By Im Navin
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Tola Ek
Click here to read the article in French
Since July 2008, tension between the two countries led to a drop in the sale of Cambodian agricultural produce to Thailand. All the provinces bordering Thailand are affected.
When reached over the phone, Heng Bonhor, the director of the Banteay Meanchey province Department of Agriculture, confirmed the stop of export to Thailand. “Farmers are producing rice and potatoes mainly which, under normal circumstances, they would sell everyday to Thai people. However, the latter are no longer buying them. This leads to financial problems among our farmers because a lot of them resorted to micro-credit (loans) to produce their crop. They can no longer pay back the lending institutions.”
He added also that in his province, 30,000-hectare produce 25 tons of potatoes per hectare per year. All these potatoes were geared for export to Thailand. Regarding rice, 4,000 tons are exported out daily during harvest season. “I informed the ministry of Agriculture about these problems because we cannot solve them at the provincial level. This is not the first time that we have this kind of problem with our Thai neighbors.”
Chhim Vichara, the deputy director of the Battambang province Department of Agriculture, faces the same problem. While he was not able to provide the exact number, he nevertheless underscored that in his province, several producers have exclusive contracts with Thai buyers therefore, establishing statistics is a difficult task. “All Thai buyers have stopped their activities, except those who have contracts with producers. In Battambang, the situation is most likely better than in other provinces, because there are exports to Vietnam.”
According to Heng Bonhor, the stop of the purchases is attributed to the behavior of Thai consumers who, following the declarations issued by their government, purchase Thai products as their priority. “The market for Cambodian agricultural produces is uncertain, each year, there could be problems. One kilo of potato is sold at 100 riels ($0.025) this year, whereas it was 2,000 riels ($0.50) last year. The price of rice drops from 1,000 ($0.25) to 600 riels ($0.15) per kilo this year.” He also indicated that each year, the government invests in rice husk-removal equipment so that rice paddy can be processed locally rather than being sold at low cost to Thailand or Vietnam. “However, we don’t have sufficient financial means to eradicate this issue,” he concluded.
When reached over the phone, Heng Bonhor, the director of the Banteay Meanchey province Department of Agriculture, confirmed the stop of export to Thailand. “Farmers are producing rice and potatoes mainly which, under normal circumstances, they would sell everyday to Thai people. However, the latter are no longer buying them. This leads to financial problems among our farmers because a lot of them resorted to micro-credit (loans) to produce their crop. They can no longer pay back the lending institutions.”
He added also that in his province, 30,000-hectare produce 25 tons of potatoes per hectare per year. All these potatoes were geared for export to Thailand. Regarding rice, 4,000 tons are exported out daily during harvest season. “I informed the ministry of Agriculture about these problems because we cannot solve them at the provincial level. This is not the first time that we have this kind of problem with our Thai neighbors.”
Chhim Vichara, the deputy director of the Battambang province Department of Agriculture, faces the same problem. While he was not able to provide the exact number, he nevertheless underscored that in his province, several producers have exclusive contracts with Thai buyers therefore, establishing statistics is a difficult task. “All Thai buyers have stopped their activities, except those who have contracts with producers. In Battambang, the situation is most likely better than in other provinces, because there are exports to Vietnam.”
According to Heng Bonhor, the stop of the purchases is attributed to the behavior of Thai consumers who, following the declarations issued by their government, purchase Thai products as their priority. “The market for Cambodian agricultural produces is uncertain, each year, there could be problems. One kilo of potato is sold at 100 riels ($0.025) this year, whereas it was 2,000 riels ($0.50) last year. The price of rice drops from 1,000 ($0.25) to 600 riels ($0.15) per kilo this year.” He also indicated that each year, the government invests in rice husk-removal equipment so that rice paddy can be processed locally rather than being sold at low cost to Thailand or Vietnam. “However, we don’t have sufficient financial means to eradicate this issue,” he concluded.
