Cambodia inks deal with IRRI to improve rice sector

At the signing ceremony (Photo: irri.org)

Phnom Penh (VNA) – Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on May 20 signed an agreement with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) aiming at improving the country’s rice sector through promoting research and enhancing productivity and resiliency.

Signatories to the agreement were Cambodian Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries  Veng Sakhon and IRRI Regional Representative for Southeast Asia Yurdi Yasmi.

The IRRI representative said the agreement marked an important step forward in the traditional collaboration over the past more than four decades between the IRRI and Cambodia in the context of Cambodia’s rice sector facing such challenges as climate change, diseases, drought and declining productivity.

The Cambodian Government places strategic importance in strengthening the role of the agricultural sector, with rice-based farming systems central in generating jobs, ensuring food security, reducing poverty, and developing rural areas. The IRRI’s assistance has contributed remarkably to helping Cambodia increase its rice output from 2.4 million tonnes in 1993 to 10.8 million tonnes last year.

According to statistics of the Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the country produced 31 million tonnes of food in 2019, generating income of 10 billion USD. Among its food exports, rice was the top foreign currency earner with 620,264 tonnes shipped abroad last year, bringing in 500 million USD./..