Vientiane - The rainy season that usually starts at the end of May in Lao PDR is this year late and has still not started in parts of the country.

The drought is mainly affecting rural farmers that engage in rain-fed rice production, as no irrigation facilities are available. Usually, these farmers rely on the monsoon rains which this year have not arrived.

FAO is alarmed regarding the situation and is now looking into the needs to possibly provide farmers in some parts of the country with emergency assistance.

"This is of great concern for farmers. Many of them are preparing their nurseries for the third time now and the nurseries are drying up again. Now farmers are reporting that they have no more seeds to restart with which means they would have no crops this year", said Serge Verniau, the FAO Representative to Lao PDR.

Last week an FAO team visited Ban Sen Phan, Boualapha district, Khammouan province. Local farmers say that the current drought is the worst in their lifetimes.

By the end of June, farmers along the Ho Chi Minh trail would normally have all their rice plants transplanted, but this year the plots are even not ploughed.

"It is totally impossible, the soil is too hard to cultivate due to the lack of rains," said an interviewed farmer.

"This drought is totally forgotten, we do not hear it being mentioned in the capital city," Verniau added. "It should be of great concern, as these farmers are now at risk of losing this year’s crop which would be devastating for them."

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Press release issued by the office of the FAO Representative in Lao PDR. For more information contact [email protected] telephone +856 21 413 205