Construction begins on aquaculture centre

Preah Sihanouk farmers to profit from the Kingdom’s first fish - and shrimp-breeding unit, thanks to a $6.6m JICA grant

CONSTRUCTION has begun on Cambodia’s first marine breeding centre, which is set to provide up to half a million young fish to the Kingdom’s farmers each year.

Ground breaking began at the US$6.6 million (624 million yen) Marine Aquaculture Development Centre in Muoy district, Preah Sihanouk province, on Monday.
It is hoped the centre, which is financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), will double fish production in the province and help alleviate poverty in the area.

When it is complete, the complex is set to include a fish hatchery, maturation building and a research facility to help breed hundreds of thousands of young shrimp, sea bass and grouper.

“We will complete the whole project in early 2012,” said Seng Solady, JICA programme officer, on Monday.

She said that the centre will respond to the increasing demand of farmers for baby fish, known as fingerlings.

It will also reduce pressure on natural resources while helping stem the impact of infectious fish diseases, by providing technical advice on how best to raise sea fish to local farmers.

Nao Thuok, director general of the Department of Fisheries Administration at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said Sunday that the centre will be able to produce between 400,000 and 500,000 young fish per year.

“We expect that when the centre starts producing young fish that we will be able to double production [in the province] to meet demand from local markets and also reduce poverty,” he said.

“We will provide a quality fish to farmers and teach them how to breed saltwater fish. This will help improve their profits year on year,” he added.

Farmers in Preah Sihanouk have welcomed the development.

Ung Puth Molika, manager of Angkor Shrimp Farming Company, in Veal Rinh district, said that the creation of a breeding centre for young marine creatures will save her time and increase her profits.

Currently, she has to import baby sea bass and grouper from Thailand and Vietnam for between $0.10 and $0.20 a head.

Six to nine months later, the mature fish are sold for between $3.50 and $10 per kilogram, she said. It is not known how much the new centre will charge for fingerlings.

Last year, the Kingdom harvested 515,000 tonnes of fishery products – which included crab, shellfish, sea and river fish. Around 30,000 tonnes of were exported in 2009.

Exports are set to drop by 20 percent this year, as domestic demand from Cambodia’s growing population increases, the Fishery Administration announced Sunday

Vietnam targets local fertiliser sales

Thursday, 06 May 2010 15:00
Soeun Say

CAMBODIAN farmers are the next target in the expansion plans of Vietnam’s largest fertiliser company, which intends to open its first country office in the Kingdom on Friday, an official from Fertilizer PetroVietnam and Chemicals Corporation (PVFCCo) has said.

PVFCCo, a Petrovietnam subsidiary, is seeking to tap into what it believes is a potentially lucrative agricultural sector in Cambodia, its deputy general director Nguyen Hong Vinh told the Post on the sidelines of a press conference at Phnom Penh’s NagaWorld Hotel and Casino on Wednesday.

“This is the first time we have opened an office in the Kingdom because, according to our research, Cambodia has very good potential. In agriculture, there’s a good environment, and the atmosphere and soil are the same as Vietnam,” he said.

He said the company plans to test demand this year for its chemical fertiliser by importing only a small amount, but that it hopes to import up to 50,000 tonnes per annum for the following two years, depending on demand.

Nguyen Hong Vinh said the company plans to set a competitive price for its products, one that is cheaper than fertiliser imported from China, Thailand and other countries, though he declined to give an exact price.

Yang Saing Koma, president of the Cambodian Centre for Study and Development in Agriculture, said that although he welcomes PVFCCo’s investment in Cambodia, the use of chemical fertiliser should not be encouraged.

“We believe chemical fertiliser can be used in some areas where natural versions such as compost are not feasible, but it is not good for use in all areas,” he said.

Although chemical fertiliser can greatly improve yields, some people believe it can be harmful to consumers and farmers alike.

An estimated 20 companies are now importing chemical fertiliser for sale in Cambodia. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries stated early last month that Cambodia imported more than 170,000 tonnes last year.

