Agriculture and fishing

Thai activists and organizations have raised alarm bells following last month’s announcement that the Mekong River Commission will begin its prior consultation process on the Sanakham hydropower plant, a new Mekong River dam project in northern Laos.   The plant would be the sixth dam in Laos, costing more than $2 billion, and would follow Laos’ Xayaburi Dam, farther upstream, which began operation in November.   The MRC prior consultation ...

Manufacturers or importers of hazardous agrochemicals paraquat and chlorpyrifos — which are banned under Thai law — have 270 days to destroy their stock while a 90-day deadline has also been given to farmers to return the chemicals for destruction as their possession is considered ...

The first phase construction of the Cai Lon-Cai Be irrigation system, in the southern Mekong Delta provinces of Kien Giang and Ca Mau, began in November 2019. Despite the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the project’s progress has been still guaranteed, so over 33% of the ...

Farmers in Soc Trang Province have been busy the last month harvesting what has been a bountiful water chestnut crop. Nguyen Van Quan, 44, of Nga Nam Town, and a hired worker have been harvesting water chestnut since early morning. Growing water chestnut is the main ...

n this time of uncertainty, one thing about Covid-19 is clear. This pandemic will lead to a sharp and unprecedented decline in Cambodian economic productivity. And the industrial and service sectors will be the hardest hit.  In response to the pandemic and to the economic crisis ...

The Department of Fisheries has a plan to allow the first batch of at least 20 trawlers to catch fish outside the country’s sovereign territorial waters by next year after a “yellow card” from the European Union (EU) over Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (IUU) ...

Mai Van Hao, 61, has lived on the 1.5-hectare islet at the heart of Khe Dien hydropower reservoir since 2003, three years before the investor blocked Nong Son River for construction in Que Ninh Commune, Nong Son District. “When the hydropower dam was built, my home ...

A $17 million museum featuring Vietnam’s agricultural history and prowess will be built in the Mekong Delta province of Vinh Long. The museum will be constructed on an area of 11 hectares in Vung Liem, a rural district. In preserving the value and legacy of Vietnamese ...

Food Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, the World Food Programme (WFP) are cooperating with the Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry to draft a response plan and provide direct assistance to farmers continuing to produce food for their communities. FAO, WFP now are completing ...

The pandemic is likely to make life worse for Thai fishermen as well as Vietnamese and Cambodian farmers. Restrictions resulting from the virus could limit food supply. The food security of 60 million people in the lower part of the Mekong River is in danger. The ...