Cambodia Seeks Overseas Buyers for Bumper Rice Crop

Whilst many nations are facing food shortage, Cambodia is enjoying record yields of rice.

In the 1960’s the nation was one of the world’s key rice exporters but the civil war decimated rice production forcing Cambodia to import much of its food supply.

But the food bowl has bounced back in the last two decades and Cambodia is now the world’s ninth-largest rice exporter.

Last year’s harvest was the biggest ever prompting the government to announce plans to increase rice production for export to eight million tons by 2015.

To find out how the government will achieve this ambitious target we go to Phnom Penh where our correspondent Khortieth Him filed this report.

Under a blazing sun farmers are happily harvesting their rice fields.

Reporters often make them nervous but everyone is happy to talk about their record yields.

Hap Pheurn is 46 years old.

“Yes, my rice yield was huge, it has increased greatly. There is no more free space to store it. I am very happy to get this high yield. I farm only one time per year because there is no canal in my community. We all depend on rain for water. If we had a canal or irrigation system we could possibly farm twice a year.”

Even without sophisticated irrigation systems Cambodia’s rice harvests are growing larger by the year.

In 2008 Cambodia’s production of un-milled rice increased by 12 percent, creating a surplus of 2.8 million tons in 2008, up 300,000 tons over 2007 figures. Much of the surplus was exported.

Cambodia’s Minister of Agriculture, Forest and Fisheries, Dr. Chan Sarun says that this surplus has come from the use of better seeds and improved farming practices.

“Firstly due to an increase of cultivated areas. The total area cultivated is 2.5 million hectare. And secondly many farmers are applying the System of Rice Intensification. Thirdly, the farmers now understand about seed selection, this means they use less seeds, but get higher yields.”

Ros Mao, a rice farmer in Takeo province says his higher yield is the result of a new farming technique, the System of Rice Intensification (SRI).

“For me, this year is a good year, my yield is much higher than last year. I have been applying new techniques, for example I transplant a younger seedling, plant in rows and upland. Those who did not apply the System of Rice Intensification had less because we had a drought early in the season.”

According to the US Department of Agriculture Cambodia was the world’s ninth-largest rice exporter in 2007, with 450,000 tons. This increased to around two million tons in 2008 and exports are expected to grow again by further million tons in this year.

And the government has ambitions to dramatically increase this total.

On a recent tour of Pursat province, Prime Minister Hun Sen described rice as the white gold of Cambodia.

“The capacity to export rice from Cambodia is higher than that of Thailand and Vietnam, why? Because Vietnam farms two or three time per year, but they get only three to four tons of rice per hectare. Cambodians farm only once a year, but we get 2.4 tons per hectare and we can export over two million tons. If we sow crops two or three times per year, the capacity to export will be higher. So, we have a big export potential.”

Dr. Yang Saing Koma is an agriculture expert with a local NGO, The Cambodia Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC). He says rice production could grow quickly if Cambodia improved its irrigation systems to expand its cultivated area in the dry season.

He says current irrigation covers only eight percent of rice plantations.

“If we want to push our country to be a major player in rice production we need to focus on developing our irrigation systems. I think that we have a lot of potential.

For farmers however higher yields do not necessarily result in more income because the price of rice has been declining. Hap Pheurn again.

“I am still storing rice from last year. The price is still 600 riel or 15 cents per kilogram, that’s why I have yet to sell. It was the same last year, prices dropped when we finished the harvest. I don’t know when it will increase.”

Cambodia’s Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Chan Sarun has asked farmers to stock rice whilst the government negotiates with several countries to secure additional markets for Cambodian rice.

“The rice will not expire, so I ask farmers not to sell now. We can stock it for at least two years. Do not worry about the price of rice. I hope it will increase in the future. We have to do market research first because we currently have a lot of rice at hand. For example some farmers in Takeo province, have more than 10 tons of rice in a family. This year will be exporting two million tons of rice. We will export to neighboring country, European Union and Arab countries like Qatar and Kuwait.”

Dr. Sarun says the government would like to be exporting eight million tonnes of rice per year by the year 2015.

Mahfuz Ahmad is a Senior Agriculture Economist from Asian Development Bank, one of Cambodia’s major development donors. He says the government should focus on helping farmers as well as increasing export targets.

“It is very common knowledge that Cambodia has good potential for agriculture because it has huge natural resources. So, you have to maintain that natural capital and make sure that agriculture grow be competitive. Cambodia is already exporting some quantity of rice so it is now about Cambodia is exporting rice, but it is about how agriculture growth can actually create and take care rural development. Of course, the export market is one, but you also have to build incentive, farmer have to be given incentive so they have to find incentive to invest and second is financing like access to credit, access to financial services. If you want to grow good variety of rice or another you need to have capital in your pocket.”