Agricultural commodities, processing and products

WITH the passing of a law on farmers’ co-operatives, the government hopes to streng-then the country’s growing agricultural sector, Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a speech at the National Institute of Education yesterday. “In time, I believe that economic growth will be tremendous in rural ...

Deforestation and Cambodia’s strong economic growth have resulted in an increase in the price of charcoal, an energy source the poor are dependent on, charcoal vendors say. The price of charcoal in Phnom Penh had increased at least 200 riel ($0.05) a kilogram compared to 2012, charcoal ...

Twelve ethnic Tampuon families living in Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat district yesterday filed a complaint with the provincial land management department, accusing the owners of a Vietnamese rubber plantation of clearing their farmland, local official said. Tun Vantham, chief of Samuth Loeu village in Seda commune, said ...

Total fixed assets of Singaporean investment in Cambodia last year reached $82.7 million, a 500 per cent increase from $13.8 million in 2011, data from the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) show. Singaporean entrepreneurs who have already entered the Cambodian market said they expect ...

Cambodian milled rice is becoming more popular throughout Asia, particularly in Malaysia, which is the number one importer of milled rice from the Kingdom. According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Malaysia imported over 7,000 tonnes of a total 25,700 tonnes exported ...

Exports of Cambodian milled rice rose sharply during the first four weeks of this year, and traders are optimistic about the demand in Asian markets, particularly China. Figures from the one-stop service office at the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) show the Kingdom exported ...

The government launched Thursday a $200 million project to divert water from the Mekong River to irrigate 300,000 hectares of rice fields in Prey Veng, Svay Rieng and Kampong Cham provinces. Under the first phase, estimated to cost $100 million, canals will be restored between ...

Reporting that the country had achieved better than expected economic growth last year, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday targeted a rapid expansion of the country’s rubber industry and predicted that almost 1 in 10 Cambodians would soon be working in rubber. “Agriculture continues to play ...

Cambodia, a Southeast Asian country with 15 million inhabitants, has begun to embrace intensive livestock production despite numerous obstacles. The industry heavily relies on the import of genetics, soybean meal, fish meal, additives, medicines and vaccines. A major constraint preventing producers from taking up intensive ...

Farmers have expressed concern over local brokers’ manipulation of the market during harvest season, reducing buying prices for farmers who have no access to actual market rates. While some farmers have already completed their harvests, others have left their fields barren, fearing brokers will reduce ...

Kampong Speu palm sugar production is projected to decrease slightly this year due to a late start, though prices are expected to rise thanks to the sugar’s growing popularity following its geographical indication certification. Despite the drop in production, Hong Hoeung, director of Kampong Speu Palm ...

Authorities in Kompong Thom province have ordered the owners of a Vietnamese rubber company to temporarily cease the clearing of part of Prey Long forest after local farmers alleged that the firm was encroaching on villagers’ land. About 300 members of the Prey Long People’s Network ...

The number of people arrested over land disputes jumped 144 percent from a year earlier to 232 in 2012, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (Adhoc) said Thursday. Speaking at a news conference, he [Adhoc president Thun Saray] said Adhoc last year received 70 ...

Nean Narin, a humble man and father of three children, says his family is going hungry. Narin lives in the village of Boeung Kak, situated on the edge of Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. For years, he and other villagers relied on the Boeung Kak Lake ...

More than 300 activists from Kampong Thom province’s Prey Lang Community Network were stopped by district police yesterday as they were marching from the Vietnamese-owned CRCK Company to deliver a lawsuit in Sandan district calling for the postponement of alleged forest clearing and the “invasion” ...

Cambodia’s Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy on Thursday launched a four year project, aiming at promoting the development of biomass-fueled renewable energy generation technologies in industrial sector, officials said. The 5.6 million US dollar project will provide technical and partial financial support for the ...

As the cashew-harvesting season in Cambodia’s northeastern provinces begins, farmers are expecting a good crop due to favorable weather conditions last year, an official said yesterday. ...

At 9 a.m. yesterday, more than 200 soldiers, police and military police officers were gathered outside a large mansion on Street 55 in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district. All were waiting for their promised “ang pao” – red envelopes containing cash usually handed out during ...

The Prey Lang Community Network yesterday delivered a letter to authorities in Kampong Thom province’s Sandan district calling for the postponement of a Vietnamese concessionaire’s forest clearing and notifying authorities of their intention to deliver a lawsuit to the provincial hall tomorrow, network activists said. According ...

While the ministries of health and agriculture are taking measures to stem the spread of avian influenza – which claimed its fifth victim in just three weeks on Thursday – a lack of compensation for poultry owners affected by culling is limiting their effectiveness, officials ...

Market competition resulting from costly domestic rice remains a key factor driving Thai exporters to seek openings in neighbouring countries where the rice trade is more prosperous. Exporters say their performance was weak last year, mirroring the country’s overall decline in rice exports, which plunged ...

Belarus announced its firm stance to promote bilateral cooperation with Cambodia in trade, investment and tourism for mutual benefits, Vladimir Andreichenko, Chairman of the Belarus Parliament, said Monday. He expressed Belarus’s desire to operate a direct flight to Cambodia. He suggested that the two countries ...

Philippines Vice President Jejomar Binay says Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen supports the signing of agreements between Manila and Phnom Penh in rice trading and in fighting transnational crime. Cambodian officials have also expressed interest in launching direct flights between Manila and Phnom Penh. ...

American business group Akra, led by Cambodian-born former US ambassador to the United Nations, Sichan Siv, has signed an agreement with a rice mill under a new co-operative structure it says puts ownership and profits back in to the hands of Cambodian producers. Akra’s managing director ...