Drought hits rice exports

Rice exports this year had been flat compared to last year because of the many challenges growers were facing, insiders said this week. … The data shows exports were no better than last year for the same period, as exports for the first eight months of the year reached 106,000 tonnes, according to the Econony and Finance Ministry’s review on the promotion of paddy production and rice exports during 2010-2011. … The report listed expectations for 2012 to reach only 180,000 tonnes, equal to 18 per cent of the Kingdom’s 2015 export target of one million tonnes. … Hem Sophal, Director of Planning Department at Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery, said the drought this year had devastated 9,990 hectares of paddy fields and affected 122,297 hectares across the country. …

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