Agriculture and fishing

Extreme weather attributed to the tail-end of an El Niño event continues to wreak havoc on the nation’s agricultural sector, with more than 20,000 hectares of rice fields damaged so far this year, a government agricultural expert said yesterday. ...

Rubber exports have continued to rise in the first nine months of the year, despite the fall and current stagnation of prices as global demand continues to stall, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). ...

Ente Nazionale Risi (ENR), Italy’s national rice agency, has raised concern over increased European rice imports from countries such as Cambodia, according to rice industry publication Oryza. ...

Kampong Speu province will soon be home to a Chinese-funded agricultural special economic zone (SEZ) with facilities to research plant diseases, after the Ministry of Agriculture and Tian Rui (Cambodia) Agricultural Cooperation SEZ Co., signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday. ...

A little-publicized sub-decree signed in July and discovered by the Post yesterday in an NGO database raises questions as to whether the eviction on Saturday of six ethnic Kuoy families in Preah Vihear was in contravention of an order by Prime Minister Hun Sen. ...

The damage to the country’s rice crops from the recent heavy rains is likely to be small, according to provincial officials, as the Agriculture Ministry stressed that flood damage to rice crops was under control. As the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology continue to warn ...

Cambodia’s three-year reign as holder of the World’s Best Rice Award came to an end last year, but the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) is confident it will regain the title at next month’s ceremony in Thailand. CRF Secretary-General Moul Sarith told Khmer Times yesterday that they ...

Amid increased demand for oranges grown in Battambang province, the Ministry of Agriculture is seeking to have the fruit’s unique and sought-after flavor recognized under the European Union’s geographical identification (GI) status. Ministry spokesperson Lor Reaksmey explained that the application process, involving ministry officials and international ...

Kampot pepper sales both locally and internationally have continued to be strong since gaining coveted geographical indication (GI) status from the European Union in February, while domestic pepper competitors have complained of falling prices, industry figures said yesterday. Kampot Pepper Promotion Association president, Nguon Lay, told ...

The minister of commerce, Pan Sorasak, met with officials from the Chinese-based Jilin Provincial Investment Group Co Ltd yesterday to discuss strengthening rice-processing infrastructure in the Kingdom. ...

As part of ongoing efforts to boost exports of Cambodian mangoes, the Mong Rithy Group, an agro-industrial conglomerate that is heavily invested in the mango sector, announced yesterday that it was in negotiations to import drying machinery, which would greatly increase production of dried mango ...

Three weeks since Prime Minister Hun Sen approved $27 million in emergency loans to prop up the struggling rice sector, the state-owned bank charged with disbursing the funds said yesterday that it has only granted $1 million in loans, claiming that the number of eligible ...

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Cambodia next week will likely lead to an increase in agriculture exports to China, Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday.​ Speaking at a graduation ceremony for law and economics students in Phnom Penh yesterday morning, Mr. Hun Sen said that ...

The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) has submitted a proposal to the government for the setting up of a joint executive financial committee to ensure that the $27 million emergency loan to rice millers to purchase paddy rice from farmers, in a bid to prevent rice ...

The integration of technology into Cambodia’s agricultural sector is vital to increase the competitiveness and overall performance of the Kingdom’s harvest, but efforts to push for widespread adoption of innovative solutions has been slow to take off, industry experts and stakeholders said at a forum ...

The economic stability of Cambodian households took a beating during the El Nino weather cycle that enveloped the region during the last dry season, resulting in drought conditions that drove many families into debt and lower income brackets, a new study has found. The study, released ...

The state-owned bank entrusted with extending $27 million in emergency loans to millers to purchase rice paddy has marginally lowered the interest rate on these conditional loans in an effort to shorten some of the strings attached. The Rural Development Bank (RDB) announced late on Sunday ...

The government has asked China to make good on its pledge to buy 200,000 tons of rice annually from the Kingdom and also to speed up the approval of a $300 million loan to the country’s beleaguered rice sector. This request was made yesterday during a ...

Indonesia would consider buying more rice from Cambodia if the price was more competitive, the Indonesian ambassador to Cambodia told reporters after the Indonesian Trade and Tourism Promotion 2016 expo in Phnom Penh on Friday. Ambassador Pitono Purnomo said that Cambodia and Indonesia signed a ...

As the government scrambles to buoy a rice sector suffering from crashing paddy prices and fierce international competition, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday lauded the government officials and “generous businesspeople” who heeded calls for emergency funds. ...

The country’s financial institutions are closely monitoring loans that have been made to rice farmers, who say that this year’s fall in rice prices will affect their ability to make repayments, industry officials said yesterday. Last year, farmers were paid around 840 riel ($0.21) per kilogram ...

As rice farmers struggle to cope with the aftereffects of one of the worst droughts in Cambodia’s recent history and moribund infrastructure makes it difficult to transport and sell their products across the country, universities here and in the United States are joining forces to ...

It’s almost 10 in the morning in Battambang province’s Bavel district and the blazing sun would deter anyone from venturing too far from the cool comfort of their thatched huts in this rice-growing area. But for many families whose livelihoods depend on rice farming, braving the ...

Cambodia’s first experimental farm and research centre for potato cultivation opened yesterday as experts confirmed that the Kingdom’s soils are suitable for the starchy tuber – raising hopes that local crops could one day satisfy the fast-food cravings that have put potatoes in high demand. ...