Banteay Meanchey provincial governor Um Reatrey appealed to rice traders and middle-man buyers as well as rice mill owners to buy rice from farmers at a fair price rather than the lowest price possible.
Reatrey made the appeal on November 16 when he led a delegation from the provincial departments of agriculture and commerce along with other local authorities on a visit to meet with rice farmers and traders in the province’s Svay Chek and Thma Puok districts.
The provincial administration said that in addition to appealing to traders, Reatrey also told local authorities to facilitate the sale and transport of local farmer’s rice by all available means.
On November 16, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries announced it was collaborating with the Green Trade Company, a state owned enterprise under the Ministry of Commerce that operates rice mills and is a large-scale rice purchaser, to introduce a standard minimum price to ensure the stability of commodity prices following a drop in the price of paddy rice in Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces.
Top-grade Phka Rumduol paddy is now priced at a minimum of 1,040 riel (around $0.25) per kg when purchased by the Green Trade Company, effectively giving every farmer an alternative buyer if they are offered anything less than that amount.
