Proceedings of the Asia regional workshop on the

C. Distribution by distributors → agricultural inputs shop → retail shop → farmers: Pesticides
are transferred to <strong>the</strong> shop and later distributed to local shops in <strong>the</strong> local villages and market places
by local traders and finally distributed to farmers.
According to <strong>the</strong> data collected at <strong>the</strong> biggest agricultural inputs shop in Vientiane Capital, all
kinds <strong>of</strong> liquid pesticides are about 40 litres while <strong>the</strong> powder pesticides amounted to 36 kg.
Besides formal import <strong>of</strong> pesticides, <strong>the</strong>re are also pesticides illegally traded along <strong>the</strong> border
and some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m are prohibited such as Folidol since high rate <strong>of</strong> chemical residue and highly toxic
content.
Safe pesticide placement can be seen at <strong>the</strong> big and medium sized shops in Vientiane Capital,
Savannakhet and Champassak Provinces.
Pesticides are displayed unsafely at small shops in urban areas or markets where <strong>the</strong>
pesticides are placed toge<strong>the</strong>r with different kinds <strong>of</strong> products.
Pesticide application for rice and fruit tree has been considered low, while pesticides are
mainly applied by farmers to vegetables such as leafy vegetables, yard long bean, cucumber and
water melon. Farmers who are aware <strong>of</strong> pesticide hazard especially farmers who attended <strong>the</strong> Farmer
Field School, obtaining <strong>the</strong> IPM experience, have followed <strong>the</strong> techniques such as self-protection and
harvested <strong>the</strong>ir crops 7 days after pesticide application.
However, <strong>the</strong>re are some farmers who are not aware enough <strong>of</strong> pesticide application, too
many kinds <strong>of</strong> pesticides are applied toge<strong>the</strong>r as so-called ‘cocktail’ and earlier harvesting <strong>the</strong>ir crops
which provided negative impact to consumers as well as user <strong>the</strong>mselves.
Currently Lao government is making an effort <strong>of</strong> improving pesticide use and management
system in order to apply effective measures to management and prohibition <strong>of</strong> pesticides illegally
imported and distributed without registration.
To encourage farmers for safe pesticide application, Lao government through <strong>the</strong> radio
programme has disseminated farmers <strong>the</strong> hazard aware <strong>of</strong> pesticide and safe pesticide application.
IPM project plays an important role <strong>of</strong> disseminating farmers <strong>the</strong> technical information upon
IPM techniques for <strong>the</strong>ir crop production and IPM activities are mainly carried out in <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn,
central and sou<strong>the</strong>rn parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> country.
Conclusion
Generally speaking, pesticide use in Lao PDR is considered low and still less impact to <strong>the</strong>
environment; however, when <strong>the</strong> agricultural development increases toge<strong>the</strong>r with <strong>the</strong> increasing
requirement for agricultural development, it is certain that need <strong>of</strong> agricultural inputs such as
new seeds varieties, fertilizer and pesticide will increase. Currently, activities <strong>of</strong> plant protection in
Lao PDR are carried out in limit aspects:
● There are differences in people’s socio-economic status for production and ecosystem.
● There is a lack <strong>of</strong> technical staffs for pests, plant diseases and weeds identification.
● Lack <strong>of</strong> information on pest circle and outbreak relatively caused by climate change.
● Pesticide management system is still limited in term <strong>of</strong> public awareness.
● Lack <strong>of</strong> financial support and equipments required for plant protection system.
To streng<strong>the</strong>n ecosystem, plant protection in Lao PDR needed strong improvement and
upgrade in certain status.
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