LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (2 June)
Rice, the country’s main crop, is grown during two seasons. The wet season rice is planted in June-July and harvested in October-November. The dry season irrigated crop, which is planted in December-January and harvested in April, is entirely under high yielding varieties and is becoming increasingly important. The country harvested a larger wet-season rice crop and achieved a good paddy production (2.5 million tonnes) in 2004. However, the 2005 dry season crop was affected by drought and a sharp production reduction is expected due to lower planted area. With 2004 paddy production, the country can virtually maintain its food sufficiency in 2005. However, Laos is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. Some 30 percent of population is estimated to live below the national poverty line. One third of the Lao population, predominantly in upland areas, experiences rice deficit for four months in a normal year and need food assistance.
Livestock is still very under-developed with 95 percent of national livestock herd and over 85 percent of production produced by smallholders. However, the poultry sector is beginning to develop and production has expanded from 13 million birds in 2000 to 19.5 million birds in 2004. The sector suffered from an outbreak of HPAI (H5N1) Avian Influenza in 2004 that impacted most heavily on the small commercial broiler industry.