Cassava exports grow 27 per cent last year
Cassava exports grow 27 per cent last year
Cambodia exported 3.29 million tonnes of cassava last year, up 27 per cent from 2018’s 2.59 million tonnes, a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries report said.Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon wrote via Facebook that the Kingdom’s export of agricultural products last year reached more than 6.93 million tonnes, which he estimated to be worth more than $1.9 billion.
Battambang provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries official Heng Seth told The Post on Thursday that cassava was grown on 112,543ha in the province last year, producing more than 2.8 million tonnes.
“Farmers have currently harvested around 40 per cent of total cassava planted. The price of cassava in the province was around 270 riel [6.6 US cents] per kilogramme early this year,” Seth said.
A UN Development Programme report said a public investment package of some $296 million is needed for the development of the Kingdom’s cassava sector, citing a lack of focus on domestic processing.
The report said Cambodia’s main cassava export destinations are Thailand, Vietnam, China, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Canada, Italy, India and Pakistan.
Ministry of Commerce data shows that Cambodian cassava exports were worth $17.8 million in 2017, but fell to $12.6 million in 2018.
In 2018, the Kingdom produced 13,750,076 tonnes of cassava – down slightly from 13,817,262 tonnes in 2017. Cultivation increased six per cent from 612,861ha in 2017 to 650,310ha, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries data shows.
