Thanh Hoa (VNA) – Vietnam’snorth-central province of Thanh Hoa and Laos’ eastern province of Houaphanh areimplementing a project using modern science and technology to grow mushrooms.

The project is being carried out by the centrefor applied research and development of biotechnology of Thanh Hoa’s Departmentof Science and Technology and Houaphanh’s mushroom production centre.

The project built a model producing 12 tonnes ofmushroom spawn per year and two others on commercial mushroom cultivation, eachwith designed capacity of 30 tonnes of material per year.

The Vietnamese centre has handed over theinfrastructure and equipment of the project to its Lao counterpart.

Director of the Thanh Hoa Department of Scienceand Technology Le Minh Thong said the two provinces have cooperated in variousfields, including science-technology.

While implementing the project in Houaphanh, theVietnamese centre conducted fact-finding tours to the province to study itsnatural, social and economic conditions to build a development plan for itsmushroom cultivation industry, he said.

The centre also arranged for Lao technicians tovisit mushroom production facilities in Vietnam, he added.

Thanks to the project, Houaphanh farmers are nowable to grow mushrooms using locally-made spawn.

The project is expected to create a foundationfor the development of hi-tech agriculture in the Lao province, thus increasingcooperation between Thanh Hoa and Houaphanh.-VNA