Agriculture and fishing

One of the largest and rarest freshwater fish in the world was netted by local fishermen near Phnom Penh earlier this month.A two-metre Mekong giant catfish, weighing an estimated 90 to 114 kilos, one of only a handful left of a species that faces extinction, ...

Rubber and palm oil giant the Socfin Group has committed to a global “zero-deforestation policy” across Africa and Asia amid a legal dispute with ethnic Bunong communities in Mondulkiri province’s Bousraa commune. ...

The Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) and the Association for SMEs of Cambodia will jointly hold the fifth Cambodia Rice Forum to discuss the future of the country’s rice industry with major stakeholders. ...

The increased cultivation area of Kampot pepper has offset losses due to drought, with farmers of the premium quality peppercorn estimating that production could reach 80 tonnes in the coming harvest, nearly 40 per cent more than last season. The association’s 242 members have planted ...

As the harvest of wet-season rice ends this month, a report from the Ministry of Agriculture says the yield will fall slightly below the target but this will not affect exports.  ...

Ahead of the opening of Cambodia’s first modern abattoir, which is slated to begin operations in the near future, a new draft law to regulate animal produce and slaughterhouses was announced on Friday, along with the establishment of a “National Butchers’ Day” to be recognised ...

Cambodia rice exports saw a small rebound in October, notching up 12 per cent as compared to a year earlier, as harvests from the delayed rainy-season planting began to reach the nation’s rice mills. ...

មន្ត្រីមួយរូបបាននិយាយថា អង្ករសុម៉ាលីរបស់កម្ពុជាបានជាប់ចំនាត់ថ្នាក់លេខពីរក្នុងការប្រកួតស្រូវអង្ករពិភពលោកលើកទី៧ ជាមួួយប្រភេទអង្ករ ក្រអូបផ្សេងទៀតមកពីជុំវិញសកលលោកនៅទីក្រុងកូឡាឡាំពួរកាលពីចុងខែមុន ដែលលិទ្ធផលការប្រកួត ប្រជែងប្រចាំឆ្នាំនេះបានប្រកាស នៅថ្ងៃចុងក្រោយនៃខែតុលា។ ...

Experts are warning that the Lower Mekong Basin may soon face depleting fish stocks, further erosion of the coastline and rising salinity that will make rice fields uncultivable. An extensive, government- funded study by the Vietnam National Mekong Committee estimates the value of fish from ...

Fishing crime busts rose 150 per cent during the first nine months of 2015, compared with the same period last year, while anti-forestry crime actions dropped 13 per cent. ...

As a fickle rainy season that has seen areas of the country plagued by drought draws to a close, Cambodia’s rice production remains nearly on target, though food insecurity is still a problem for individual communities, according to the World Food Programme.The season’s slow start ...

Cambodia must focus on building a single recognisable brand for its premium fragrant rice to strengthen its international marketing efforts, Minister of Commerce Sun Chanthol said yesterday. Cambodia’s Phka Rumduol – a long-grain, aromatic variety of rice – has been awarded the World’s Best Rice ...

Thai sugar giant Mitr Phol has hired a Swiss firm to carry out a damage assessment and agreed to compensate the hundreds of families its nowdefunct plantations in Oddar Meanchey province have robbed of their land, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand announced Wednesday. ...

Taiwan Fertiliser Company, a Taiwanese manufacturer and seller of fertilisers and chemical products, intends to build a fertiliser factory in Preah Sihanouk province to supply the local market, a company representative said yesterday. ...

Most years the rice fields outside Battambang are an unbroken sea of electric green, but this year they look more like a patchwork quilt. Some paddies are a healthy green, but others are a sickly yellow, while others are little more than empty, muddy fields ...

Exports of fresh fish and fish products fell significantly during the first nine months of the year, raising concerns about businesses and families operating in the Kingdom’s fisheries sector.Fresh and frozen fish export shipments fell 21 per cent during the first nine months of the ...

In the small village of Lengean in Kampong Cham, you can still make out the acronym CVRDT carved into an old concrete well. ...

Fish stocks in the Mekong River in Cambodia and the Vietnamese Delta could be halved if 11 planned hydropower dams go ahead, according to the preliminary results of an extensive study funded by the Vietnamese government. ...

Several hundred villagers protested outside the Kampong Speu Provincial Hall yesterday, demanding the return of thousands lost to economic land concessions (ELCs) in a years-old land dispute with a Chinese company and a prominent tycoon. ...

Farmers hit by drought in Battambang this year are already benefitting from a new crop insurance product for rice farmers introduced by Forte Insurance, with at least 60 families in two districts of the country’s main rice-growing province collecting payments so far. ...

Once thought to be a problem that affected only rural areas, arsenic poisoning from tainted food could affect Cambodian cities such as Phnom Penh as well, according to research into rice and fish cultivated in Kandal province. ...

Rokar village empties during the dry season as the workforce migrates to find more gainful employment. But when the monsoon arrives, they return, not to fish as has traditionally been their staple income, but for a more lucrative trade: catching leeches.Chinese demand for the bloodsucking ...

An international study of the health of the world’s oceans compiled by more than 65 experts this week ranked Cambodia 179 of 221 countries surveyed, confirming the fragility of the Kingdom’s marine environment. ...

Cambodia has declined to join the world’s largest rubber production group, the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC), because there is no benefit in doing so now, a senior official and an industry executive say.  ...