Agricultural commodities, processing and products

The Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF) will officially register the name “Angkor Malis” in June as the umbrella brand for the Kingdom’s premium varieties of fragrant rice, a representative said yesterday. ...

Officials from China will arrive in Cambodia soon to audit and evaluate rice producing companies and to check warehouses. ...

The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) yesterday called on local rice millers, exporters, farmers, development partners and the Ministry of Agriculture to work together to promote contract farming to ensure the sustainable development of the rice industry of the country. ...

The Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries has announced a ban on all imported low-grade meat from neighboring countries as part of a national reform of the Kingdom’s meat industry. ...

A vaccine campaign has been launched in response to an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease exacerbated by drought conditions in Kampong Thom province, officials said yesterday, as drought-relief efforts continued in Banteay Meanchey. ...

Mango growers now have access to the South Korean market following an agreement signed on Friday between officials from Korea and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. ...

A sharp rebound in international rubber prices has put workers at plantations in Cambodian back to work, and has infused the sector with a rare sense of optimism. ...

Thailand’s plans to sell off 11.4 million tons of its rice stockpile over the next two months is concerning Cambodia, which fears the sale will drive global prices down as the Kingdom struggles to meet its own export target. ...

Unusually high yields of salt production in Kep and Kampot province have surpassed the market’s low demand, filling the nation’s salt storage facilities to capacity, the head of a local industry body said yesterday.   ...

After a series of technical delays and setbacks, the Kingdom’s first industrial slaughterhouse is ready to begin operations and will start production upon receiving its first shipment of 2,000 heads of live Australian cattle in late May, the company behind the project said yesterday. ...

Cambodia does not expect to win the contract to supply half million tons of rice to the Philippines during the bidding process that will take place in the upcoming months, citing high production costs as the major constraint in competing with neighboring Vietnam and Thailand, ...

Chinese agro firm Rui Feng (Cambodia) International Company began operations at its 360-million-U.S.-dollar sugar production factory here on Tuesday after spending nearly two years for construction.​ ...

Preah Vihear’s deputy governor has vowed not to let protesters near Prime Minister Hun Sen as he cuts the ribbon on a $360 million sugar mill in Tbeng Meanchey district today. ...

Cambodia plans to stop importing feed from neighboring countries to supply the livestock and poultry industry, but not immediately, as the government works to upgrade the animal husbandry skills of farmers and increase local production. ...

Climate change and globalisation are fuelling an explosion in the pests and diseases that afflict south-east Asia’s cassava crops, threatening a multi-billion dollar industry and the staple food of millions of people, a report warns. ...

Economic growth in developing East Asian countries is expected to ease in the next two years as the slowdown in China and sluggish pricing for commodities linger, according to new forecast released Sunday by the World Bank.   ...

Rice exports for the first quarter of the year jumped 8.5 percent to 162,220 tons from 149,464 tons for the same period last year, but in March the figure dropped 14.5 percent, or 9,592 tons, to 66,275 tons in the face of competition from Thailand, ...

Demand for Kampong Speu palm sugar has surged, with orders already up 70 per cent this year, as appetite for the premium organic sugar product grows, boosting its price. ...

Mong Reththy, known as the king of agriculture in Cambodia for his role running the large Mong Reththy Group, aims to expand the Kingdom’s mango market to Europe. ...

Villagers from Preah Vihear’s Kulen district, where last week two rubber company guard posts were torched, yesterday alleged security guards from the same company had looted their homes and threatened to burn them. ...

The government took steps to shore up the rice sector yesterday, saying it would remove the current value added tax [VAT] on milling machines in the country and shut down companies importing rice from neighboring countries and rebranding it as Cambodian during an emergency meeting ...

The government decided to drop a 10 percent value added-tax (VAT) for rice products during a meeting on Wednesday between representatives of the rice sector and government officials at the Council for the Development of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, officials said.   ...

The newly established special industry committee to deal with the crisis confronting the rice sector will meet Deputy Prime Minister Keat Chhon today to discuss urgent solutions to the problems they face. ...

Kampong Speu palm sugar production is predicted to slightly decrease this year due to a late start, climate change, water shortages and working capital for farmers, but prices are expected to rise due to the sugar’s growing popularity since its geographical indication certification. ...