Floods Destroy 180,000 Hectares of Rice Paddies in Cambodia

2011-10-12
Xinhua

At least 180,000 hectares of rice paddies in Cambodia have been destroyed by the Mekong River floods since early August, Minister of Agriculture Chan Sarun said on Wednesday.

"So far, 180,000 hectares out of the 2.4 million hectares of grown rice paddies this year have been destroyed by the floods," he told reporters after a meeting. "However, it will not affect our food security and rice export policy as we will distribute rice seeds to affected farmers as soon as possible after the floods."

Chan Sarun said that the ministry has reserved about 3,450 tons of rice seeds to give out to affected farmers to replant rice crop soon after the floods.

Worries ahead for Cambodia

Aug 26, 2010
By Laurinda Luffman
SOS Children

In Cambodia, government officials and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are sounding the alarm over late rains and record low water levels. In a country with a population of 14 million, over forty percent or some 6 million people rely on the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers for their livelihood.

In Cambodia, government officials and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are sounding the alarm over late rains and record low water levels. In a country with a population of 14 million, over forty percent or some 6 million people rely on the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers for their livelihood.

The director of the Fisheries Administration in Cambodia is warning that the impact of the low water levels in the Mekong and Tonle rivers could be severe. The places where fish can lay their eggs have been limited by the late rainfall, with crucial spawning grounds remaining dry. This will affect the production and migration of fish during the rest of the year.

River levels along the Mekong, which runs through China, Cambodia, Thailand and Laos, have been of concern for some time. This month’s river levels are the lowest ever recorded for August according to the Mekong River Commission. Environmentalists worry that the increasingly shallow Mekong could be affected by upriver dams in China. 4 dams are already in operation along the Chinese stretch of the river and 9 more are under construction. With over 60 million people dependent on the Mekong for food, commerce and transportation, the situation is being carefully monitored by the River Commission.

But it is not only the fisherman of Cambodia who are being affected by the low rainfall. Rice farmers are also suffering, since more than 85 percent of the country’s rice production relies on the annual rains. One farmer in the western Pursat Province reported that his sowing was a month behind schedule, which could cut his yield by half. Other provinces are reporting an increase in the numbers of rural Cambodians who are heading to Thailand in search of seasonal labour.

Rice is Cambodia’s main crop and there could be a 22 percent decrease in production this year, from 7.6 million MT to 5.9 million, according to estimates from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In this climate of concern, it is little wonder there is limited enthusiasm among some officials for the war crimes tribunal set up to try former Khmer Rouge leaders. Last month, the UN-backed tribunal convicted its first Khmer Rouge official for his part in the genocide of 1975-1979, when around 2 million people were killed. The 67-year old ex-teacher, Kaing Guek Eav, a commandant of a detention centre which oversaw the torture of around 14,000 adults and children before they were sent off to the “killing fields”, was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to 35 years in jail.

Human rights groups say the sentence represents a measure of hope that other Cambodians responsible for similar atrocities will be punished. But many ordinary Cambodians have expressed disappointment at what they see as a lenient sentence. More proceedings are scheduled for next year, when four of the highest ranking officials will be tried.

But whilst TV coverage of the trials might prove a distraction for some of Cambodia’s population, others will be too busy worrying about their livelihoods in the present to pay much attention to the events of the past. The director of the Fisheries Administration in Cambodia is warning that the impact of the low water levels in the Mekong and Tonle rivers could be severe. The places where fish can lay their eggs have been limited by the late rainfall, with crucial spawning grounds remaining dry. This will affect the production and migration of fish during the rest of the year.

Low water a concern for Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- Officials have mixed feelings over whether low rains or upstream dams are influencing the rice and fishing sectors in Cambodia, authorities said.

Roughly 45 percent of the Cambodian population depends on fishing in the Mekong and Tonle Sap river basins. The rainy season that typically starts in July but came a month late this year and non-governmental organizations are expecting a dramatic impact on fishing.

"We expect the impact to be very strong," Nao Thuok, director of the Fisheries Administration, told the U.N.'s humanitarian news agency IRIN.

Biologists say lower water levels are harming the spawning grounds of many fish species, limiting fish production and migration.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization predicts the rice output from Cambodia would fall 22 percent for 2010 compared with last year because of lower water levels.

