Flooding in Banteay Meanchey province has damaged or completely destroyed 11,108 hectares of cassava crops, or about 26 percent of Cambodia’s total output, Run Sophanara, chief of the agronomy office at the provincial agriculture department, said yesterday. According to Mr Sophanara, 6,195 hectares of cassava have already been destroyed while 4,913 hectares will be ruined if flooding persists. The overall damage to cassava in the province is equal to 60 percent of total national production. “The flooding this year took a long time to recede, affecting the cassava plantations,”
he said. Cambodia currently grows cassava on 42,445 hectares of land, which is more than double the amount in 2010, according to MrSophanara. “Though the amount of land has increased this year, the floods will mean a drop in returns,” he said. “Where we could get about 20 tons per hectare last year; we will not be able to get that this year.” Mr Sophanara also said a drop in supply during next month’s harvest would lead to a rise in prices, though it is difficult to know by how much. Last year at harvest time, cassava sold for about 700 riel, or $0.18, per kilogram. Tau Sar, a cassava broker in Battambang province, said cassava crops had also been badly damaged in Thailand and that brokers there are asking Cambodia to sell more of the product across the border. “They just called me [on Sunday] to tell farmers to dry their cassava and sell to them,” she said, adding that she had already bought more than 200,000 tons of cassava to sell to Thailand. It is not the first time that Cambodia’s cassava crop has come under threat. Last year, an infestation of mealybugs that came from Thailand affected at least 100 hectares of cassava farmland in Banteay Meanchey, prompting government officials to ask farmers to not transport the crop.
he said. Cambodia currently grows cassava on 42,445 hectares of land, which is more than double the amount in 2010, according to MrSophanara. “Though the amount of land has increased this year, the floods will mean a drop in returns,” he said. “Where we could get about 20 tons per hectare last year; we will not be able to get that this year.” Mr Sophanara also said a drop in supply during next month’s harvest would lead to a rise in prices, though it is difficult to know by how much. Last year at harvest time, cassava sold for about 700 riel, or $0.18, per kilogram. Tau Sar, a cassava broker in Battambang province, said cassava crops had also been badly damaged in Thailand and that brokers there are asking Cambodia to sell more of the product across the border. “They just called me [on Sunday] to tell farmers to dry their cassava and sell to them,” she said, adding that she had already bought more than 200,000 tons of cassava to sell to Thailand. It is not the first time that Cambodia’s cassava crop has come under threat. Last year, an infestation of mealybugs that came from Thailand affected at least 100 hectares of cassava farmland in Banteay Meanchey, prompting government officials to ask farmers to not transport the crop.
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