Agriculture and fishing
Agriculture
After prod, Rice Federation springs to action
The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) will work closely with the government to curb Vietnamese rice imports flooding the domestic market and channel more lending to domestic millers so that they can compete with rivals in neighboring countries, it said yesterday in a statement. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22407/after-prod--rice-federation-springs-to-action/
Grant for organic vegetables
The Japanese government has given a grant to the International Volunteers of Yamagata (IVY) group, which supports poverty reduction projects and organic product markets in Svay Rieng and Preah Vihear. ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22332/grant-for-organic-vegetables/
Revised rubber export tax scheme criticised
Rubber producers said yesterday the government’s decision to amend the export tax scheme on natural rubber fell short of expectations and would do little to stem the losses of farmers as rubber prices hover near a six-year low. ...
Sor Chandara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/revised-rubber-export-tax-scheme-criticised
Bodies swap control over ELCs, preserves
Authority over economic land concessions (ELCs) currently under the purview of the Ministry of Environment will be transferred to the Ministry of Agriculture, while all protected areas and nature preserves currently under the Ministry of Agriculture will pass to the Ministry of Environment, according to ...
Niem Chheng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/bodies-swap-control-over-elcs-preserves
Mysterious fire destroys ELC timber admidst investigation
Hundreds of cubic meters of timber on a Mondulkiri economic land concession leased to the Uni-Green Company burned to the ground yesterday after an alleged fire from a nearby forest jumped to the property, according to provincial governor Svay Sam Eng, who added that despite ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22280/mysterious-fire-destroys-elc-timber-admidst-investigation/
Cambodia's Kampot pepper wins coveted EU protection
Cambodia’s Kampot pepper, a go-to spice for chefs around the world, has joined an elite group of gourmet food items whose names are protected by the European Union, joining products such as Gruyere cheese from France and Parma ham from Italy. ...
VOA Team
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/ap-cambodia-kampot-pepper-wins-coveted-eu-protection/3216204.html
Market for organic products on the upswing
At a public market in front of the Kampong Speu market, a stall selling organic vegetables attracts dozens of housewives and passers by. Many stop to buy the locally grown vegetables, which are here thanks to a new program established by the Cambodian Center for ...
Hul Reaksmey
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/market-for-organic-products-on-the-upswing/3216213.html
Cassava, rubber processing plants being mulled: official
Japan may import cassava and rubber from Cambodia and investors from the country are considering building processing plants for the two commodities here, according to a senior official at the Agriculture Ministry. ...
Sok Chan and May Kunmakar
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22128/cassava--rubber-processing-plants-being-mulled--official/
Rubber producers expect price rebound
Cambodian rubber producers expect global prices will recover this year after the four leading-rubber producing countries agreed to cut their supply to the global market over the next six months to boost prices. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22065/rubber-producers-expect-price-rebound/
Land activist seeks gov’t intervention
A representative for 250 families locked in a land dispute in a remote area of Kampong Speu province is calling on the national government to intervene, alleging collusion between the district governor as well as Master International Cooperation Group, which residents of three villages accuse ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22018/land-activist-seeks-gov---t-intervention/
Groundwater shortage could jeopardise 1.5 million farmers: study
Amid late-arriving rains and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, groundwater supplies are shrinking, a fact that could leave 1.5 million Cambodian farmers unable to water their crops within 15 years, according to a study published last month in the Journal of Hydrology. ...
Igor Kossov
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/groundwater-shortage-could-jeopardise-15-million-farmers-study
Rice sector facing collapse, millers warn
About half of the country’s rice millers and exporters went out of business last year and those clinging on are likely to follow suit within two years unless the government injects capital into the sector and takes measures to curb the flood of imported rice ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/22030/rice-sector-facing-collapse--millers-warn/
Ministry says arsenic levels in rice 'no problem'
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. ...
Jack Davies
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/ministry-says-arsenic-levels-rice-no-problem
Increasing sustainable food production could empower Cambodian women
A team of researchers, led by scientists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, will launch a project designed to improve nutrition and empower women in Cambodia by promoting their production and marketing of horticultural crops and rice produced via sustainable intensification practices. ...
Penn State team
http://news.psu.edu/story/394753/2016/02/24/research/increasing-sustainable-food-production-could-empower-cambodian
El Nino may crimp lending to farmers
Lending to farmers will be stricter this year as the El Nino weather phenomenon extends the dry season, executives at microfinance institutes (MFIs) said yesterday. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21905/el-nino-may-crimp-lending-to-farmers/
Chroy Changvar residents file petition over satellite city
Nearly 100 residents from six communities within Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changvar district filed a petition to City Hall, the Canadian Embassy and the World Bank yesterday demanding intervention in a land dispute with the Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation (OCIC), which is responsible for constructing a ...
Pav Suy
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21918/chroy-changvar-residents-file-petition-over-satellite-city/
Falling rice price taking a toll on exporters
The falling price of rice in Asia due to the slowing global economy and intensifying regional competition is taking a toll on Cambodian exporters and farmers even though exports jumped more than 20 percent last month compared to January last year, executives said. ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21838/falling-rice-price-taking-a-toll-on-exporters/
Vietnamese rice nowhere to be found in Chinese malls
Although over half of its rice exports were to China last year, it remains a highly competitive market amongst other rice exporters, namely Thailand, Pakistan, and Cambodia, said Bui Huy Hoang, Vietnam’s commercial counselor in China. ...
Tuoi Tre News team
http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/33385/vietnamese-rice-nowhere-to-be-found-in-chinese-malls
Gov’t mulls suspending duty on rubber exports
The government will consider suspending its $50 per ton export duty on rubber following lobbying by local producers who say they are operating at a loss due to the sharp fall in global prices for the commodity, Agriculture Ministry secretary of state Eang Sophalleth said ...
Sum Manet
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21714/gov---t-mulls-suspending-duty-on-rubber-exports/
Agro sector on a growth path
The tonnage of Cambodia’s agricultural exports increased by over 20 per cent last year, led by a surge in shipments of dried cassava chips, according to the latest Ministry of Agriculture data. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/agro-sector-growth-path
Indian investors warming up to Cambodia
Although bilateral trade between India and Cambodia remains low, investors from the subcontinent are eying the market here for its potential as a regional hub for their agricultural, machinery and industrial products, B. Sarkar, executive director of the Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of India, ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/21600/indian-investors-warming-up-to-cambodia/
Controversial study says violence works
Indigenous peoples fighting economic land concessions (ELCs) in Cambodia are more likely to get results with violent protest than lodging their complaints through legitimate channels, a controversial study published this month argues. ...
Jack Davies
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/controversial-study-says-violence-works
ANZ still owes villagers over sugar loan: Oxfam
Australian banking giant ANZ has come under fire for its response to a scandal over its financing of a sugar plantation previously linked to forced evictions and child labour in Kampong Speu province. ...
Charles Rollet
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/anz-still-owes-villagers-over-sugar-loan-oxfam
Official gets called out in sanctuary logging case
Two men have been arrested over, and a military official implicated in, illegal logging that took place at the protected Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary last week. ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/official-gets-called-out-sanctuary-logging-case