VIENTIANE (Vientiane Times/ANN): The government plans to make 4.5 million hectares of land available for farming, amounting to 19 percent of the country’s total land area, under the agriculture development strategy to 2030 and vision to 2040.
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Assoc. Prof. Dr Linkham Douangsavanh, on Monday presented a draft of the agriculture development strategy to the National Assembly.
Dr Linkham observed that in 2018 the National Assembly adopted the National Land Allocation Master Plan to 2030, which divides land into eight categories and states that 4.5 million hectares should be made available for agriculture.
It was proposed that agricultural land be divided into four types.
Two million hectares, accounting for 44 per cent, are to be allocated for general agriculture; one million hectares for short-lived crops, accounting for 22 per cent; 0.8 million hectares for fruit trees or long-living crops, accounting for 18 per cent; and 0.7 million hectares for pasture, accounting for 16 per cent of all farmland.
The use of agricultural land at the village level has been determined and surveys carried out to assess the scope and quality of land in irrigated areas.
In addition, land for agricultural production has been identified, and model farmers and families have been created.
Some work still remains however, with incomplete surveys, zoning and agricultural land use planning throughout the country.
The ministry also noted that the demarcation and definition of agricultural land is incomplete, and that farmers’ use of land use does not always comply with the recommended techniques.
The ministry also noted that there is still a lack of specific legislation on the management and development of agricultural land, and that farmland in many places is often illicitly used for other purposes.
Meanwhile, information about agricultural land is not readily available, expertise at the local level is limited, some districts do not have a land management and development unit, and the budget for this work is insufficient.
Dr Linkham said that if the proposed drafts are approved and promulgated, it is envisaged that the national land allocation master plan will be developed into a strategy for the management and development of agricultural land.
This will enable the government to classify and plan the use of 4.5 million hectares of farmland under the land allocation master plan at the macro and micro levels, which will form the basis for further socio-economic development, the minister added. - Vientiane Times/ANN
