PRIME Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday told Build Bright University graduates to devise new methods to boost the productivity of rice farmers.

He also praised farmers for cultivating as much arable land as possible, despite floods in some provinces and droughts in others.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony held at the National Institute for Education in Phnom Penh, the premier pointed to a July 31 report from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries that indicated that rice farmers had successfully cultivated 64 percent of arable land slated for rice nationwide.

"This figure showed that the speed of our paddy cultivation is better than last year," he said, although he did not provide any figures from the previous year.

Rithi Kun, deputy director of the ministry's Agriculture Department, said he could not provide data on how much arable land had been cultivated by this point last year. He did say more than 2 million hectares had been cultivated this year.