The government has provided more than 1,000 tonnes of rice seeds for people affected by flood and drought to help them restore their livelihood. The aid was given through the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM).
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries spokesman Srey Vuthy told The Post on Monday that drought and flood this year affected a total of 403,978ha of paddy fields, of which 83,020ha was damaged.
He said as of October 9, the government, through the ministry, provided 960 tonnes of rice seeds to farmers affected by natural disasters so that they can replant their 19,760ha of rice fields.
While the river water level has gone down, he said there was still enough water in various reservoirs including lakes, creeks and canals which can supply the farmers’ crops during the dry season.
“So, we hope farmers in areas facing drought would hurry to grow their crops and restore their land to avoid a lack of water in the future,” Vuthy said.
According to Vuthy, rice seeds provided to farmers in drought-affected areas were of the type that could be harvested in three months and 10 days.
NCDM spokesman Keo Vy told The Post that every year, the government prepared 10,000 tonnes of milled rice, 2,000 tonnes of rice seeds, and 50 tonnes of various vegetable seeds to support families affected by national disasters including storms, droughts and floods.
Obviously, over the past three days [from October 11 to 13] the NCDM provided more than 565 tonnes of rice seeds for farmers affected by drought and flood in five provinces – Kampong Cham, Tbong Khmum, Kratie, Kampot and Siem Reap.
He confirmed that the NCDM is continuing to assess water levels in areas affected by floods to ensure people in those areas can replant before delivering rice seeds to them.
Besides rice seeds, the NCDM and relevant authorities, especially the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, provided hundreds of vegetable seeds for those affected farmers so that they can grow again to restore their livelihood.
