Surge

The usual:

Rice in Cambodia. In the wider region. The alternatives. Wider rural issues. And a parting shot at Monsanto.
That's all.

Cambodia thus. 
Vietnamplus.vn (May 7) looks at the latest rice export statistics, which reveal that China is putting it's money where it's mouth is:

'Cambodia’s rice exports to China have surged strongly after the European Union (EU) imposed duties on rice imports from the Southeast Asian nation, the World Bank (WB) said on May 6.
The EU in January imposed tariffs for three years on rice imported from Cambodia and Myanmar to curb an increase in imports from those two countries and to protect EU producers such as Italy.
Cambodia has filed a challenge with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against the duties.
According to the WB’s country economic update, after the tariffs were imposed, Cambodia’s milled rice exports to the EU in February were only 10,080 tonnes, a 57.8 percent decline from the previous month.
Cambodia exported 270,000 tonnes or 43 percent of its total milled rice exports to the EU in 2018, the WB said.
The decline in Cambodia’s rice exports to the EU was more than offset by the increase in the country’s rice exports to the Chinese market, the WB said in its report.
Cambodia’s rice exports to China grew by 45.6 percent, and it managed to increase its overall exports of rice by 2 percent during the first two months of the year'.

The above comes hot on the heels of the Khmer Times (Apr. 26) revealing:

'China will agree to buy 400,000 tonnes of Cambodian rice in a memorandum of understanding that will be signed tomorrow in Beijing, according to the Cambodian Ministry of Commerce'.

More Chinese investment (Khmer Times, May 27) too:

'In a meeting with Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak, Bi Guangmin, chairman of the board of Henan at Yuguang International Economic and Technical Cooperation, unveiled plans to build a warehouse and a silo with a capacity to store up to 1 million tonnes of rice'.

On the storage subject. The Phnom Penh Post (May 28):

'With more plans for rice storage and silos in Cambodia, industry insiders have expressed their optimism that a lack of facilities will not pose a challenge for the Kingdom’s rice market this year.
Cambodian Rice Federation vice-president Norng Veasna said thanks to efforts from the private sector’s rice millers and support from state institutions, the harvest season this year will not see the same issues as in the past few years.
Drying silos and rice storage facilities can currently be found in almost every province'.

The last Cambodian rice news snippet: the  Khmer Times (May 28) notes efforts being made to add Japonica rice to the palette of rice exports:

'Minister of Agriculture Veng Sakhon last week said that tests on Japonica rice have ended, yielding encouraging results. Those tests were being conducted in Kampong Thom province, and show that yields of Japonica are nearly twice as big as those of other varieties grown in the Kingdom.

A hectare of land planted with Japonica can produce 6.5 tonnes of rice, Mr Sakhon said in a post on the ministry’s Facebook page. On average, a hectare in Cambodia yields 3.5 tonnes of rice.

...

Song Saran, CEO of Amru Rice, said Japonica has great potential but that Cambodia is still not ready to plant it for commercial purposes.

“After many tests, we have concluded that Japonica rice can grow well in Cambodia with very high yields,” he said.

“However, the variety needs a lot of water, so we must now study how to reduce the amount of water required,” said Mr Saran, whose firm has also conducted tests on the variety'.

Shifts
Looking at the wider region and rice, just a limited amount of news.

Thailand's official subsidies for rice are directed to high-input rice growing. But they also seem to be interested in low-input rice cultivation. The Nation (May 28):

'The Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives and the German government's international co-operation agency on Friday announced the launch of a joint public-private project aimed at transforming the central plains of Thailand to low-carbon rice farming.

...

Under this project, some 100,000 local rice farming households covering 2.8 million rai of rice fields in six provinces of Chainat, Angthong, Pathum Thani, Sing Buri, Ayutthaya, and Suphan Buri would shift to a sustainable method of rice-growing. This is intended to increase their productivity while also cutting greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to the rising global temperature, the minister said.

The project - having a revolving fund and providing training to farmers - would have farmers shifting from their current method of rice growing to apply the low greenhouse gas-emitting way, use appropriate rice seed strain and related technologies (such as the land-levelling, the alternated wet and dry water management for rice fields, the fertiliser application based on soil testing and analysing, and the rice straw and stubble management to avoid applying a haze-creating method of burning)'. 

Then the Phnom Penh Post (Apr. 30) looks at rice exports from Laos:

'Laos is anticipating reduced income from rice exports this year in the wake of widespread flooding across the country last year.
The country set a target of $45.6 million for rice exports last year but could only achieve $31.4 million, according to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
This year, the government is expecting to earn only $25.2 million from rice exports, a significant decline compared to last year’s figure'.

