Agricultural commodities, processing and products
Crop products and commodities
Grain drain, Laos' sand mining damaging the Mekong

Grain by grain, truckload by truckload, Laos’ section of the Mekong river is being dredged of sand to make cement—a commodity being devoured by a Chinese-led building boom in the capital. But the hollowing out of the riverbed is also damaging a vital waterway that feeds ...
Land used for palm oil could double without damaging forests, say researchers

The area covered by palm oil plantations worldwide could double without damaging protected areas or sensitive forests, Austrian researchers said on Tuesday (July 26).Researchers from the Austria-based International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) studied satellite maps from South-east Asia, Africa and Latin America to ...
Agriculture abandoned by Vietnamese entrepreneurs

Vietnam has great advantages for agricultural production, but in the last 10 years, domestic enterprises have been focusing on the services sector and abandoning the field. The 2015 Business Annual Report released by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently showed a very low proportion ...
The world’s most expensive coffee is a nightmare for the animals who produce it

The most expensive coffee in the world can go for $100 a cup, but it comes with a hidden cost: the well-being of a forest-dwelling cat-like creature native to southeast Asia. Historically, kopi luwak was made using palm civet droppings harvested in the wild. But the ...
Government, plantation managers trade blame

The managers of some of Cambodia’s most controversial agribusiness plantations on 21 July blamed their many land disputes on the government, accusing officials of failing to educate communities about the benefits of their giant farms. Rights groups blame economic land concessions for some of Cambodia’s worst problems, ...
Meeting strengthens Asean regulations on clean agriculture
ASEAN agriculture officials spent two days from July 21-22 at the 23rd meeting of the ASEAN Sectoral Working Group on Crops in Vientiane to discuss agricultural regulation improvements and will focus on the supply of high-quality and safe food which meets international standards. “The Agriculture Department of the ...
Vietnam warned it may yield to Myanmar in exporting rice

Myanmar has jumped into large markets, getting ready to become the No 1 in the world in rice exports, according to Vo Tong Xuan, the leading rice expert. According to Xuan, Myanmar has great advantages in growing rice. Its land area is three times larger than ...
ASEAN sugar producers form alliance
Myanmar has formed an alliance with six other sugar-producing countries in the region, with a view to improving cooperation and boosting trade, in preparation for the ASEAN Economic Community, which aims to create a single market for capital, goods, labour and services. Seven countries – ...
Romduol, Chansensor now rice brands

The National Standards Council has endorsed the Phka Romduol and Phka Chansensor varieties to be the Kingdom’s own umbrella brands for fragrant and premium rice, rejecting the Cambodian Rice Federation’s “Angkor Malis” brand name. Hean Vanhan, deputy chairman of NSC and deputy general director of the ...
Rice sector continues its struggle in first half

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. A report released on 7 July by the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export showed Cambodia exported ...