worth of dried cassava, according to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Laos’ main export markets are China, Thailand, Vietnam, and the European Union.
The government has predicted that the agriculture sector will grow by 2.8 percent this year so long as there are no more extreme weather events.
Information source: Vientiane Times.