Ministry encourages planting of Japonica rice

The Ministry of Agriculture is encouraging companies and farmers to begin planting Japonica rice after a series of tests show it can be grown successfully in the Kingdom.

Minister of Agriculture Veng Sakhon last week said that tests on Japonica rice have ended, yielding encouraging results. Those tests were being conducted in Kampong Thom province, and show that yields of Japonica are nearly twice as big as those of other varieties grown in the Kingdom.

A hectare of land planted with Japonica can produce 6.5 tonnes of rice, Mr Sakhon said in a post on the ministry’s Facebook page. On average, a hectare in Cambodia yields 3.5 tonnes of rice.

During a visit to rice fields in Kampong Thom over the weekend, Mr Sakhon asked agriculture officials to promote the rice variety to farmers, arguing that this will help boost rice exports.

Huang Ming An, a researcher on Japonica rice at laboratory Jiangsu Long An Agriculture, told Khmer Times that the lab is now planting the grain on eight hectares in Kampong Thom province as part of a pilot programme.

Jiangsu Long An Agriculture, who is now negotiating contract farming agreements with local agricultural communities, plans to eventually expand Japonica fields to 300 hectares in the province, according to Mr Huang.

Tests on Japonica and its adaptability to the Cambodian soil have been conducted in some provinces in Cambodia since 2017 after the ministry signed an agreement in January with two Chinese laboratories, Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Centre and Jiangsu Long An Agriculture, to study the grain jointly.

The Japonica variety will be exported mainly to China, currently the biggest market for Cambodian milled rice, according to Mr Sakhon.

During a visit to rice fields in Kampong Thom over the weekend, Mr Sakhon asked agriculture officials to promote the rice variety to farmers, arguing that this will help boost rice exports.

Huang Ming An, a researcher on Japonica rice at laboratory Jiangsu Long An Agriculture, told Khmer Times that the lab is now planting the grain on eight hectares in Kampong Thom province as part of a pilot programme.

Jiangsu Long An Agriculture, who is now negotiating contract farming agreements with local agricultural communities, plans to eventually expand Japonica fields to 300 hectares in the province, according to Mr Huang.

Tests on Japonica and its adaptability to the Cambodian soil have been conducted in some provinces in Cambodia since 2017 after the ministry signed an agreement in January with two Chinese laboratories, Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Centre and Jiangsu Long An Agriculture, to study the grain jointly.

The Japonica variety will be exported mainly to China, currently the biggest market for Cambodian milled rice, according to Mr Sakhon.

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