Rice is a staple crop in Cambodia and requires more water than other crops.

Environmentalists said four dams upstream in China and the nine others under construction in Laos and Cambodia are making for shallow waters in the Mekong River.

The Mekong River Commission, however, said the dams aren't influencing downstream water levels.

CAMBODIA: Record low water levels threaten livelihoods

Fishing is a major source of livelihood along the Mekong (Photo: Shamsuddin Ahmed/IRIN)

PHNOM PENH, 26 August 2010 (IRIN) - Late rains and record low water levels in Cambodia's two main fresh water systems will affect food security and the livelihoods of millions, government officials and NGOs warn.

"We expect the impact to be very strong," said Nao Thuok, director of the Fisheries Administration, adding that low water levels along the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers were already limiting fish production and migration.

Crucial spawning grounds in floodplains along the rivers remained dry. "The places where the fish usually lay their eggs do not have much water so the fish population will decrease a lot," he warned.

Approximately six million Cambodians or 45 percent of the population depend on fishing in the Mekong and Tonle Sap basins, the government's Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute, reports.

The annual "flood" season of daily rain usually starts in July but began a month late, local agricultural surveyors say.

According to the Mekong River Commission, which monitors the river at throughout its member states - Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam - this month's levels are among the lowest ever for August. At the port of Phnom Penh, the Mekong plunged to 5.36m on 23 August, against more than 7.5m the same time last year and more than 8.5m in 2000.

Low rice productivity

Not only the fisheries sector is suffering, however.

Rice farmer Meas Chan Thorn in western Pursat Province was only able to plant last week, a month behind schedule, because of the late rains, and predicted yields would be halved.

"It's so difficult for us farmers in Cambodia because we depend entirely on the weather," the 67-year-old said.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Cambodia could experience a 22 percent drop in rice output this year - from 7.6 million MT in 2009 to 5.9 million MT in 2010.

Rice is Cambodia's main crop and its harvesting requires more water than other crops. According to the UN World Food Programme, more than 85 percent of the country's rice production is rain-fed.

Prom Tola, a consultant for Phnom Penh-based Agricultural Development International, who is surveying farmers in Siem Reap Province, said there had been a rise in the number of rural people from Siem Reap leaving for Thailand in search of seasonal labour.

Upstream dams

Som Sitha, who monitors marine life for the NGO Conservation International, said Mekong residents were finding the river levels increasingly unpredictable.

"They complain that it's getting lower every year, especially the last few years, and they say it's preventing them from getting enough fish."

But while observers attribute low river water levels to atypical rainfall patterns this year, others cite upriver dams as the real cause.

Environmentalists blame an increasingly shallow Mekong on China, accusing Cambodia's powerful northern neighbour of hoarding water in its upriver dams.

To date, four dams have been built along the Chinese stretch of the Mekong, with nine more under way or awaiting construction downstream in Laos and Cambodia.

However, according to the Mekong River Commission, the upstream dams have yet to influence downstream water levels.

"There is no doubt that upstream dams, when they do come fully on-line, will have an impact on the water levels, as well as generate other environmental and social concerns," Damian Kean, a spokesman for the Mekong River Commission, said.

"However, at present there is no evidence that Chinese upstream dams are operating at a sufficient intensity to cause these low water levels in Cambodia," he added.

More than 60 million people in the lower Mekong basin rely on the river for food, commerce and transportation, according to the Mekong River Commission. The group says 80 percent of protein consumed by Mekong residents comes from the river.

Mekong Delta drought hits hard on Vietnam

2010-07-15

HANOI (Commodity Online) : World’s largest rice exporter, Vietnam’s Mekong Delta which accounts for more than half of its output is hit by drastic climate changes, resulting huge losses of crops.

Drought caused by a hot spell over the past month has hurt rice fields in the region with nearly 100,000 hectares destroyed or partly destroyed.

A total of 25,000 hectares of rice was ruined and yields on another 70,000 hectares will drop sharply, the report said, giving no forecast for output losses.

The country saw a bumper harvest of the highest-yielding winter-spring rice crop, with output of unmilled rice rising 2.6 percent from last year to 19.2 million tones.

Vietnam aims to export 2.9 million tonnes of rice in the July-December period, bringing annual shipments to between 6 million and 6.2 million tonnes, a Vietnam Food Association report said

Experts say Vietnam is one of the countries most threatened by climate change, whose effects are seen in worsening drought, floods, typhoons, exaggerated tides, and rising sea levels.

