Cultivation of cassava still firmly rooted
Cambodian farmers continue to expand cassava cultivation despite falling commercial prices for the crop and low international trade volumes, new data from the Ministry of Agriculture show. The total area of cassava cultivation grew 34 percent last year, with the starchy tuber planted on 771,000 hectares nationwide, compared to 574,000 hectares the year before. Sok Vanna, deputy director of the department of industrial crops in the Ministry of Agriculture, said it was a bit of a mystery as to why farmers continue to expand cassava cultivation while complaining that it is an unprofitable crop. “The growth of cassava cultivation keeps growing and is still the second largest crop planted in Cambodia despite farmers always complaining about prices,” he said.
