Agriculture ministers from the Greater Mekong Sub-region (China, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) have endorsed a new program called CASP, or Core Agriculture Support Program. Small-farm holders and the rural poor are envisioned to be the beneficiaries of the program which aims to (1) promote cross border agricultural trade and investment, (2) contribute to food security and reduction of poverty, and (3) promote the sustainable use of natural resources.

One of the thrusts of CASP is to derive benefits from the “opening up of agriculture to biofuel crops and the attendant new technologies”. It also aims to ensure that “the opening of borders among GMS nations will be spread out equitably.”.

“The service is a landmark in providing agricultural information. It can benefit all the farmers in the subregion as well as development partners, managers, policy makers, traders, and the general public,” said China’s Agriculture Minister Sun Zhengcai..