The country is planning for a one-metre rise in sea levels by 2100, which would flood about 31,000 square kilometres of land unless systems such as dykes are strengthened.

The hot weather hit northern and central provinces from early June. On June 16 state forecasters said the temperature in Hanoi reached an average 34.6, the highest since 1961, leading to a surge in demand for electricity and widespread power cuts.

While delta farmers cope with drought, they are also challenged by sea water intrusion, which experts also link to climate change. Over the past 50 years the sea level has already risen by 20 centimeters along Vietnam's coast.

Drought hits 100,000 hectares of Vietnam rice

Reuters

HANOI, July 15 - Drought caused by a hot spell over the past month has hurt rice fields in central Vietnam, with nearly 100,000 hectares (247,100 acres) destroyed or partly destroyed, a state-run newspaper reported on Thursday.

The hot weather hit northern and central provinces from early June. On June 16 state forecasters said the temperature in Hanoi reached an average 34.6 Celcius (94.3 Fahrenheit), the highest since 1961, leading to a surge in demand for electricity and widespread power cuts.

No rain was reported in four provinces in the past month, and the water level in rivers and reservoirs has fallen to the lowest level ever, the Vietnam News daily said, quoting an Agriculture Ministry reports.

A total of 25,000 hectares of rice was ruined and yields on another 70,000 hectares will drop sharply, the report said, giving no forecast for output losses.

"The risk of crop losses due to the widespread drought is very high," the government said in a statement this month, urging central provinces to save water and ensure irrigation for rice fields.

The central region is not Vietnam's main rice area, which lies to the south in the Mekong Delta, but any disruption to production could trigger price rises as paddy from southern fields is moved north because of food shortages.

The country saw a bumper harvest of the highest-yielding winter-spring rice crop, with output of unmilled rice rising 2.6 percent from last year to 19.2 million tonnes, government figures show.

Prices have already started edging up as export firms have begun to stockpile 1 million tonnes of summer-autumn rice under a scheme running for two months until Sept. 15.

Vietnam aims to export 2.9 million tonnes of rice in the July-December period, bringing annual shipments to between 6 million and 6.2 million tonnes, a Vietnam Food Association report said.

Global Rice Output Forecast Cut at UN Food Agency on Dry Spell

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- Global production of rough rice, the staple for half the world’s population, may be less than estimated earlier this year after prolonged dry weather in the Mekong River region hurt crops, the United Nations said.

Output may be 704.4 million metric tons this year, or 470 million tons of milled grain, the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization said in a report yesterday after paring estimates for harvests in Asia, including Thailand. That compares with April’s forecast for record output of 710 million tons. Global demand was projected at 461 million tons of milled grain, yesterday’s report said, up from April’s forecast of 454 million.

Dry weather pushed water levels in the Mekong to their lowest level in 30 years near Thailand’s border with Laos, the Thai government said in March. The river also runs through China, Myanmar, Cambodia and Vietnam and the areas that rely on it for irrigation grow enough rice to feed 300 million people, according to the Mekong River Commission website.

“The pattern of the monsoon rains over Asia will hold particular sway” for prices, the e-mailed report said. Rainfall will determine India’s potential return to the global market as a rice supplier or lower the availability of exports from countries including Thailand and Pakistan, it said.

India’s monsoon, the main source of irrigation for the nation’s 235 million farmers, was 13 percent below normal as of yesterday, the India Meteorological Department said on its website. The monsoon was 16 percent below normal in June.

The FAO’s Rice Price Index, a gauge of 16 prices from around the world, fell 15 percent between January and June on better-than-expected output in India, the world’s second-largest grower and consumer of the grain.

Rice futures in Chicago, which peaked last December at $16.27 per 100 pounds on concern that India may become a net importer for the first time in more than two decades, traded today at $9.84 per 100 pounds.

--Editors: Jake Lloyd-Smith, Matt Oakley

Drought Threatens Cambodia, Thailand Rice Output

2009 drought in Cambodia (Photo: AP)

Daniel Schearf, VOA
Bangkok 23 June 2010

A drought in Southeast Asia is threatening rice production in Cambodia and Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter. The concern about production comes as rice prices have sunk to a two-year low, hurting farmers' incomes.

