Agriculture

Fragrant rice from Cambodia and Thailand was awarded the world’s best rice for 2014 during the 6th World Rice Conference here on Thursday. Jeremy Zwinger, president and chief executive officer of the Rice Trader, which organized the competition, said 25 rice samples from 15 countries and ...

Cambodia exported 304,788 tons of rice in first ten months of 2014, up from 294,154 tons exported in the same period last year, according to a report of Ministry Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. ...

Some 300 rice traders and millers from around 40 countries met here on Wednesday to seek opportunities to expand their rice businesses, officials said. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the World Rice Conference, Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol said the conference was an opportunity for Cambodia ...

Former residents of two villages in Koh Kong province that were razed last week by security guards for Chinese firm Union Development Group are preparing to file a complaint to Prime Minister Hun Sen. Fourteen homes were destroyed by company security guards Thursday morning, according to ...

The Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) will provide agricultural insurance to Cambodian rice farmers nationwide next year as part of a deal reached with another NGO on Tuesday. CEDAC president Yang Saing Koma said Wednesday that CEDAC and the Netherlands-based Achmea Foundation ...

The Cambodian Rice Federation (CRF) is seeking financing from China’s Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) to build much-needed infrastructure such as warehouses and drying facilities to hopefully increase milled rice export capacities. Sok Puthyvuth, president of the CRF told the Post yesterday that the CRF had set up ...

Contentious plantation giant Vietnam Rubber Group reportedly “lost” nearly $391 million of state funds over five years, including $22.75 million from a rubber plantation in Cambodia, an official investigation into the firm’s dealings has found, according to Vietnamese media. Hanoi’s anti-corruption body, the General Inspectorate, last ...

Representatives of Oddar Meanchey villagers who allegedly lost their homes in a 2008 land grab by Thai-owned sugar giant Mitr Phol are hopeful a settlement may soon be reached after they testify before Thai human rights officials today. Witnesses representing more than 400 families are slated ...

More than 200 people in Kampong Speu’s Oral district gathered yesterday to submit a second petition to HLH Company – an agro-business linked to Hun Seng Ny, the sister of Prime Minister Hun Sen – demanding the return of their land, community representatives said. ...

More than 100 demonstrators continued to stage an anti-eviction protest in front of Koh Kong province’s city hall after a jailed community leader was denied bail yesterday. ...

Less flooding and illegal fishing activities have dampened estimates for the country’s upcoming fishing harvest, officials and industry representatives say. Due to less flooding, this year’s total catch is expected to equal or even fall short of last year’s total of 700,000 tonnes, Nao Thuok, director ...

A 60-year-old woman was injured and sent to hospital yesterday when police cracked down on anti-eviction protesters blocking a busy bridge in Koh Kong province, villagers said. More than 100 villagers locked in a dispute with the company that manages the Koh Kong Special Economic ...

About 40 security guards armed with axes and AK-47s and working for the Chinese-owned Union Development Group (UDG) on Sunday demolished the homes of three villagers who claim to own land on UDG’s sprawling $3.8-billion beachside tourist development in Koh Kong province, villagers said. ...

Two large trucks carrying 60 cubic meters of luxury wood were confiscated on Saturday after their drivers unsuccessfully attempted to barge through a roadblock of cars set up by the Forestry Administration in Kompong Cham province, officials said. ...

Security guards hired by the Chinese-owned Union Development Group (UDG) thwarted an attempt Friday by 10 villagers to bring a halt to the company’s clearing of land in Koh Kong province, locals said. ...

Following a two-hour low-speed boat chase down the Mekong River in Kandal province early Thursday morning, some 100 angry villagers led by a local opposition official detained five Vietnamese nationals they say have been using illegal fishing techniques for the past three months. ...

Representatives of 273 ethnic Bunong families from Mondolkiri province submitted a petition on Thursday to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet in Phnom Penh, seeking the cancellation of an economic land concession they say has infringed on their ancestral lands. ...

More than 200 ethnic families in Mondulkiri’s Sen Monorom town filed complaints to Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet and the provincial court yesterday, asking for the cancellation of Villa Development’s land concession and demanding $500 million for allegedly destroying their resin trees. The complaint is the ...

About 500 villagers involved in a protracted land dispute with a rubber company blocked National Road 7 in Tbong Khmum province’s Memot district on Thursday to demand titles to land they say they have lived on since 1980. ...

The Thai government’s move to stabilise rice prices for the 2014 harvest season has prompted mixed reactions from local rice industry representatives. Sok Puthyvuth, president of the Cambodia Rice Federation said yesterday the policy would impact Cambodia negatively when Thailand is forced to sell ...

More than 1 million hectares of forest terrain and land leased by private companies has been put under government control since Prime Minister Hun Sen initiated a moratorium on new economic land concessions (ELCs) in May 2012, the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and ...

Cambodia held the 4th rice forum on Tuesday with an aim to promote milled rice to local and international buyers, an organizer said. Potential buyers from China, Singapore, Nigeria, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Iraq, South Africa, the United States, Italy, Poland, Germany, India, and Myanmar were ...

One of 11 firms that had their economic land concessions revoked by the Ministry of Environment on Friday has continued to work its former land in Banteay Meanchey province, according to local residents. ...

Cambodia’s small rubber farmers are hoping a commitment to stabilise prices among rubber producing countries will help curb sliding profits in the sector. Industry representatives from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and other rubber producing countries met in Malaysia last week to discuss what can be ...