VIENTIANE, LAOS: Asean nations want Laos to reintroduce collective farming, a system which was abolished in this country more than 20 years ago.

Encouragement of this type of agricultural cooperative was the focus of an Asean regional business forum, which opened Tuesday (24 June) in Vientiane.

Lao delegate, Inthanongsith Kommameuang, said Asean had agreed cooperative farming would help farmers in the region earn higher profits.

“The idea of having cooperative farms is not new, in fact, we have been discussing the issue for many years although this is the first time Laos has hosted a forum on the topic,” she said.

Inthanongsith said collective farming joined together farmers who cultivated the same crops or animals.

They have more power when negotiating in groups with traders about the prices of their products and can also share farming techniques and experiences.

Inthanongsith said many countries in Asean had well-organised collective farms and specific laws to manage their organisation.

Collective farming was introduced in Laos 1975 after the formation of the Lao PDR, but was abolished in 1986 with the introduction of a market-oriented economy.

Inthanongsith said the system was managed inefficiently. Although Lao farmers worked together to cultivate crops, there were no laws regulating the distribution of profits.

Farmers who worked under this system say everyone involved in the venture gained equal profits, which did not take into consideration how much time, resources and labour each farmer contributed individually.

While many worked hard in the collective system, others did no work and still collected a share of the profits. This led to major disputes and the eventual failure of the system.

Inthanongsith said Laos should reintroduce collective farming, but they should not be owned or subsidised by the state.

The Lao ministry of industry and commerce's small and medium enterprise promotion office supports the idea of collective farms, but it wants the cooperatives to be independent of the state.

They say the government should develop laws to manage the organisations, allowing them to work independently. (By EKAPHONE PHOUTHONESY/ The Vientiane Times/ ANN)