Instead

On the developing of alternatives to rice growing, there's lots of Cambodian related news reports on bananas.
Phnom Penh Post (Apr. 30):

'Cambodia can now directly export yellow bananas to China, without relying on Vietnam as an intermediary, a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announcement said.
The General Directorate of Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Monday announced that to send bananas directly to the Chinese market, exporters must comply with certain requirements'.

Khmer Times (May 2) chimes in:

'Five Cambodian companies have been given permission to export bananas directly to China, the Ministry of Agriculture announced earlier this week.
The announcement follows the signing of a protocol on the exportation of bananas in August between China and Cambodia, an agreement that effectively allows Cambodia to ship the fruit to China.
According to the ministry, five local companies are now allowed to export directly to China after a group of Chinese experts visited their farms in Cambodia and gave them the nod'.

 And then (Khmer Times, May 10):

'Cambodia yesterday began the process of sending its first shipment of bananas to the Chinese market, after five local companies were greenlighted by the Chinese government last month.
During a ceremony attended by Agriculture Minister Veng Sakhon, 100 tonnes of bananas were stored at a warehouse in Phnom Penh, ready to the shipped to the Chinese market.
No official date has been given as to when the shipment will take place'.

Khmer Times (May 13) has an interview with a banana industry leader:

'Mr Hun Lak [Longmate Agriculture director]: Our investment, which was approved by the Council for the Development of Cambodia last year, sits on 1,000 hectares of land located in Chhuk district, Kampot province. The capital investment is about 32 million dollars. We have planted yellow bananas on over 400 hectares of land and so far our plantation has run for 15 months. This year, we expect to send 22,000 tonnes of fresh bananas to the Chinese market, and expand to 33,000 tonnes a year by 2020. About 120 tonnes of fresh bananas, equivalent to six containers, have been packed at our packaging house facility in Kampot province and was loaded onto the ship on May 11 ready to be sent to China. It would take about 10 days to get to the destination, namely: Dalain, Shanghai and Shenzhen cities in China. Our banana shipment to the market will pass Sihanoukville Autonomous Port and Phnom Penh Autonomous Port. If the Sihanoukville port is busy, we will carry through the Phnom Penh port instead'.

Vietnamplus.vn (May 3) looks at neighbouring Laos and bananas:

'Banana is expected to be Laos' top agricultural export in 2019 despite the local government’s ban on the expansion of plantations around the country, according to local daily Vientiane Times.
In 2017, the Southeast Asian country earned 167.9 million USD from banana exports. The figure dipped to 112 million USD in 2018, but is expected to rise to 168 million USD in 2019, according to the Lao Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The bulk of the crop will be sold to China and some to Thailand'.

Trends
Differing crops, differing prospects.
The Phnom Penh Post (May 22) on coffee:

'Vietnam's coffee exports have fallen in both volume and value terms this year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

It exported 629,000 tonnes worth $1.1 billion in the first four months, a year-on-year decrease of 13.4 per cent in volume and 22.5 per cent in value.
The trend is forecast to continue this month, the ministry said'.

Khmer Times (May 23) on silage:

'Japanese company Applied Natural Products (ANP) is planning to invest in the production of sorghum silage in Battambang province'.

Khmer Times (May 10) yet again with regards to black pepper:

'Production of renowned Kampot pepper, one of Cambodia’s only two products to be registered as a Geographical Indication in the European Union, will increase substantially this year, the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association said.
The association projects a 69-tonne hike in yields, meaning that about 90 tonnes will be produced.
However, the figure is lower than that of 2017, when more than 100 tonnes were produced, said Ngoun Lay, the association’s president'.

Khmer Times (Apr. 30) on the kingdoms rubber:

'Rubber production increased by 32 percent in the first quarter of the year, with most of it shipped abroad, according to the latest official report'.

Spoils
Besides banana's, there's plenty more fruit news. 
The Khmer Times (May 21):

'Cambodia hopes to start exporting longan to Thailand in the near future, with the two countries planning to sign an agreement on phytosanitary requirements.
Longan is poised to become the second agricultural product officially exported to Thailand following mango.
...
Un Theng, representative of an agricultural community in Pailin province, said the fruit is grown across the province, with annual yields of 7,000 tonnes.
He said the fruit now fetches from 4,000 riel ($1) to 5,000 riel ($1.25) per kilogram, adding that it is mostly bought on-site by visiting Thai merchants.
“We asked the General Department of Agriculture to conduct work on phytosanitary requirements so that the fruit can be exported legally to Thailand.”
However, even after the countries sign the protocol, Mr Theng said exporting the fruit will be troublesome.
“The General Department of Agriculture would likely require that we have a certificate for every shipment. However, we export the fruit on a daily basis and cannot wait to obtain the certificate because then the fruit could spoil,” he said.
“We want to be able to ship as much as we want with just one certificate,” he said.
He noted that a Chinese company is now building a longan processing and treatment factory in the province.
“As far as I know, the company will purchase our longan. We will be able to choose: we can sell to the Thais or to the Chinese,” he said, adding that the factory is now 80 percent complete'.

