Floods damage cassava crop

The coming cassava harvest is increasingly threatened by flooding as about 25 per cent of the crop in prime growing provinces is or has been submerged, according to authorities.

Taking up more cultivated area than any other crop in Cambodia except for rice, cassava is especially vulnerable to flooding because it can’t hold up very long against water.

As a result, farmers can expect a much-reduced yield this season when they harvest the crop in late December and early January. …

Bunhor said that farmers planted a total of 47,100 hectares of cassava in the province, and floods affected some 12,000 hectares. …

In Battambang province, where cassava farmers are growing 61,000 hectares, Chem Vichara, director of the agricultural department, said that 17,000, or about 27 per cent, was doomed. …

Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/floods-damage-cassava-crop