Xekong readies 3.5 tonnes of seeds for dry season rice crop

Director of the province’s Agriculture and Forestry Department, Mr. Somvang Khammavong, said the floods affected 145 villages in Kaleum, Dakcheung, Thataeng, and Lamam districts. Forty irrigation systems and more than 1,000 hectares of rice fields suffered damage, with losses amounting to 17.9 billion kip.  Mr. Somvang said agriculture technicians were providing advice to villagers who were affected by the floods. “We urgently need to get a good dry season crop in the ground and hope to plant rice on about 500 hectares, so we’ve prepared several tonnes of seed,” he said. Some rice fields would need time to recover from the floods and could not be planted out this dry season. Villagers will be encouraged to grow a variety of vegetables on 770 hectares and commercial crops on 730 hectares depending on the land available in each district, Mr. Somvang said. Residents of Thataeng district will be encouraged to grow commercial crops, especially cabbage, Chinese cabbage, beans, and cucumber, while in Lam district the focus will be on rice and vegetables. Mr. Somvang said villagers would be asked to help repair irrigation systems so they could supply water to crops at least temporarily this dry season.

Information source: Vientiane Times.