Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

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. ...

The Ministry of Agriculture has taken action to prevent millers from purchasing paddy rice at below market price from farmers, currently struggling to produce enough marketable rice crop to make ends meet. The ministry, in a statement issued on Monday, ordered all provincial agricultural departments to ...

US Ambassador to Cambodia William Heidt said the US wanted to sign an agreement with Cambodia to better manage state-owned ports in the Kingdom to tackle issues related to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. ...

An NGO operating in the Pursat section of the protected Cardamom Mountains uncovered 50 cubic metres of luxury timber yesterday. Chea Hean, director of the Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organisation, said he and four colleagues uncovered the illicit stash as part of an ongoing investigation, ...

The government said this week it wanted to increase by at least 30 percent the number of forest rangers working next year in Cambodia’s wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and other protected areas to guard against encroaching logging, poaching and farming. ...

Billed as a Cambodian first, the invitation of 500 civil society and community representatives to a forum on environmental issues with Prime Minister Hun Sen proved largely a platform for the premier to hold forth on policy and politics, with many observers bemoaning the sidelining ...

Though the rice-planting season has started and nationwide rice cultivation this month has been higher than planned, farmers are worried that adverse weather events caused by climate change will ruin their crops. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ planning and statistics department, the ...

Recently appointed Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon held a first-ever meeting with economic land concession (ELC) grantees yesterday and was promptly met with a barrage of complaints.   ...

Cambodian rice exports decreased nearly 6 per cent year-on-year during the first semester, reinforcing concerns about the future of the rice industry, the Kingdom’s most important agricultural sector.   ...

Rice exports fell almost 6 percent during the first half of the year, to 268,190 tons, according to government figures—despite the industry’s repeated calls for help to prevent such a decline.   ...

The Ministry of Agriculture has removed Meas Sopheap, its chief of staff in Koh Kong province, over allegations he privately sold state land worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. ...

Export of crude palm oil from Mong Reththy Group, the Kingdom’s only active producer, doubled during the first half of the year despite prices showing no indication of improving, a company executive said yesterday. ...

The plague of army worms that were eating crops in a dozen provinces last week is now under control, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has reported, with the soybean crops recording the most damage. ...

More than 20 thousand hectares of farmland spread over 10 provinces have been affected by armyworms since last week, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. ...

The Cambodian government has signed off on the Kingdom’s first dedicated marine protection area in a bid to save the Koh Rong Archipelago’s coral reef and sea life. ...

An environmental group has been accused of complicity in the decline of the critically endangered Siamese crocodile in Koh Kong province’s Areng Valley, mainly due to traps that are believed to have killed the last breeding-age female in the area. ...

Grow Asia, which formally launched a partnership with Cambodia late last year, will reconvene on June 13 in Phnom Penh to kick-off working groups between the public and private sector, including NGOs, after targeting six crops for market potential. ...

The Fisheries Administration submitted a proclamation on management measures for sustainable snakehead fish farming to the Ministry of Agriculture last week, a member of the Fisheries Administration confirmed yesterday.   ...

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has finished its evaluation of rice producers and processors that have registered to export milled rice to China, checking to see if they comply with the hygiene laws in China. ...

As Cambodia continues its battle against raging thunderstorms and stifling droughts, officials from a variety of ministries attended a three-day workshop last week on how to incorporate the wide-ranging effects of climate change into the national and provincial budgeting process.   ...

While Cambodia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries aims to increase fish production by 1.3 per cent this year, members of fishery organisations believe that is an unlikely target as drought conditions have tapped out natural resources. ...

Although data for first four months of this year have shown a slight rise in rice exports, millers and exporters continue to raise concerns on the back of April’s rapid decline. ...

Cambodia’s total agricultural production was down slightly last year while a larger share of this production went to exports, the Ministry of Agriculture said in its annual report, released yesterday. ...

In a startling admission yesterday, the Ministry of Agriculture finally acknowledged that the Kingdom’s forest cover has decreased rapidly over the past few decades, down from a high of 73 percent in 1965 to now, where only 49.5 percent of the country’s forests remain. ...