In a bid to promote sustainable agriculture and stabilise local rice prices, a senior official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has urged Cambodian farmers to shift their focus toward cultivating local rice varieties.
Ministry spokesman Khim Finan emphasised the financial advantages of homegrown rice strains such as the fragrant Sen Kra-Ob over imported varieties like OM rice from Vietnam.
In a recent post on his official social media, Finan pointed out that while the price of OM rice, a Vietnamese variety popular among Cambodian farmers, typically ranges from 800 to 1,000 riel ($0.20-$0.25) per kilogramme in September, the price surge in 2023 was an anomaly.
“What’s interesting is that the price of fragrant rice [Sen Kra-Ob], a strategic variety in Cambodia which takes about 110 days to harvest, has been rising year after year. It is now priced very well compared to OM rice, at 1,400 riel [$0.34] per kilogramme of wet rice,” he explained.
He encouraged farmers to take advantage of these higher prices by planting local varieties, assuring that the ministry is ready to intervene if prices fall.
“If it is our rice variety and the price drops, we can allocate funds to rice millers to buy, stockpile and export,” Finan told The Post.
He added that the government has set aside $100 million as part of its fifth priority policy to stabilise the prices of key crops, with rice as a central focus.
The appeal comes amid increasing global demand for Cambodian rice. According to Chan Sokheang, president of the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), 2023 was a positive year for the country’s rice exports.
“We have seen growth in both revenue and expansion into new markets,” Sokheang said.
Despite this, financial constraints and market unpredictability have led some millers to hesitate when it comes to stockpiling paddy rice, leading to a reliance on traders to buy from farmers directly.
Cambodian farmers have historically leaned toward planting OM rice varieties, particularly OM 5451, due to its high yield and strong resistance to pests and diseases.
This variety, a crossbreed of Jasmine 85 and OM 2490, is popular during the dry season and is in high demand, especially from Vietnam.
However, the ministry’s recent push for farmers to prioritise local varieties like Sen Kra-Ob and Malys Angkor, which are seeing significant price increases, may help shift this trend.
Rice prices in Cambodia have seen significant fluctuations from 2020 to 2024, with overall trends pointing toward a decline, especially in September.
According to recent data, the price of fragrant rice, the country’s most premium variety, saw a slight increase, rising from 1,110 riel ($0.27) per kilogramme in 2020 to 1,400 riel ($0.34) in 2024.
Meanwhile, paddy rice and OM 5451 experienced varying degrees of price fluctuation, with OM 5451 dropping from 950 riel ($0.23) in 2020 to 850 riel ($0.21) in 2024, and paddy rice showing a slight uptick from 910 riel ($0.22) to 1,280 riel ($0.31) during the same period.
In 2023, the price of OM rice reached approximately 1,349 riel ($0.33) per kilogramme, reflecting a marked increase from previous years.
But it is the rising value of fragrant rice varieties that has captured the ministry’s attention. As of late 2023, the price of fragrant paddy rice averaged 1,417 riel ($0.35) per kilogramme, a sharp rise from 1,072 riel ($0.26) in December 2022.
The price of Malys Angkor rice increased from 3.219 million riel ($790) to 3.993 million riel ($980) per tonne, while Sen Kra-Ob rose from 3.097 million riel ($760) to 3.423 million riel ($840) per tonne.
The CRF, tasked with stabilising and promoting exports, has been closely monitoring these developments.
With 656,323 tonnes of milled rice exported in 2023 – a 3 per cent rise from the previous year – the organisation continues to advocate for both local and international market expansion.