Agriculture

Cambodians spent over $100 million on imported meat last year, further widening the gap of domestic supply as local producers failed to capture the lucrative protein market, a government official said yesterday. ...

Cambodia’s lagging agriculture and nascent manufacturing sectors need to diversify as the threat of regional competition heats up, a World Bank economist warned yesterday, while enumerating the challenges the Kingdom faces after having officially graduated into a lower-middle income country last year. ...

More than 300 ethnic villagers at two separate locations in Preah Vihear province conducted traditional ceremonies yesterday beseeching the spirits for an end to their ongoing land dispute with the Chinese-owned Rui Feng sugar company. ...

The price of fresh cashews has jumped by about 30 percent over the price last year due to shortages of the nut and the fact that the harvest will not get into full swing until early next month. ...

With the Kingdom’s main rice harvesting season wrapping up, just a fraction of a government emergency loan package that aimed at giving millers the liquidity they needed to purchase rice paddy duringthe harvest cycle has been disbursed, leaving the government and private sector divided on ...

SM Waypoint claims its unmanned aerial vehicles can help local farm and plantation owners increase their yields. ...

The government is seeking intrepid smallholder farmers to pilot a project that would transform 6,000 hectares of cropland in two provinces into a patchwork of small rubber plantations.The Ministry of Agriculture is eyeing 5,000 hectares of land in Ratanakkiri and 1,000 hectares in Battambang for ...

About 100 villagers involved in a long-running land dispute with Koh Kong Sugar Industry Company attempted to march to the home of Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday, culminating in a physical altercation with authorities.The mostly female group of protesters was stopped at 10:40am by Daun ...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is pushing mango farmers to increase their knowledge of growing the fruit before exporting to South Korea in an effort to boost production.Hean Vanhorn, deputy director general at the ministry, said at a workshop in Kampong Speu province ...

Orange farmer Say Samoeurth has been battling an invisible foe. He rarely sees his adversary, a tiny insect known as the Asian citrus psyllid, but wherever it goes this winged pest leaves behind a trail of destruction. ...

The price per kilogram of cassava exports from Cambodia has fallen this year due to plunging market prices and a lack of processing centers in the country. The price of dried cassava in northeastern Rattanakiri province is down to 410 riel (about $0.10) per kilogram and ...

The Ministry of Agriculture is calling on rice millers to apply for a second round of quality checks for exports to China after only 28 local rice mills, out of 60 which applied for inspection in the first round, passed last year. ...

Villagers in Kampot’s Chhouk district have demanded that a private firm they accuse of failing to develop its economic land concession (ELC) have its permit to use the land revoked. ...

About 500 people representing thousands of families from four provinces who are affected by the development of sugarcane plantations requested intervention from Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday. ...

The government has designated eight provinces to start boosting vegetable production from this year in a move to curb the capital flow of an estimated $200 million per year on imports from neighboring countries, mainly Vietnam.Vongsey Vissoth, secretary of state for the Ministry of Economy ...

The Agriculture Ministry renewed the license for timber extraction on a land concession in a protected area in September, despite previously concluding that the land within the concession had been completely cleared, according to a conservation group and documents obtained by reporters this month. ...

Cambodia is seeking to expand its market for milled rice to Sweden and is looking for ways to cooperate further in trade and investment. ...

While international rubber prices rebounded late last year, Cambodia’s exports in 2016, however, remained relatively unchanged compared with 2015, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. ...

The Land Ministry will meet with the three companies at the center of the decade-long land dispute in Koh Kong province this week in an attempt to finally resolve the villagers’ grievances. ...

With the start of the dry harvest season for cassava kicking off, farmers are calling for the government to support the struggling sector with initiatives to address recurring capital shortages and market volatility. ...

A $360 million sugarcane factory will start operating next month after stopping last June due to a shortage of raw material. The Rui Feng sugarcane mill opened last April with capacity to produce nearly half a million tons a year for export, mainly to Europe and ...

Close to 2,000 chickens from Thailand were confiscated by Pursat provincial authorities after they were found to have been illegally brought into Cambodia. ...

Cambodia’s beleaguered rubber industry looks set for a turnaround as international rubber prices continue their strong rebound. Local traders and industry officials said yesterday they were optimistic that rubber prices, which doubled during the course of 2016, would continue to rise as the global economy ...

Cambodian farmers may be able to cut export costs from the middle of the year if an agreement is signed letting them send their produce through the Thai port of Laem Chabang. ...