The department is hosting the Vientiane Crop Trade Fair at Lao-ITECC on Saturday, to help farmers expand their customer base and inspire more people to buy locally grown farm produce.\u00a0The fair will feature produce grown in Vientiane\u2019s nine districts.\u00a0Organisers say the fair aims to build awareness among Vientiane residents about the quality of home-grown produce and encourage the cultivation of organically farmed crops in\u00a0the capital.\u00a0The event will serve as\u00a0a platform to inspire Lao people to buy and consume localproducesothecountry can cut back on the import of non-essential foreign goods.\u00a0The fair will place special emphasis on the One District, One Product scheme, which promotes goods produced by model families as well as crops grown by organic farmers\u2019 groups.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Organisers see the fair as an opportunity for producers, distributors and consumers to boost trade, identify direct wholesale markets, and improve the conditions for vegetable cultivation and fruit supply.\u00a0These combined efforts\u00a0will result in a brighter future for Lao farmers and boost the sale of their\u00a0produce in local markets. This will benefit the economy and stimulate the formation of working groups to roll out policies that promote domestic goods in the interest of\u00a0consumers.<\/p>\n
Experts on agricultural\u00a0production say there is increasing demand for quality agricultural produce from international markets, so there are export opportunities for Laos\u2019 agricultural products.\u00a0But this will only happen if more is done to develop farming and farm produce to meet overseas market requirements.\u00a0In 2018, bananas were the most exported crop with a value of US$209 million, accounting for 30 percent of all agricultural exports. This\u00a0was followed by US$70\u00a0million worth of coffee exports and US$24 million worth of dried cassava, according to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.\u00a0Laos\u2019 main export markets are China, Thailand, Vietnam, and the European Union.<\/p>\n
The government has predicted that the agriculture sector will grow by 2.8 percent this year so long as there are no more extreme weather events.<\/p>\n