Agricultural commodities, processing and products

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has blamed past policies that heavily promoted cash crops as a root cause of floods and drought. Commenting in the latest government’s newsletter, Gen Prayut said growing cash crops without controls leads to the destruction of forests and watershed areas, and even affects ...

French agribusiness Socfin Group, which has managed rubber plantations in Cambodia since 2008, has seen rubber prices plummet and land claims multiply while waiting for its first returns on investment. The Post’s Ananth Baliga sat down with Jef Boedt, general manager of Socfin Cambodia, to ...

Thai rice exports are expected to have another difficult year as the world market is likely to be volatile amid foreign exchange and oil price risks, according to exporters. Charoen Laothammatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said the association projected shipments would slip to 9 ...

The Thai Rice Exporters Association expects a decrease in the volume of rice exports this year. Keep reading ...

Opium poppy farmers from Myanmar attending an international conference on “prohibited plants” have rejected a ban on growing their crops and urged an end to forced eradication. “We reject prohibition and the war on drugs,” small-scale farmers from 14 countries, including Myanmar, said in a joint ...

A farmer from Battambang province took this year’s honor of growing the country’s top rice paddy on 24 January as industry heavyweights gathered in Phnom Penh for the first of the three-day Cambodia Rice Forum. “It is unbelievable,” said Hul Khlim, president of Sangha Phal Agriculture Community, ...

More than 1000 activists of a Christian-based anti-narcotics group are to have police protection after getting the go-ahead from the Kachin State government to destroy over 1600 hectares (4000 acres) of opium poppy fields. Permission was received on 21 January to mount the mass operation in Waingmaw ...

Phanphet Agriculture Development Farm (PADF) is preparing to sell 10,000 tonnes of rice this year after negotiating exports with international partners. PADF President Mr Thongsavan Miboun told the media on 20 January the farm was doing its part to increase rice production and overseas sales. Keep reading ...

The Thai government will step up efforts to reduce rubber plantations, particularly on encroached lands as part of measures to tackle the low rubber price.  Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said his administration will consider whether rubber plantations can be scaled down. Keep reading ...

Some rice farmers in Phitsanulok province are drilling wells in their dry riverbed to get around the Irrigation Department’s warning not to grow off-season crops due to the water shortage, insisting it’s the only livelihood they know. Keep reading ...