Rubber cultivation could be a long-term resource for socio-economic development if the government can implement a plan to allocate suitable areas for production.
Luang Namtha has benefited from rubber, becoming a model for the rest of Laos after the provincial authorities placed restrictions on the size of plantations in 2008.
Provincial Agriculture and Forestry Department Director, Dr Khamlek Phaydara, said small-scale farmers can now grow rubber trees on their land for their family's future income.
Rubber is a valuable forestry product which can earn a relatively high income for provincial people, he said.
For farmers in Had-Nhau village, Luang Namtha district, are model families within the province, exporting rubber has been a means of poverty reduction since they began growing it in 1994.
Dr Khamlek said that last year the villagers exported about 600 tonnes of rubber to China for 10,000 kip per kilogram, while other farmers around the province exported only 200 tonnes.
This year he expects that Luang Namtha will double its rubber exports from last year, exporting around 1,600 tonnes, with trees planted six years ago now ready for harvesting.
Many foreign-owned companies are building processing factories in the province to make it easier to export the product.
In the past some local people were employed by investors on a casual or salaried basis to clear weeds from the rubber plantations, Dr Khamlek said.
Now some locals are benefiting from the ‘two plus three' system in which farmers provide labour and lands, and companies supply seeds, funding for equipment and input on cultivation techniques.
He said that rubber is enjoying high market demand at present. Neighbouring countries need to buy many thousands tonnes of rubber, but Laos and its producers are not able to meet the demand as yet. He added that rubber cultivation has no harmful effect on the natural environment if people use the correct techniques.
“A rubber tree can be harvested for 25-30 years and when the rubber runs out we can chop it down and sell the wood to make furniture. This is what Vietnam and China are doing,” Dr Khamlek said.
There are currently about 26,000 hectares of rubber under cultivation in the province.
The province's top priorities in agriculture and forestry production are rice, rubber, cardamom and sugar, he added.
Good for the Residences who live around these Area. for the Farmers who has done with their harvest season. they can get a job there just for supplement income.....
Do you think it's bad now? You ain't see nothing yet. I still think that the people involved in the golf course and the marsh land got screw... twice as bad.
Do you think it's bad now? You ain't see nothing yet. I still think that the people involved in the golf course and the marsh land got screw... twice as bad.
To be better for Laos let the Chinese build the factories which great a lot of jobs. The government took the land away from the farmers and give to the Chinese and Vietnamese to build hotel and casino, the resource and golf course which don't create too much jobs and also the Chinese don't hire the Lao people to work because the Chinese brought in their own workers . So what good is it for the Chinese to invest in Laos and all the money will go to China. Also just wonder do they Chinese have already pay for their 90 years lease in one time and has the money already been spent. How do the Lao government tax them by how much their profit are or what? or per year?
Do you mean which will create a lot of jobs? Yes, it will if Lao government doesn't allow Chinese laborers to work in Laos.
Lao government does not have any authority to do any thing because Lao government need their money and the Lao government will do what they want . They wants this land to build casinos or the Vietnamese wants this land to resource and golf course so the government will take those farmers land and give them to the Vietnamese and the Chinese where ever they want.
