Agriculture

At the close of the three-day annual Cambodia Rice Forum, Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol on Tuesday suggested that the first-rate rice brand set to be launched on the international market this year be marketed as “Extra Premium” jasmine rice. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen is pushing government institutions and businesses to improve the country’s rice production. Investment is required in machinery and warehouses to dry and store rice for export, something Cambodia is discussing with China, Hun Sen said. ...

Cambodia’s rice industry faces a ple­thora of challenges—both internal and external—that have led to low prices and prevented ex­porters from achieving a lofty tonnage target set by the government in 2010, Prime Minister Hun­ Sen said on Monday. ...

A farmer from Battambang province took this year’s honor of growing the country’s top rice paddy on Sunday as industry heavyweights gathered in Phnom Penh for the first of the three-day Cambodia Rice Forum. ...

The Agriculture Ministry yesterday launched a strategy for the developing the sector, aiming to expand exports of agricultural products to spur economic growth through sustainable farming practices.Agriculture Minister Ouk Rabun said the government has implemented many strategies and development plans to boost the agriculture sector ...

Cambodian cassava farmers are facing dropping prices in the agro commodity this season, as the lack of a domestic market and dependence on exports, which faces competition from neighbouring countries, has led them to call for government intervention. ...

Five years after setting out an ambitious 1 million-tonne milled rice export target, the rice sector fell well short of the mark last year, exporting close to 550,000 tonnes, with industry experts cautiously optimistic over export increases in 2016. ...

A $300 million sugarcane processing factory will begin producing sugar in Preah Vihear province next month and it is being described as the world’s largest such factory, according to reports in local media. ...

The volume of fish caught to make prahok (fermented fish paste) in the first season on the Tonle Sap Lake and River rose because weather conditions were ideal, but the amount expected for the second season, which begins in February, is likely to be lower ...

The Ministry of Commerce announced last week a $400 million proposal by three Chinese firms to build state-run rice warehousing facilities to increase the Kingdom’s storage capacity. ...

Cambodian rice millers and exporters are increasingly eyeing the export of organic rice to the European Union and the United States, after shipments of this niche product increased this year. ...

Rice production declined slightly in 2015 due to drought in some areas, according to estimates from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, but officials say this will not affect domestic supply or exports. ...

Exports of crude palm oil from the Mong Reththy Company – the Kingdom’s sole producer of the product – increased 8.1 per cent for the first 11 months this year, compared to the same period in 2014. ...

China has set a yearend deadline for Cambodia to submit a list of all Cambodian rice exporters so that Chinese inspectors can evaluate whether they can fully meet food safety laws in a market Cambodian exporters are hoping to increase exports to, according to an ...

Born in 1953, Hay Ly Eang is the same age as independent Cambodia. But unlike his home country, which was torn apart by war and political conflicts in the decades that followed independence, Mr. Ly Eang managed to avoid much of the turmoil after leaving the ...

Salt producers in Kep and Kampot say their revenues have plummeted over the last two years as cheaper and better-quality salt from Thailand floods the local market.Bun Baraing, co-director of the Kep-Kampot Salt Producers Community, said local consumers have switched to imported Thai salt, which ...

New government estimates on this year’s rice production and forecasts for next year’s crop may be overly optimistic, industry experts say, factoring in the impact of a drought that damaged crops and is expected to carry over into the next dry season harvest.The Ministry of ...

The Ministry of Agriculture signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea yesterday to export Cambodian mangoes and expand its short list of export destinations, a ministry official said. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday called on banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs) to suspend loan repayments by borrowers affected by this year’s drought, or either make the loans interest free or cut the rates. ...

Cambodia’s total rice production this year will exceed 9.2 million tonnes, according preliminary estimates of rice harvested in 24 provinces and compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture. ...

Local rubber producers yesterday expressed little enthusiasm to attend this year’s Global Rubber Conference, which opens today in Ho Chi Minh City, voicing pessimism about the gloomy market for natural rubber and scepticism on whether the conference would yield any solutions to producers’ pricing problems.Among ...

Grow Asia, a multi-stakeholder partnership focused on sustainable and inclusive agriculture in the ASEAN region, is seeking to expand to Cambodia by 2016 to help small-scale farming develop into commercial agriculture and to strengthen the agriculture sector, a senior executive from Grow Asia said. ...

A prolonged regional drought is expected to push Thai and Vietnamese rice prices up by 10 to 15 per cent, narrowing the price gap that has kept Cambodian rice exporters from securing major international supply orders, one of the Kingdom’s biggest rice exporters said yesterday. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen’s announcement on Facebook yesterday that the annual tax on vehicles used by limited-income families, including tractors, would be abolished was met with indifference by small-scale farmers, who said high interest rates on loan were a concern, not the negligible tax assessed ...