A US$65 million chemical fertiliser factory is planned for Kandal province’s Kien Svay district.

June launch set for rice processor

Wednesday, 12 May 2010 15:01
Chun Sophal

KAMPONG Cham province’s Rice Millers Association is expected to put a US$1.7 million rice-processing plant into operation next month with the aim of boosting exports, representatives said Tuesday.

The drying and processing plant in Kampong Cham’s Batheay district, about 60 kilometres from Phnom Penh, is set to produce rice for export into European markets.

It will be able to process 10 tonnes of rice per hour, association officials said.

“We hope that the new plant will help the association to accomplish our goal of exporting rice into European markets later this year,” said Suor Kheang, president of Kampong Cham Rice Millers association.

According to Suor Kheang, the association, representing 32 rice mills, wants to produce about 6,000 tonnes of 5 percent broken rice for export each year. In 2009, around 100,000 tonnes of paddy were reported to have been informally exported from Kampong Cham province by the association to both Vietnam and Thailand.

It is hoped the drying plant can produce rice suitable for export markets in larger amounts, creating jobs and increasing farmers’ incomes.

“I think that our farmers will increase their paddy productivity if their present agricultural product can be processed and exported for higher prices,” he said.

Kampong Cham, which has a total population of nearly 2 million people, produced 759,534 tonnes of paddy in 2009. The plant is being funded, in part, by a $500,000 Rural Development Bank loan and $1 million provided by the Rice Millers Association.

Meaty investment in farming

Monday, 17 May 2010 15:01
Chun Sophal

Duong Vibol’s company puts $19 million into providing hundreds of thousands of pigs and cattle for market, to appease a healthy national appetite for meat

BVB Investment Company will put US$19 million towards establishing a farming complex to produce hundreds of thousand of pigs and cattle for sale on local and international markets.

Duong Vibol, president of BVB, told the Post on Sunday that the company is preparing to build a farm on 11 hectares of land in Kampong Thma commune, Santuk district, Kampong Thom province.

It is hoped the complex will be able to raise tens of thousands of pigs and cattle for slaughter each year.

Currently, Cambodia imports about 2,000 pigs per day to supply to domestic markets because local farmers cannot meet market demand.

“We hope that the farmhouse will be able to start supplying meat to markets from mid-2011,” Duong Vibol said Sunday.

According to BVB’s plans, around 2,500 pure-bred sows will be imported from Thailand in early June as a first step.

Another 3,500 female pigs will be added next year, before cattle are raised and animal-slaughtering houses and meat-processing factories built.
The company also wants to raise goats and sheep for meat in the future, and aims to build an animal feed factory on site.

Mong Reththy, the agricultural tycoon, who runs a huge farming business in Cheung Kor commune, Prey Nub district, Preah Sihanouk province, said Sunday that he welcomed the project.

He said that the BVB scheme would not compete with his company and would be a valuable way to increase the supply of meat in the Kingdom, where demand outstrips supply.

“We want to see such large-scale investments build at least 10 farmhouses or perhaps more so that local demand of meat can be responded to,” Mong Reththy said.

According to reports from the Department of Animal Health and Production, about 2 million pigs were slaughtered to provide meat for sale in Cambodia in 2009.

Duong Vibol said that from June next year, his company would supply about 150 pigs per day in order to meet the country’s demand for meat.

“We will keep enlarging the amount of pigs we supply to markets year by year in order to help reduce imports of pigs from other countries to a minimum amount,” Duong Vibol said.

In 2008, Mong Reththy Group, invested $5 million to import 618 purebred Yorkshire pigs from Britain to be bred and sold as piglets to local farmers to prevent imports.

On May 4, the provincial governor of Svay Rieng province banned pig imports from Vietnam over fears of diseases such as foot-and-mouth and porcine respiratory and reproductive syndrome.

According to officials, the ban was imposed in part to prevent the alleged dumping of ailing Vietnamese pigs on markets at cheap prices.

Kao Phal, director of the Department of Animal Health and Production, was not available for comment Sunday.