Agriculture and fishing

Following the seizure of about 100,000 snakehead fish from a van in Siem Reap province last week, police on Tuesday afternoon raided the fish farm where the illegal fry came from, according to deputy provincial police chief Oum Amra. ...

Fisheries administration officials cracked down on illegal fishing activities in Kampong Cham province’s Boeung Thom lake on Saturday, seizing and destroying illegal fish traps and more than a kilometre of illegal extra-fine netting, officials said yesterday. ...

Despite increased yields and the rising use of farming machinery in Cambodia’s agriculture sector, growth in the industry for 2013-14 was only between 1 and 2 per cent, with greater emphasis needed on the quality of seeds and fertilisers, as well as encouraging greater vegetable ...

The last decade was golden for Cambodian agriculture. The annual agricultural sector growth of 5.3% between 2004 and 2012 was one of the highest in the world, according to a new World Bank report, Cambodian Agriculture in Transition: Opportunities and Risks , prepared with the ...

Cambodia exported 61,969 tons of dry rubber in the first six months of 2015, an increase of 47% from 42,189 tons over the same period last year, according to the Chinese State News Agency-Xinhua’s report. ...

“Turn the lights off soon, or people will see us,” the young fisherman said in a muted voice that was barely audible, even in the pre-dawn quiet. The fact that fishermen are resorting to sneaking into the lake’s protected areas speaks of an alarming ...

Cambodia’s need to secure China as a rice export destination is becoming increasingly urgent, with China’s multiple pending agreements with other countries in Southeast and South Asia, said industry insider David Van. ...

As about 100 fishermen in Koh Kong province on Wednesday resumed their monthslong campaign against a company they accuse of illegal sand dredging, an environmental NGO claimed the firm was now hiring locals as security guards in an attempt to divide the community. ...

Cambodia’s river guards have reported confiscating more than 35,000 metres of gill nets, 21 boats and an assortment of homemade grenades during patrols in Mekong Irrawaddy Dolphin Sanctuary in Kratie and Stung Treng provinces between May and July. ...

For Sam Phat and her family, the decision 10 years ago to plant rubber trees on their hectare of land was an easy one. Because of booming demand, mostly from China, rubber prices were high, and the startup cost of planting trees was low. ...

More than 150,000 hectares of rice fields have been affected by a drought in some areas of the country, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, warning that the lack of rain, combined with labor shortages, could prevent the government from meeting its rice production goal ...

Their boats began disappearing from the banks of the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers near Phnom Penh a few months ago, according to Cham fishing families still living in the area. By the weekend none were left, Cham fishermen told Khmer Times. ...

Police say they have asked Vietnam to identify the Vietnamese trawler involved in a fatal clash last week with Cambodian fishermen, reversing their position that the death of a local man was an accident. ...

Rising demand for Kampot Peppers is pushing a cultivation increase, but only a limited number of companies are benefiting. ...

More than 70 families in Siem Reap province have lodged complaints against a politician who they accuse of siphoning water from the Kulen Mountains to irrigate his pepper plantation. ...

Kampong Speu Palm Sugar Promotion Association (KSPSPA) is expecting to produce 300 tonnes for the upcoming season, which runs from December to May. ...

The government of China has put on hold a $300 million loan to a Cambodian rice project, aimed at developing storage and warehousing facilities in the country, as the government of Cambodia has not been able to meet the criteria set by the Chinese authorities, ...

Cambodian farmers want to grow more cashews in response to rising prices. But lack of information and resources is holding them back. ...

A project to build 10 warehouses to store rice paddy using Chinese funding has hit a roadblock, as the Cambodian government has been unable to meet criteria set by the Chinese for the project, according to an official associated with the project. ...

The Cambodian Rice Federation signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday to receive $450,000 in financial support from the government to increase Cambodia’s rice exports, according to a federation official. ...

Cambodian rice exporters are worried of losing market share in the European Union (EU) market if the EU-Vietnam Bilateral Free Trade Agreement (EU-V BFTA) is finalized, according to local sources. ...

As Vietnam and the European Union reach the final stages of negotiating a bilateral trade agreement, giving Cambodia’s neighbour zero-duty exports to the economic bloc, local rice millers and exporters have expressed concerns that the deal could hurt the Kingdom’s rice exports. ...

Dozens of drought-hit farmers from two districts in Banteay Meanchey province scuffled on Saturday night after one group blocked a canal leading from a shared reservoir, preventing water from flowing to  the other community. ...

Riding the wave of rising demand for beef in Asia, Cambodia’s long-awaited slaughterhouse could not come soon enough, with an emerging middle class in Cambodia also hungry for more premium meat from Down Under. ...