VIENTIANE, April 3 (Xinhua) -- The Poverty Reduction Fund under the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is being used to help farmers in Xaysomboun province improve clean agricultural production with the aim of reducing poverty, food security and creating sustainable income.
Farmers in Xaysomboun province, some 130 km northeast of Lao capital Vientiane, are being provided technical support for increasing the planting of clean crops, local daily Vientiane Times reported on Friday.
The center will be built to showcase methods for clean agricultural production, and it will have various sections to help farmers grow a variety of clean crops. It will also encourage villagers to plant clean vegetables in greenhouses, according to a Lao official from the Poverty Reduction Fund.
The center will support groups of poor farmers by providing techniques and methods, and helping them access more finances from the banks. It will also help in setting up model families for clean agricultural production and playing an important role in increasing the planting of quality products, said the report.
This will be in line with the agriculture ministry's strategy to transform from inorganic chemical agricultural production methods to organic alternatives.
Under the strategy, the Department of Agriculture is focusing on supporting local farmers' groups to expand the range and volume of organic production by creating more understanding about organic agriculture among Lao farmers.
As part of planned activities for boosting clean and organic agriculture and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) across Laos, the department will develop marketing based on analysis of demands at the domestic and overseas levels and seek to ensure quantity and quality standards and prices, according to the report.
