Agricultural commodities, processing and products
Crop products and commodities
Rice industry body president gets wary vote of confidence
Cambodia’s apex rice industry body held its annual general meeting on 2 July, with its members unanimously re-electing its well-connected incumbent president, Sok Puthyvuth, for a second term in what some are calling a dress rehearsal for his political ascendancy. Puthyvuth, the son of Deputy Prime Minister ...
New restrictions aim to curb rice imports
Cambodia’s Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on 27 June that the government will block all illegal rice imports at its borders and limit legal rice shipments from Vietnam based on production cost. As part of the new regime, only milled rice with a production cost of ...
Mekong Delta urged to step up paddy farming
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has called for provinces in the Mekong Delta to expand paddy farming in areas with favorable weather conditions given positive projections for outbound sales of the staple food later this year. With positive market forecasts by the VFA, Deputy ...
Cashew industry: Time to make a bold move
A recent national cashew forum in Hanoi sponsored by the Vietnam Cashew Association focusing on ways to promote sustainability of the industry, attracted hundreds of stakeholders. The primary constraint that stakeholders face, undermining their efforts to realize the full trade potential for cashews is lack of ...
Rice production expected to not meet targets
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Laos has estimated farmers around the country to produce 4.2 million tonnes of rice this year; 600,000 tonnes of which is expected to be dry season rice, 3.4 million tonnes of wet season rice, and another 200,000 tonnes ...
Gov’t seeks input on new rice standards
The Institute of Standards of Cambodia is soliciting feedback from local stakeholders as it prepares to launch two new standards for the rice industry, the country’s most important agricultural sector. The draft standards identify each variety’s distinct characteristics, including its unique shape, texture, scent and cooking ...
The water conflict on the Mekong
Located at the end of the Mekong River basin, the Mekong Delta in Vietnam is currently experiencing the most severe drought and salinity intrusion in 100 years. According to experts, the principal reason is development activities in Greater Mekong Subregion countries related to the use of ...
Sugar company's compensation deals leave families bitter in Kampong Speu
In 2010, more than 1,500 families in Kampong Speu’s Oral district were evicted from the land they had cultivated since the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979 to make way for a Phnom Penh Sugar Company mega-plantation. Bunsak, head of the Cambodian Human Rights ...
DSI looking into Buri Ram forest encroachment
The Department of Special Investigation is considering whether to take over a case of alleged encroachment involving more than 2,000 rai of a forest reserve in Satuk district planted in cash crops by investors. A team of DSI investigators went to Khok Chod national forest reserve ...
Ministry promotes more water efficient crops
Taking precautions against drought, the Ministry of Agriculture is encouraging farmers to stop growing summer paddy in areas where water is scarce, according to deputy minister U Tun Win. Though the previous government wanted farmers to prioritise growing paddy, with water reservoirs near empty in several ...