The lack of rain in Cambodia and Thailand cut rice production by as much as 40 percent. Farmers usually harvest one rice crop in August, and the main rice crop in October.

In Thailand, the government is concerned that farm irrigation will stretch already thin water supplies. Supavud Saicheua, managing director and head of research at Phatra Securities (PATRA), said the government has already asked farmers to delay the planting of the main crop.

"And that means that rice production, rice harvest, will bunch up in November. Now, if there's a sense globally that there's a lot of rice and the price is depressed even more, then Thai farmers will be hit in terms of both price and quantity," he said.

Supavud added while Thailand's economy as a whole has recovered from the global financial crisis and recent political turmoil, agriculture is still suffering.

Last month, rice prices in Thailand, Asia's benchmark, hit a two-year low after a drop in export demand. In response, Thai authorities adjusted a subsidy to offer a guaranteed price for rice farmers.

But Chanchai Rakthananon president of the Thai Rice Mills Association, said that move proved inadequate. The guaranteed price right now is just enough to meet farmers' costs, he said, because they are getting a low yield from the drought. Chanchai said that is affecting their income, so farmers are not making any profit.

Farm market analysts say rice prices should rise as markets feel the effects of the drought.

Chanchai said farmers are now planting more corn and sugar cane to cut their losses from the poor rice crop. But he added it will take a year or two to reclaim farmland for rice once prices recover. In the meantime, government stocks can make up for production shortages.

However, Thailand's rice exports, accounting for about a third of the world total, are expected to drop by up to a million tons this year, which could affect importing countries.

National Food Authority of the Philippines spokesman Rex Estoperez is a spokesman said the shortfall will definitely affext rice supplies for the Philippines, Asia's biggest rice importer.

"But, you know, Thailand is only one of the suppliers of the Philippines. And, over last year, we had our tender in December and our major supplier then was Vietnam," Estoperez said.

The Philippines buys rice from a total of six countries. As long as there are no more major weather calamities, Estoperez said they should not have a problem sourcing enough rice this year.

In 2008, poor weather and low rice stocks led to prices skyrocketing to over $1,000 a ton. Exporting countries put restrictions on overseas rice sales.

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization senior economist Concepcion Calpe said while drought has lowered Cambodia's expected rice production about 10 percent and Thailand's by about six percent, Asia's crop as a whole will be better than 2009.

"Indonesia, even though they had a bad start and were also affected by drought, they still will record an increase," Calpe said. "India, we foresee a very strong recovery from last year … because it was affected by the erratic monsoon. China we see will increase tremendously their production, Bangladesh also. So, the major players, so far we see that they will have a larger crop in 2010."

With production up and plenty of rice in government reserves, said Calpe, there is little risk of food shortages or price jumps.

But she also pointed out that the drought affecting Cambodia and Thailand may cause more hardship for small producers, urging rice farmers to diversify their crops so they are not so dependent on one product.

Agricultural disaster looms in flood-affected Cambodia

Phnom Penh, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) - More than 19,000 hectares of rice paddies in the north-east of Cambodia have been submerged under flood waters for over a week, threatening food-security and livelihoods there, local media said on Tuesday.

An estimated 15,000 hectares of paddy fields in Kompong Thom have been inundated, with 60 percent possibly ruined, while about 3,000 hectares in Preah Vihear have been flooded with 80 percent of fields affected, Nhim Vanda, first vice president of the National Committee for Disaster Management, was quoted by Cambodian-language newspaper the Kampuchea Thmey as saying.

In Ratanakiri province 1,660 hectares have been flooded with about 80 percent of fields possibly destroyed, said Nhim Vanda, who has been dispatched into the field to monitor the flood situation in each province.

The flooding, which began earlier this month, has also forced the evacuation of 19,000 people from their homes, though approximately 80 percent have now returned, said the paper.

Two adults in Preah Vihear drowned along with nearly 100 buffalos tied in stables, and around four kilometers of national roads in the province and seven kilometers of provincial tracks have also been destroyed, it added.

Four districts in Kompong Thom adjacent to Preah Vihear have suffered from the floods, which originated in the latter province, said Nhim Vanda, adding that about 70 rescue boats have been sent to the region.

Agriculture is Cambodia's third largest pillar industry.