Agriculture

Describing a 5,000-hectare land dispute between Koh Kong villagers and a sugar company owned by CPP Senator Ly Yong Pgat as “a complicated case,” Koh Kong Provincial Court has decided to try it before a three-judge panel, a lawyer for the villagers said yesterday. The ...

Rubber exports from Cambodia increased 84 percent in the first six months of 2011 compared to the same period last year, according to figures released by Camcontrol, the government’s import-export inspection agent. Cambodia exported 21,511 tons of rubber, worth $102 million, during the first half ...

Crocodile farmers are feeling the pinch after a year of volatile crocodile prices and market demand. Despite the spike in crocodile prices late last year – which followed on the heels of worrying lows between 2005 and 2007 – demand for the live exports of ...

North Korea aims to import rice from Cambodia, as well as explore for mineral resources, officials said yesterday. High-ranking officials from Pyongyang met with their Cambodian counterparts in Phnom Penh yesterday, signing agreements on economic and trade cooperation.The two countries had signed seven cooperation agreements beginning ...

In Svay Rieng province villagers are in their fourth day of protests after authorities refused to meet with them to discuss a land concession that Metapheap Company has received in order to open a rubber plantation. The company was granted a 1,230 hectare land concession ...

Villagers in Svay Rieng province from 10 villages have taken part in an armed protest against the granting of a land concession in the forest that will turn it into a rubber plantation. The villagers claim to have been on the land since 1979 and ...

60 villagers in Svay Rieng province demonstrated to prevent the Mittapheap Rubber Company from moving its machinery into the area. The company has plans to clear 500 hectares of land in what the villagers claim is their protected community forest. Adhoc is investigating the claims ...

According to human rights group Adhoc, five agro-farming concessions granted to Chinese firms are adversely affecting 3,000 families in Preah Vihear province. The concessions have come with warnings of possible land disputes and potential protests. Prime Minister Hun Sen granted the economic land concessions to ...

Earlier this month Prime Minister Hun Sen approved five more economic land concessions totally 44,780 hectares in the Preah Vihear province. Largely distributed to agri-business companies there is fear that the concessions will lead to deforestation. Heng Roy International, Heng You International, Lan Feng International, ...

Senator Ly Yong Phat, owner of the Phnom Penh Palm Sugar and Kampong Speu Sugar companies, has released a statement as a result of US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks that describe him as “The King of Koh Kong”. He answers such questions as why ...

CPP Senator Lao Meng Khin was joined by his wife as they broke ground on the controversial project taking place at Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak Lake. They unveiled the architectural renderings of the towers to be built on what used to be the site of ...

Rights groups have alleged that villagers are being pushed off their land to make way for sugar plantations by companies such as LYP Group, owned by Senator Ly Young Phat. The issue was raised with the Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomuoja and the Minister for ...

15 new projects worth a total of $110 million have been approved by Cambodia’s investment board in May. The Council for Development of Cambodia has approved two rubber plantations worth $60 million. Cin Qian Investment Co, a Chinese firm, has been approved for developing a ...

Sixty community representatives from Preah Vihear and Kampong Thom provinces expressed concern yesterday over a string of recent economic land concessions granted within the bounds of the Boeung Per Wildlife Sanctuary. At a press conference held in Preah Vihear’s Rovieng district yesterday, they claimed the ...

Six additional economic land concessions have been granted, totaling 46,000 hectares in protected areas. As a means to spur agribusiness companies the concessions include two in Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary in Kompong Speu province. Prime Minister Hun Sen signed in the grants on June 3 ...

The documents concern a court case brought by representatives of Hong Kong-based Enviro Group Holdings Limited who are suing John Davies and Lim Lian Tho – both former company directors of Phnom Penh based subsidiary Enviro Corporation (Cambodia) Ltd – and Mark McCluskey, a lawyer ...

Meat prices on Phnom Penh’s markets have seen large gains over the first half of the year, according to figures from the Ministry of Commerce’s Trade Promotion Department. Local vendors say the price increase comes due to a decrease in imports, forcing purchases of domestically ...

The number of farmers growing cassava in Cambodia has increased with the land dedicated to its cultivation having been doubled this year. Floods in Thailand resulted in a drop in availability increasing demand and as a result prices. 294,359 hectares of cassava have been planted ...

While many have characterized the rubber industry as changing hands but not methods, one new firm is showing a level of increased accountability that may help to set a new standard for the sector. Romdoul Rubber in Ratanakiri has While many have characterized ...