The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Laos recently cooperated with two Chinese companies to establish an organic and bio-fertilizer processing plant in Laos for the development of clean agriculture (CA) and signed a memorandum of cooperation.

Mr.Vilaysouk said: “the Ministry of Agriculture is currently encouraging Lao farmers to develop clean agriculture (CA) according to two standards, namely organic agriculture (OA) and good agricultural practices (GAP), in order to provide safe food in the domestic market.” He also pointed out: “Clean agriculture (CA) is also used to promote the production of high-quality crops for export products such as rice, vegetables, tea and coffee.”

However, Laos still lacks organic fertilizer and bio-fertilizer standards. Laos imports most of the fertilizer from neighboring countries to for its farmers’ production. “Fertilizer problems have led to high agricultural production costs and lack of competitiveness in overseas markets.” Mr. Vilaysouk said. He believes that the demonstration cooperation project between the Ministry and enterprises will help to develop clean agriculture (CA) in Laos, thus producing more organic and good agricultural products and exporting these products to regional and international markets.

The main objective of the project is to investigate the potential of processing high-quality organic and biological fertilizers through the use of vegetable, cassava, sugarcane and other plant wastes and wetland soil. The development of clean agriculture is the top priority of the government, especially for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. There are about 50,000 hectares of available lands in Laos.