Annual report 1995-1996

Rice mill is the centerpiece of a Lao Sung village

PA KO VILLAGE, LAO PDR--Before rounding the bend to Pa Ko village high in the hills of Xiengnguen District, one can hear the hum of an engine--an unusual sound in this very remote region of Luang Prabang Province in north central Lao PDR. The engine powers a rice mill that was a gift from a Quaker Nongovernment Organization working in the country. The NGO had identified Pa Ko as a large village that could use the machine because it is relatively near a main road and--most importantly--has many children to feed (more than 200 at last count).

Mr. Vang Chu Tho, 52, is the village's head mechanic whose primary task is to keep the all-important rice mill operating. He also heads one of three groups of 10 families in the village. The village, made up of neat houses and well-cared-for storage facilities for the rice, and the region surrounding it are home to the Hmong ethnic people of the Lao Sung (farmers of the mountain summits).

In addition to milling all of the village's rice, Pa Ko villagers can derive some cash income by milling rice for surrounding communities. "I get some additional income as well for operating the mill and maintaining the engine," Mr. Tho says proudly.

Mr. Tho and his wife, Ms. Chuong Chiang, have three boys and five girls, ranging in age from 25 to 2 (the oldest two girls are already married and live in a nearby village). Many families in the village have similarly large families. Like many in the region, the couple came as refugees from war-torn Xieng Khouang Province to the southeast in 1971 to seek a better life. They have lived in Pa Ko since 1975.

It is an arduous task to grow enough rice to keep the village mill spewing forth its product of mostly nonglutinous (nonsticky) rice. Although the Hmong do not prefer glutinous rice like their Khamu neighbors of the midland slopes, they do, like the Khamu, plant--at the same time--three traditional rice varieties, which differ in days to maturity-early, medium, and late. This practice has the same result at the mountain summits as it does on the midlands slopes-it staggers the harvest, which spreads out the labor requirement and hedges against drought. "Staggering our harvest reduces pest damage as well and gets new rice to our village mill early in the season," adds Ms. Chuong. Most of the village's ricefields are planted by early June with the first harvest expected in October.

Also like their midland Lao Theung neighbors, Lao Sung farmers have, until just recently, grown rice 1 or 2 years on a piece of ground and then moved farming operations to a new area where--after slashing and burning--they would start the process again. They have not stayed on the same land very long because productivity declines rapidly. But now, in an effort to stop the slashing and burning into new areas of the summits as well, each family has four pieces of land on which they will attempt to maintain their farming operations. Each piece comes to around 1 hectare for families that have between one and five members and around 1.5 hectares for families with six or more members.

Now, for the first time, following recommendations from Xiengnguen District agricultural officials, each family will grow rice on only one piece of ground; on the others, maize, cassava, legumes, or other crops will be grown-for the next 2 or 3 years before a rotation occurs.

Says Mr. Tho, "I understand the reasons for doing this-I want to cooperate to help curtail the indiscriminate slashing and burning into new areas. I know it will help stop the flooding and the erosion, which have become serious problems. But under this new system, I may not be able to grow enough rice on only 1.5 hectares each year for my family. Maize and cassava harvested from the other 1.5-ha plots will help supplement our diets, but I still fear it will not be enough."

Throughout the region weeds are the major constraint. "Too many weeds and not enough labor to pull them," laments Ms. Chuong. "Weeding, weeding, weeding-from time of planting to harvesting; weeding every day!"

In new upland rice varieties being developed, the couple would like to see resistance to root-boring white grubs and plants that produce longer panicles and very fine, long grains. "I have seen some new varieties being tested nearby, but I think they are not as good as the three local ones we have been using for the last 20 years in terms of grain quality and white grub resistance," says Mr. Tho.

The couple would like their children to have more educational opportunities so that they might have a chance to get off the farm. "We want them to improve their lives in some other endeavor," concludes Mr. Tho.

back to top