Agriculture and fishing

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 ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng and Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhun travelled by helicopter to Pursat province yesterday morning, two days after a clash between authorities and community members that saw 30 fishermen arrested. ...

Cambodia and Laos have agreed to set up a joint fisheries management body by the end of 2018 and reaffirmed their commitment to improved fisheries management in border provinces. ...

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. ...

The total export of fish products decreased in 2016 even though fish yields rose, causing income from the fisheries sector to drop by nearly a half compared with a year earlier. ...

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

A Chinese firm and its local partner have floated a proposal for a $100 million aquaculture project in Cambodia that would include fish farms, a feed mill and a fish processing plant. ...

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. ...

Construction of a $100 million dam project and the largest reservoir in Battambang province is 98 percent complete and scheduled to be finished before Khmer New Year in April. ...

In just over a month since the creation of a special task force to curb illegal fishing on the Tonle Sap lake, the Agriculture Ministry says it has already dealt with thousands of offenses. ...

Ethnic Kuoy villagers in Preah Vihear’s Chey Sen district filed a complaint against Chinese sugar company Rui Feng on Tuesday after a long-simmering land dispute almost erupted into violence last week. ...

The government has removed the fee for inspection services on milled rice slated for export, aiming to reduce the cost of Cambodia’s rice and increase its competitiveness in international markets. ...

Two rice millers, which had passed initial inspections, were deemed ineligible to export rice to China after failing quality and food hygiene tests applied by Chinese experts. ...

Cambodians can expect up to 14,000 tons of fish caught from the Tonle Sap, Mekong and Bassac rivers this year, a 5,000 ton increase compared with last year, which will be sufficient to meet all local demand, said the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries ...

An Agriculture Ministry official said on Sunday that slowing growth in Cambodian milled rice exports—increasing just 0.7 percent last year—was the result of outdated policies and was a concerning trend. ...

Kampot pepper prices are set to remain stable for another year as part of an agreement between local producers that caps prices through the end of 2017, a representative of the pepper association said yesterday. ...

Four companies have responded to a government tender for a project to develop a mammoth rice storage and processing facility in Battambang province, a bank executive said yesterday. ...

Representatives of 175 families in Koh Kong province’s Sre Ambel and Botum Sakor districts have released their final demands to end their 10-year land dispute with Koh Kong Sugar Industry (KSI) and Koh Kong Plantation. The families are asking for two hectares of land to be ...