Agriculture

The Thai government’s planned diversion of billions of cubic metres of water from the Mekong River, described last week by a Thai Ministry of Water Resources representative as being as far as two years away, has already begun. The pumping, which is pulling water from the ...

Thailand’s Board of Investment (BoI) is set to propose promotional packages to support “smart farmer” projects at its next board meeting. Secretary-general Hiranya Sujinai said packages should combine both the BoI’s investment privileges and other support such as finance, technical assistance and  market access development.  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, ...

Thailand’s Royal Irrigation Department has begun pumping water from the Mekong River and redirecting it to drought-afflicted regions of the Northeast. The RID has shied away from using the term “diverted”, instead saying only that it is “using” the water as it looks to bypass consultation ...

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 Vietnam government has decided to transfer a major industrial park in the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang to the local authority after its manager, PetroVietnam’s construction subsidiary PVC, failed to attract investors.    After acquiring Soai Rap Industrial Park, Tien Giang will find investors to fill ...

Lao irrigation systems that use electrical pumps to feed water into channels to farmers’ fields owe a lot of money to Electricite du Laos, the national electricity authority, with many utilities bills remaining outstanding. Deputy Director General of the Department of Irrigation under the Ministry of ...

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 ...