A palm tree heavy with palm fruits. PHOTO SUPPLIED
Prime Minister Hun Sen calls on the public to conserve palm trees and expand existing palm plantations to grow the palm sugar industry and provide employment and economic benefit to the nation.
Cambodia’s economic growth has led to the growth of other industries and services, which have attracted large numbers of workers with higher paying wages.
That combined with the rising value of real estate has impacted the palm sugar industry as land with palm trees is being sold to developers who frequently cut them down to make way for construction.
This concerns the prime minister, who said that palm trees and palm sugar are part of Cambodia’s national identity.
Skor Thnot Kampong Speu, or Kampong Speu Palm Sugar, was registered as a Geographical Indication (GI) product at the Ministry of Commerce on April 2, 2010 and then registered for protection in 29 other countries.
In a letter to mark World Intellectual Property Day on April 26, Hun Sen said the Kampong Speu Palm Sugar trademark is now well-known with a good reputation, leading to increased demand in both domestic and international markets, with exports to the EU, US, South Korea, Japan and Thailand.
“The registration of the Kampong Speu Palm Sugar as GI has contributed to an increase in its price, created jobs, enhanced livelihoods and encouraged people to participate in conserving palm trees, which are part of the national identity of Cambodia,” Hun Sen said.
In addition to conserving palm trees, the premier said people must continue to preserve the traditional knowledge and tools related to palm sugar production as a cultural asset to protect national identity and as a tourist attraction.
Kampong Speu governor Vei Samnang said on April 26 that previously people who were poor tried to grow palm trees to sell palm fruits and juice, but currently because better livelihoods are available, not many people are working as palm tree climbers.
“There are still a lot of palm trees, but not many climbers. In the past, trees didn’t have their leaves remaining as people cut both leaves and trees to build houses and roofs. But as of now, there is no cutting down the palm trees for making houses, only for developing the land,” he said.
“We have asked people that whether they want to build houses or factories, please try to preserve palm trees if they haven’t planned to. At the same time, we also ask them to participate in replanting palm trees for beauty and to maintain the honour and reputation of Kampong Speu palm sugar,” he said.
Vy Veasna, a representative of the Kampong Speu Palm Sugar Promotion Association (KSPA), expressed concerns that the number of farmer memberships in the association was not stable and affected the production quantity, while the younger generation has not been interested in continuing this profession with their families.
“For the current market demand, that is not a challenge for the [KSPA], but the real challenge is the unstable number of farmers,” he said.
In addition to the issues with the labour force, Veasna also mentioned that another challenge is the loss of a large number of palm trees to development and clearing of land plots. He said the association always advertises to farmers to prevent the cutting down of palm trees, which some residents have replanted as well.
The registration of Kampong Speu Palm Sugar as Geographical Indication has identified three areas: Odong, Samrong Tong and Ang Snuol districts of the province, which have a total of 30,000 palm trees.
However, production is currently limited to just 3,637 palm trees that produce 250 tonnes of palm sugar and are relied upon by 153 families who are members of the association.
