Rice production expected to not meet targets
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Laos has estimated farmers around the country to produce 4.2 million tonnes of rice this year; 600,000 tonnes of which is expected to be dry season rice, 3.4 million tonnes of wet season rice, and another 200,000 tonnes of upland rice. The ministry encouraged farmers to plant 113,000 hectares of dry season rice but they had only planted 99,315 hectares while the actual harvested fields were 98,678 hectares as cold weather impacted this year’s yields. Rice production this fiscal year may be less than targeted as both natural disaster, including drought and flooding, as well as insects are expected to impact crop yields.
