Agricultural commodities, processing and products

More than 150,000 hectares of rice fields have been affected by a drought in some areas of the country, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, warning that the lack of rain, combined with labor shortages, could prevent the government from meeting its rice production goal ...

Rising demand for Kampot Peppers is pushing a cultivation increase, but only a limited number of companies are benefiting. ...

Kampong Speu Palm Sugar Promotion Association (KSPSPA) is expecting to produce 300 tonnes for the upcoming season, which runs from December to May. ...

The government of China has put on hold a $300 million loan to a Cambodian rice project, aimed at developing storage and warehousing facilities in the country, as the government of Cambodia has not been able to meet the criteria set by the Chinese authorities, ...

Cambodian farmers want to grow more cashews in response to rising prices. But lack of information and resources is holding them back. ...

A project to build 10 warehouses to store rice paddy using Chinese funding has hit a roadblock, as the Cambodian government has been unable to meet criteria set by the Chinese for the project, according to an official associated with the project. ...

The Cambodian Rice Federation signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday to receive $450,000 in financial support from the government to increase Cambodia’s rice exports, according to a federation official. ...

Cambodian rice exporters are worried of losing market share in the European Union (EU) market if the EU-Vietnam Bilateral Free Trade Agreement (EU-V BFTA) is finalized, according to local sources. ...

Thai farmers protected by armed Thai soldiers crossed the border in Banteay Meanchey province and spent Thursday plowing fields for rice cultivation, a military commander and district official said. ...

Environment Minister Say Sam Al was in Preah Vihear province on Sunday to help inaugurate Try Pheap’s newest project, a $52-million rubber plantation and additional facilities that the timber magnate has cleared thousands of hectares of protected forest to build. ...

This year is no different from last year and many of the previous years for the residents of Krong Stung Sen in Kampong Thom province. Rain has been scarce, and rice growers must pay to pump water from the state-owned ditches into their rice paddies. ...

Land conversions for rubber plantations in continental South-East Asia have expanded to areas where rubber is not historically grown, posing risks to both farmers’ livelihoods and environment conservation. The study defines continental South-East Asia as comprising Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.​ ...

The Cambodian Rice Federation held a press conference yesterday to allay fears drummed up by local media that fake rice is being distributed in the Kingdom.Rumours began to surface this week when a reporter with local news site Khmerload published a story claiming to have ...

Cambodia’s first pilot program to insure farmers against rice crop loss launched last week in five provinces. ...

The heavy rains forecast to wash over Phnom Penh this weekend will come too late for farmers in rice paddies here, 165 km north of the capital. ...

Cambodia is less likely to be affected by the El Nino weather pattern and the country is expected to receive rainfall this week, the local sources quoted the spokesman of the Ministry of Water Resource and Meteorology. ...

China is the Kingdom’s top rice importer, and is also bringing in Cambodian cassava, rubber, cashews, peppers and a small amount of corn. But experts say efforts to increase export shipments and open Asia’s biggest market to new products will fall short unless Cambodia addresses ...

Kampot pepper production almost doubled during 2015’s harvest season compared to last year’s, although prices have remained flat, according to an industry representative. ...

Cambodia has exported around 283,825 tons of milled rice in the first six months of 2015, up about 60% from around 177,928 tons exported during the same period last year, Phnom Penh Post quoted data from Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export Formality. ...

Local officials apologized yesterday to the Vietnamese owners of a rubber plantation in this northwestern province, after a dispute with local residents spiraled out of control a day earlier with angry villagers setting a company building aflame.  ...

Inadequate milling and storage facilities; meager financing options and consequent bankruptcies among small farmers; as well as recent migration of a number of male farmers to Thailand are all undermining Cambodia’s capacity to increase its exports, local sources quoted experts as saying. ...

Cambodia’s ambitious goal of exporting one million tons of rice this year has been quietly dropped. A follow-up export goal of 600,000 tons also is falling by the wayside. Undermining these goals is the reality of the rice paddies: labor emigration to Thailand, high costs for ...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has postponed the finalisation of a draft rubber law amid declining rubber prices, according to a senior official. Under the draft law, producers must be more selective in choosing the type of rubber for plantation and only processed ...

Following Cambodia’s loss of a hefty Filipino rice tender to Vietnam last week, industry insiders say logistics and production costs are hampering the competitiveness of the Kingdom’s rice exports. Cambodia lost a 100,000-tonne tender for the fourth time running after its final price of $455.50 per ...