Agricultural commodities, processing and products

It has been over two months since the government made available a $27 million emergency loan package to the beleaguered rice sector, yet only 5 percent of the funds have been disbursed. Officials from the state-owned bank in charge of issuing the loans claim the ...

Lao rice cooperatives have made good progress in terms of their rice production efforts but marketing and sales deficiencies are still causing problems for the co-ops. Agricultural officials and representatives from model cooperatives in the provinces of Xayaboury, Khammuan, Savannakhet and Vientiane are currently meeting ...

US-based Cargill is investing US$50 million to expand its poultry-processing operations at its facility in Nakhon Ratchasima province. The expansion will create 1,400 new jobs and add to the more than 13,500 people the company currently employs across 14 locations in the country. Cargill will engage ...

Việt Nam exported nearly 10,000 tonnes of fresh fruit to difficult markets such as the United States, Canada, South Korea and Japan in the first 10 months of this year. This export volume doubled figures from the whole of last year. According to director of the ...

Saltwater has intruded into a large section of a major river in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, threatening the livelihoods of local residents. Saline water has spread to some 20 kilometers of the Tien (Front) River, with locals now bracing themselves for an extended drought and further ...

Fertiliser manufacturer Nangoku Agriculture Development, a Japanese-Cambodian joint venture, launched operations on November 21 with the aim of supplying locally manufactured fertilisers to Cambodian farmers at affordable prices. Cambodia’s Bayon Heritage Holding Group Co Ltd holds a 60-percent stake in the $2.2-million joint venture with partner ...

Cambodia’s Phka Rumdoul variety of fragrant rice, which won the World’s Best Rice award for three consecutive years from 2012 to 2014, narrowly missed its fourth crown at this year’s awards held in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand last week. Thailand’s own Hom Mali – ...

The Việt Nam Cashew Association has set standards for cashew processing to nudge the industry towards cleaner production and ensure consistent quality. The standards, announced at the eighth Việt Nam Golden Cashew Rendezvous in Đà Nẵng last week, cover input materials, technical requirements and equipment involved ...

Irrigation systems will be able to supply water to about 180,000 hectares of crops this dry season, even though some systems are in need of repair. About 120,000 hectares of the irrigated land will be given over to rice, while other crops will be cultivated ...

The Commerce Ministry will help farmers sell their rice directly to consumers in Thailand and abroad via social media and other online as well as offline channels. This is part of a bid to reduce dependence on middlemen as domestic paddy prices hit a 10-year low. ...