The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries calls on rice millers, seed producers and other stakeholders to collaborate on improving rice production chains and marketing over the next five years.
Ministry secretary of state Yang Saing Koma said there are a number of challenges in the rice sector that need to be addressed, some of them major. The interconnection between the three actors, he added, is not yet systematic across the country.
“There must be clearer systematic connections between farmers, seed producers, paddy rice producers and the mills. We are working with the Cambodia Rice Federation [CRF] to coordinate these connections. We are also working with several financial institutions to secure access to investment so mill owners can obtain capital to invest more in warehousing and drying silos,” he said.
“In addition, we are providing technical support to farmers and seed producers in order to boost yields and quality, while reducing production costs,” he continued.
Chan Pich, general manager of rice exporter Signatures of Asia Co Ltd, told The Post that his company had partnered with the CRF and agriculture ministry and contracted farmers to produce 5,000 tonnes of hard milled rice and 1,000 tonnes of Rumduol rice.
“The particular contract is with farmers in Banteay Meanchey province. In addition, we have contracts with farmers in Preah Vihear, Kampong Thom and Battambang provinces,” he said.
“Cooperation between all of the stakeholders in the rice sector is very important. We need to improve trust between farmers and mill owners. Once this trust is established, it will be far simpler to have discussions about planting times, the selection of rice varieties and conversations of that ilk,” he added.
