Vangvieng cabbage festival promotes good agricultural practices

Vangvieng district is known for its stunning landscapes of limestone outcrops and rice fields, situated in a quaint riverside location in Vientiane province, Laos.
This small town is normally full of tourists who come for tubing and other recreational activities on the Nam Xong river, but what many of them don’t know is that this area’s fertile soil produces a wide range of fruit and vegetables, especially oranges and cabbage.
The end of last month saw Vangvieng play host to the first cabbage festival in Laos, which was held to promote the Creating Linkages for Expanded Agriculture Network (CLEAN) project.

A farmer shows off one of his luxuriant cabbages.

The event was co-sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture and co-implemented by the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, and WinRock International.
The festival took place over two days on March 26 and 27 and was attended by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Mr Kikeo Singnavong and the Deputy Governor of Vientiane province, Mr Phouvong Bounsu.
Intrigued visitors were fascinated by the event and enjoyed taking photos with the cabbages and other plant products grown in Vangvieng.
Visitors also learned from farmers about the various stages of cabbage cultivation, such as how long it takes before they can be harvested and how to care for the seedlings.
The CLEAN project is taking place in Vientiane and the provinces of Vientiane, Champassak, Xekong and Saravan, with a focus on cash crops such as high quality coffee, cabbage, cassava and lentils.
One of the aims of the project is to build knowledge of agricultural production according to good agricultural standards, to encourage crops to become commodities, and to integrate these products into the appropriate markets.
The cabbage festival aimed to foster links between the good agriculture sector and consumers at the household and industrial level, especially restaurants, hotels and international markets.
“Cabbage is one of the economic crops grown in Laos,” said the Director of the Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Mr Bounchanh Kombunsit.
In the past, the project has encouraged cabbage farmers to carry out agricultural production in accordance with good agricultural standards, and farmers have been given training in the theory and practice of these standards in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture and the Centre for Clean Agriculture Standards.
The project, in collaboration with the centre, has completed training for farmers’ groups and awarded certificates of good agricultural standards to three groups of cabbage farmers comprising 82 families in the project area.
It is expected that by the end of this year, the project will have issued certificates of standard agricultural production to four more groups of farmers, comprising 90 households.
It is hoped that widespread use of good agricultural standards will expand, especially among cabbage farmers, so that the crop can be exported to foreign markets.
In addition to promoting good agricultural standards, the CLEAN project recognises the importance of marketing promotion, especially the introduction of good quality agricultural standards, so that the public is more aware of these standards and produce is fully integrated into the market.
Chief of Party of the CLEAN project in Laos for Winrock International, Mr Alexandre Dahan, said the aim of the project has always been to encourage farmers to have an understanding of production according to good agricultural standards.
The first cabbage festival was organised in Vangvieng to give the public and the business community access to production information and production procedures according to good agricultural standards, and enable the exchange of information among farmers from the project area.
“The purpose of this event is to create a forum for business negotiations between producers and buyers in the hotel, restaurant, market and agribusiness-related industries so that these groups can exchange information about their products and services,” Mr Dahan said.
To make the cabbage festival more meaningful, participants had the opportunity to gain an understanding of the work involved in complying with good agricultural standards.
To this end, the event included a technical forum, a cooking demonstration of cabbage dishes served by some of the popular restaurants in Vangvieng, a giant cabbage contest, and an exhibition and distribution of products related to the promotion of clean agriculture and cabbage dishes.
In terms of tourism, Vangvieng can add to its appeal by offering visitors locally grown food. It is hoped that in time Vangvieng’s agricultural produce will gain the trust of visitors if it can be recognised that crops are clean and healthy, which should attract more visitors and earn villagers more income.

By Patithin Phetmeuangphuan
(Latest Update April 26, 2022)