Agricultural policy and administration

Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak lobbied his visiting Chinese counterpart, Gao Hucheng, yesterday to consider doubling Cambodia’s annual rice export quota to China while also proposing a host of agricultural trade agreements.   ...

An industry analyst has issued a dire forecast for Cambodia’s rice sector, claiming the long-grain “white gold” that has been credited with lifting millions of Cambodia’s farmers out of abject poverty, and which seems a natural fit for the Kingdom’s agrarian workforce, is on a ...

A Chinese agricultural company has agreed to establish a banana plantation in Cambodia, according to a senior government official. ...

Cambodia’s apex rice industry body held its annual general meeting on Saturday, with its members unanimously re-electing its well-connected incumbent president, Sok Puthyvuth, for a second term in what some are calling a dress rehearsal for his political ascendancy. ...

As farmers across the country continue to recover from crop devastation wrought by a plague of armyworm caterpillars, those in Koh Kong province are facing a new outbreak that is decimating young rice plants, officials said ­on Monday.   ...

An outbreak of army worms – brought on by recent rains – is attacking crops in five provinces, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.   ...

With 72 per cent of Cambodian black pepper production coming from Tbong Khmum province, agriculture officials are calling for it to receive Geographic Indicator (GI) status to promote the spice for export. ...

Despite an initial rebound in global rubber prices, Cambodian rubber farmers predict a bleak year as production and exports have increased while profits continue to suffer. ...

With the Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF) ready to adopt “Angkor Malis” in June as the official brand name for the Kingdom’s premium varieties of jasmine rice, exporters said that inconsistent English to Khmer translations need to be corrected. ...

More than a month has elapsed since the government vowed to strengthen its borders to halt illegal imports of rice, yet little has been done to stem the flow of illicit rice shipments flooding into Cambodia from its foreign neighbours and undermining the export efforts ...

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. ...

An American horticulturalist is in Cambodia providing training in a unique farming method that proponents believe can improve food security in some of the country’s remotest regions.      ...

The government has lifted a decade-old ban on snakehead fish farming following a request from the Ministry of Agriculture last month to once again allow farmers to breed the voracious fish, according to a statement dated Thursday.   ...

Agricultural products have been granted an exemption from the value-added tax (VAT) as part of a government effort to support local rice farmers and millers, according to a prakas issued Wednesday by the General Taxation Department. ...

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 ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen has asked China to import more agricultural products from Cambodia to boost bilateral trade and strengthen the relationship between the two countries. The prime minister wants to boost bilateral trade to $5 billion by 2017. ...

One of Thailand’s leading agricultural groups and a major producer of animal feed will build a $30 million factory in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone, company officials announced last week. ...

The Commerce Ministry has created a special taskforce to study challenges threatening the sustainability of the nation’s rice industry and will report its findings within two weeks, a ministry official said yesterday. ...

The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) on Thursday met with the Ministry of Commerce to discuss policies for strengthening the country’s ailing rice industry, and unveiled a plan to develop a price-support mechanism to guarantee Cambodia’s rice export price, officials said. ...

Cambodian women play an important role in the agricultural sector, especially as the nation’s economic conditions continue to force many men to seek work overseas, according to experts. ...

A week after an alliance of millers and exporters criticized the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) for its inaction in the face of the sector’s possible collapse, the federation Wednesday announced the formation of a new task force to manage challenges facing its members. ...

Responding to criticism, Cambodia’s apex rice industry body announced yesterday that it would submit a plan to Prime Minister Hun Sen that addresses two of the major challenges facing the Kingdom’s rice sector – competition from rice imports and access to finance for millers. ...

Vegetables, fruit and other food products imported from neighboring countries are undermining domestic agricultural production and steps need to be taken to assist the industry here, a forum was told yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Agriculture has played down the results of a study that found high levels of arsenic in some samples of locally grown rice. ...