Agriculture and fishing
Thailand’s Mekong water-diversion plan raises concerns
The Thai government’s statement in late July that it is considering bringing water from the Mekong, Moei and Salween rivers to farmland to nine of its provinces has raised major concerns. The water diversion has been described as a move to ‘extract blood from the Mekong’s ...
‘Slave’ fishermen not all trafficking victims
The return of hundreds more Myanmar fishermen found in slave-like conditions in Indonesia could be in jeopardy. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the embassy in Jakarta separated the rescued men into two different categories: trafficking victims and non-trafficked “slaves”. The 91 who have been identified as ...
Floods damage Vientiane rice crop
Farmers in two districts of Vientiane are unable to replant their rice after seedlings in thousands of low-lying plots recently disappeared under floodwater. Parts of Sangthong and Naxaithong districts were inundated following torrential rain earlier this month and farmers are dismayed because they say it is ...
Seeds scarce as replanting begins
Disaster zones in Rakhine State urgently need paddy seeds, said a civil society organisation based in the state. U Thein Win, a member of the Wunlark Rural Development Foundation in Sittwe, said local farmers had to cultivate more paddy this month. Keep reading ...
16 Vietnamese localities urged to map out action plans on agricultural restructuring
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development held a conference in Hanoi on 13 August reviewing the implementation of agricultural restructuring measures in the past two years. Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai attended the conference. Keep reading ...
Lao researchers seeking to introduce faster growing rice varieties
The Naphok Agricultural Research Centre is seeking to produce early maturing varieties of rice seed for Lao farmers to plant in the coming years, as part of efforts to reduce the disaster related impacts of climate change. Researchers at the centre are currently conducting ongoing research into ...
Organising Vietnamese - Japanese second high-level dialogue on agriculture
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in coordination with Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries held the second high-level dialogue on agricultural development cooperation in Hanoi on 12 August. At the dialogue, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat called on the ...
Rubber oversupply causes price slump in Laos
As rubber plantations mature and the trees are ready to be tapped, Lao growers stand to face a substantial loss amid a slump in the rubber price on the world market. A respected Lao researcher says poor assessment of the market prior to planting the trees ...
Decline in price of rubber leaves Cambodian farmers scrambling
As of last year, rubber trees occupied more than 357,000 hectares in Cambodia, with more than 90,000 hectares old enough for cultivation. Now, some farmers are regretting their choice of cash crop, after a rough three years in which rubber prices have plummeted. “It’s good for ...
Crop inundation feared
As talk of El Niño-inspired droughts shaped much of the conversation ahead of this year’s late-blooming rainy season, recent torrential rains in some areas of the Kingdom have given way to new fears of crop inundation and damage. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Water Resources and ...
