Archive for the ‘Agriculture and agribusiness’ Category
February 17th, 2012
Vientiane Time, February 17, 2012
The capacity for commercial agriculture plantations to alleviate poverty in rural areas of Laos must increasingly be weighed against the potential impacts on ecosystem services, sustainability of land resources and traditional livelihoods.
The National Economic Research Institute (NERI) yesterday presented the results from a study on the economic valuation of ecosystem services for sustainable land use at a national policy workshop in Vientiane. The case study compared both the financial returns and the environmental costs of different land uses such as non-timber forest products collection, upland rice farming and maize and rubber plantations in Oudomxay province.
Posted in Agriculture and agribusiness, Land use planning and tenure, Rubber, bio-fuel and other commodities 
Tags: maize, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Planning and Investment, MoNRE, National Assembly, NERI, Oudomxay, rubber 
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February 13th, 2012
Vientiane Times, February 13, 2012
The Lao Indochina Group Public Company Tapioca Factory expects cassava plantations and the number of its member farmers to increase by up to three times its initial target for this year. “I’ve talked to farmers and each seems to have expanded their fields by about one or two times,” company Chairman Mr Sengmaly Sengvatthana said at a press conference in Vientiane on Friday.
February 8th, 2012
Vientiane Times, February 8, 2012
Farmers in Xayaboury province may reduce the amount of sweetcorn they grow for export this year and grow cassava instead to supply a nearby processing plant. Provincial authorities expect that sweetcorn growers will make the switch to cassava in the upcoming wet season, saying that cassava is likely to prove more profitable.
January 9th, 2012
Vientiane Times, January 9, 2012
Saravan province has agreed to allow domestic and foreign investors to set up projects under the ‘two plus three’ system, which does not involve land concessions and is of direct benefit to farmers. Under this system, the investor provides funding, materials and technical support to farmers, who provide the land and labour required, provincial Agriculture and Forestry Department Deputy Director Mr Thongdy Chanthavong explained recently.
Posted in Agriculture and agribusiness, Investment and concessions, Rubber, bio-fuel and other commodities
Tags: 2+3 system, cassava, China, corn, farmers, NAFRI, plantation, rubber, Saravan, sugarcane, Vietnam
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December 21st, 2011
 JVC works for community development, peace exchange and emergency relief. Japan Times, December 21, 2011
Decades after gaining independence, Laos still needs outside support for its agriculture sector, the country’s major industry. The Southeast Asian country, which was mostly covered in dense tropical forests until the 1960s, has been suffering from food shortages and deforestation. The nongovernmental organization Japan International Volunteer Center, or JVC, which is engaged in humanitarian aid in nine developing countries including Laos, Afghanistan and Sudan, has been providing aid to improve the lives of Laotians since 1989. The NGO, a regular recipient of The Japan Times Readers’ Fund, this year received ¥184,191 from the fund to train Laotians in agriculture, and the newspaper is currently soliciting donations from readers to support similar activities by the group.
November 22nd, 2011
Tuoi Tre News, November 22, 2011
Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group started work on the construction of a US$100 million sugar and sugarcane industrial cluster in Attapeu province, southern Laos on November 22. The cluster includes a sugar mill with a capacity of 7,000 tons per day, a 30MW thermal power plant, an ethanol plant with a capacity of 30,000 tons per year and a fertiliser plant with a capacity of 50,000 tons a year. These facilities are expected to create 20,000 jobs for local people when they are put into operation.
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