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In 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry developed the Agriculture Development Strategy to the year 2025 and Vision to the year 2030 to ensure national food security and build an agricultural production system in Laos.
Agriculture in Laos is dominated by rice production, which is transforming from subsistence to commercial production.
Laos collaborates intensively with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) to develop better rice varieties that can withstand pests and disease, flooding, drought and other effects of climate change. Furthermore, IRRI has several capacity building activities, such as post-production training and the Lao-IRRI-Rice Research and Training Project (LIRRTP). Moreover, Laos is the second largest contributor of germplasm to IRRI’s International Rice Genebank and has deposited 15,000 types of rice.
In May 2018, the Law on Intellectual Property of 2017 was published electronically in the Laos official gazette and lays out strict regulations for the protection for new plant varieties.
In total, ten index companies have a presence in Laos. Advanta and East-West Seed are the only companies with testing locations. While Charoen Pokphand is the only company with a seed production location for its vegetable crops, Advanta is the only company to offer extension services in the country.
Seed companies are encouraged to strengthen their seed business activities in Laos. The new Law on Intellectual Property may be a step towards an improved enabling environment for the national seed industry.
| Company | Crops in portfolio | Company activities in country | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Companies selected for the Access to Seeds Index |
Field crops |
Vegetables | Breeding location |
Testing location |
Seed production |
Processing location |
Sales | Extension services |
||||||
| Advanta | ||||||||||||||
| Bejo | ||||||||||||||
| Bioseed | ||||||||||||||
| Charoen Pokphand | ||||||||||||||
| Corteva Agriscience | ||||||||||||||
| East-West Seed | ||||||||||||||
| Known-You Seed | ||||||||||||||
| Sakata | ||||||||||||||
| Vinaseed | ||||||||||||||
Other index companies are also active in the country. However, country-specific information for these companies is not available or was provided under non-disclosure.
