LAO PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC (10 October)
Floods in August have seriously affected livelihoods in several provinces, especially in Savannakhet and Bolikhamxay provinces. More than 30 000 hectares of paddy were badly damaged.
Harvesting of the wet season paddy, accounting for about 85 percent of annual cereal production, is underway and will continue to December. Wet paddy is predominantly gown in the lowland of the Mekong River basin while a smaller low performing monsoon crop is cultivated in the uplands. The 2005 paddy production is estimated at 2.35 million tonnes, some 7 percent down from last year and 3 percent compared to the average of the previous five years, reflecting the smaller area and low productivity as a result of both drought and floods.
In 2006, the country can virtually maintain food self-sufficiency at national level with total cereal import requirement of 37 000 tonnes. However, one-third of the Lao population, predominantly in upland areas, experiences rice deficit for four months in a normal year and need food assistance, especially in the districts affected by floods in the summer.