Agricultural commodities, processing and products

The European Commission has found sufficient evidence to launch an investigation into whether Cambodian rice exported to the EU puts an unfair burden on European rice farmers, potentially imperiling the Kingdom’s tariff-free exports to the bloc. ...

The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is forecasting that 44 percent of Cambodia’s total rice exports will be smuggled out of the country through informal channels this year, a persistent problem that weighs down profits and threatens to cripple the industry. ...

Germany’s international development agency (GIZ) held a workshop on Tuesday that promoted Cambodian agricultural exports to China, focusing on the necessary export guidelines and the sanitation standards that are often lacking in the Kingdom’s agricultural value chains. ...

The Agriculture Ministry last week accused slaughterhouses across Cambodia of conspiring to form a cartel and engaging in price fixing while local authorities turned a blind eye, but has since said it has no plans to punish or even name the alleged perpetrators. ...

The Ministry of Agriculture published a circular on Thursday accusing the slaughterhouse industry of running a “conspiracy” and “cartel” to fix prices and monopolise the market amid a “lack of enforcement” from local authorities. ...

Local rice miller and exporter Amru Rice has started reaping the benefits of its partnership with the International Financial Corporation (IFC), beginning to collect rice from farmers working under contract farming schemes in Kampong Cham province. ...

Farmers of Kampot pepper have had a rough planting season due to climate change, but the decrease in production is unlikely to seriously affect the market, according to the head of the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association (KPPA). ...

Cambodia’s salt producers are suffering from a catastrophic harvest season that is likely to deplete their reserves and threaten the industry’s future prospects, according to leaders of the country’s largest salt federation. ...

A Chinese-based investment firm has announced plans to begin construction on the first of 10 cassava processing plants next month, with a total planned investment of $150 million, according to Agriculture Minister Veng Sokhon. ...

Seeking to find new markets for Cambodia’s world-renowned Kampot pepper, the Ministry of Commerce held talks last week with Swiss dairy La Maison du Gruyere.   ...

Oxfam Cambodia and Amru Rice will launch next month a pilot programme based on blockchain and smart contract technology to improve living standards for local farmers. The project, called BlocRice, is powered by cutting-edge technologies and aims to improve farmers’ livelihoods by increasing the transparency and ...

Grown in floods and thriving without pesticides, floating rice offers Cambodia a sustainable alternative for its eco-friendly food production amid threats from climate change. ...

The US sent its first shipment of food-grade soybeans to Cambodia last week, exporting a total of 14 tonnes to both Cambodia and Myanmar to be processed in the receiving countries, according to US media reports. The shipments were sent to soy milk and tofu ...

Takeo provincial military police yesterday seized 3,900 kilos of dried crocodile hides being smuggled into the country from Vietnam. Major Bun Sothy, Takeo provincial military police deputy commander, said the crocodile skins, worth about $24,000, were being smuggled into Koh Andet district from Vietnam’s An Giang ...

The price that Cambodian rubber latex fetches overseas dropped by 10 percent since the beginning of the year, a fall that officials attribute to an oversupply of the commodity in global markets and the sluggish growth of the international economy.​ ...

In a bid to increase fair competition in the abattoir business, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a new directive last week that eradicates exclusive rights to operate abattoirs in Cambodia. ...

The Cambodian prime minister called yesterday on the public, private and non-profit sectors to work together in bringing down the cost of growing rice to help struggling farmers throughout the country. ...

Representatives of more than 400 families in Kratie’s Snuol district protested yesterday following the temporary detention of two fellow community members at a demonstration the day before, when locals blocked a road to demand the government find a solution to their land dispute with a ...

The rice storage facilities funded by the government under a lending scheme will be ready within a month, with sector insiders claiming they will be key in helping the ailing rice industry recover. The government has disbursed more than $30 million in loans to build silos, ...

Cambodia and Vietnam signed an agreement earlier this month to greatly expand Cambodia’s cashew exports by 2028, but the proposed export level would require several hundred thousand hectares of additional land and there is no concrete plan yet to meet the target. ...

Following an agreement with Vietnam to boost cashew production in the kingdom, the Ministry of Agriculture has called on all provincial agricultural departments in the country to conduct studies on the areas that present the best conditions for growing the crop. On January 17, the ministry ...

Construction began yesterday on a $10 million factory in Kampong Speu province to process fresh fruit for international export, a first for Cambodia, though Agriculture Ministry officials could not confirm it would meet international standards yesterday. ...

New proposed rules from the European Union restricting the import of palm oil would likely affect Cambodia’s nascent palm oil sector, but the country’s main exporter is hoping that demand from India and China will cushion the blow. ...

Rice authorities in the kingdom are exploring the possibility of applying for Geographical Indication (GI) status for rice grown in areas around the Tonle Sap Lake.   ...