Cambodia on Feb. 4 broke ground for itsgreatest irrigation waterworks in Battambang province in a bid toincrease farming area and crops in one of the country’s mainrice-growing provinces.
The project has a total investment capital of 61 million USD extracted from foreign credit and the government’s budget.
Once completed within the next two years, the project will provideproduction water to all districts within the province through a networkof irrigation canals with a total length of 332 kilometres.
Battambang, located some 340 kilometres west of Phnom Penh, now has260,000 hectares of rice fields with an annual yield hovering at around700,000 tonnes.
Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony, Prime Minister Hun Sen saiddeveloping agricultural irrigation is a major priority for thegovernment.
At present, a large part of the farming area in Cambodia is able toproduce only one crop a year due to heavy reliance on rainfall.
The government of Cambodia plans to provide 310 million USD to theMinistry of Water Resources and Meteorology during 2010-2011 in orderto expand irrigation networks in rice-growing provinces.
Cambodia as a whole has around six million hectares of agriculturalland, of which 2.5 million hectares are for growing rice. Only 44percent of its rice-growing areas are watered by irrigation channels.
The country, meanwhile, has set a target of producing eight milliontonnes of rice by 2015, which would make it one of the world’s leadingrice exporters./.
The project has a total investment capital of 61 million USD extracted from foreign credit and the government’s budget.
Once completed within the next two years, the project will provideproduction water to all districts within the province through a networkof irrigation canals with a total length of 332 kilometres.
Battambang, located some 340 kilometres west of Phnom Penh, now has260,000 hectares of rice fields with an annual yield hovering at around700,000 tonnes.
Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony, Prime Minister Hun Sen saiddeveloping agricultural irrigation is a major priority for thegovernment.
At present, a large part of the farming area in Cambodia is able toproduce only one crop a year due to heavy reliance on rainfall.
The government of Cambodia plans to provide 310 million USD to theMinistry of Water Resources and Meteorology during 2010-2011 in orderto expand irrigation networks in rice-growing provinces.
Cambodia as a whole has around six million hectares of agriculturalland, of which 2.5 million hectares are for growing rice. Only 44percent of its rice-growing areas are watered by irrigation channels.
The country, meanwhile, has set a target of producing eight milliontonnes of rice by 2015, which would make it one of the world’s leadingrice exporters./.
