An agriculture official said that this year's floods, although longer than last year, would not greatly affect Cambodia's rice export volume.
Hean Vanhorn, director of the agricultural department at the Ministry of Agriculture, said on October 8 that the current flooding situation is not unprecedented for Cambodia, but it could last longer than in previous years.
“So far, we have not assessed the true scope of the damage to the farmlands. But when we see the land submerged and if it affects 100 ha, it will not completely damage that 100 ha,” he said.
He said it was too early to assess whether the rice production has decreased or increased. Though some problems occurred last year, Cambodia produced up to 12 million tonnes of rice.
Song Saran, president of the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), could not be reached for comment on October 8.
The Ministry of Agriculture reported that in the first seven months of this year, Cambodia exported more than 350,000 tonnes of milled rice to 53 countries, an increase of more than 13 per cent.
China is still the largest buyer of rice with purchases of more than 170,000 tonnes of milled rice from Cambodia, an increase of over 10 per cent.
The volume of rice exported to European markets was over 110,000 tonnes, an increase of 47 per cent, and to ASEAN countries was nearly 30,000 tonnes, an increase of around two per cent.
In 2021, 62 companies exported 617,069 tonnes of milled rice, a decrease of 73,760 tonnes or minus 10.68 per cent, compared to the export volume in 2020 of 690,829 tonnes exported.