Khmer Times (May 7) rejoices on export opportunities for mangoes:

'Five local mango farms were inspected by Korean officials in March, but the results of the inspection have not been made public yet, the Ministry of Agriculture revealed this week'.

But this is not all good news. The Khmer Times (May 14):

'The first shipment of Cambodian mangoes to South Korea will be delayed after the exporter failed to meet sanitary and phytosanitary requirements in the Korean market'.

Hmmm.
Better to dry. The Khmer Times (May 15):

'A Philippine firm will soon start exporting Cambodian dried mango to the Philippines and other markets, the Philippine ambassador recently revealed'.

Khmer Times (May 16) on oranges from Battambang:

'Oranges from Battambang and Pursat may become the next product to be awarded geographical indication (GI) status in Cambodia, with the Minister of Commerce now considering whether they deserve the label'.

More downsides, especially concerning the weather prospects. Or is the climate?
The Khmer Times (May 15):

'Durian production in Kampot and Kampong Cham provinces will decrease this year due to unfavourable weather conditions, according to the provincial agriculture departments'.

 Thailand is not much better of. The Nation (Apr. 24):

'The current drought and extreme summer heat could damage half of Uttaradit’s crop of iconic Long and Lin Laplae durians, the provincial governor and farmers fear.
The much-loved varieties fetch over Bt1,000 per kilogram in fruit retail sales or a Bt50,000 reservation fee per tree even before it bears fruit. But this lower northern province has this year already seen many durian, langsat and longkong trees wither'.

Against
Some more broader societal issues.
Inclusivedevelopement in a slightly dated article (Mar. 29) notes:

'Twelve indigenous communities in Cambodia’s northeastern province of Ratanakiri scored a major victory today when the government announced it was returning to them 20 spirit mountains and dozens of other spiritually significant areas that had been grabbed by the Vietnamese agribusiness giant Hoang Anh Gia Lai (HAGL). The communities have been embroiled in a decade-long land conflict with HAGL since their ancestral lands were granted to the company to develop large-scale rubber plantations.
...
The 2014 complaint related to the IFC investment in Dragon Capital’s VEIL fund, which bankrolled HAGL’s agribusiness ventures in Cambodia and Laos. In 2016 and 2017, IFC bought equity stakes totaling $125 million in two other Vietnamese financial institutions, TP Bank and VP Bank. The banks then went on to provide financing of more than $200 million dollars to HAGL, specifically to fund its rubber plantations in Cambodia, despite the pending complaint with the CAO.
The new 117-page complaint provides extensive evidence of environmental and human rights violations resulting from HAGL’s wholesale clearance of intact forests, waterways, pastures, orchards, spirit forests, graveyards and other sacred areas belonging to indigenous communities in Ratanakiri. The communities are particularly concerned about the loss of reserved land for practicing shifting cultivation, their traditional form of agriculture, and declining soil fertility on their current farming land if they are unable to shift to other areas. These cumulative losses have seriously eroded the communities’ sovereignty over their land and system of food production and consumption, which is deeply interconnected with their identity and way of life'.

Thailand's Nation (May 20) on government policies:

'The project to set up a sugar factory and a connected bagasse-fuelled power plant is posing a threat to one of the world’s renowned jasmine rice varieties – the Thung Kula Rong Hai – according to locals living in the Pathumrat district of Roi Et province.

Raising concerns about the project, locals have now rallied behind the Pathumrat Conservation Group.

“We are against the project,” the group’s core member Prayom Sa-ngiam-rat said, after submitting the signatures of more than 2,000 locals to the Roi Et governor to show the extent of local opposition.

...

Chainarong Sretthachau, a lecturer at the Mahasarakham University, disclosed that there were now nearly 30 projects to build both a sugar plant and a biomass plant at the same site in the country’s Northeast.

“This is a result of the current government’s policy to increase sugarcane plantations in the region without caring about possible adverse impacts,” he said.

Locals are worried that such large industrial operations will use lots of groundwater and local farmers will suffer. They also suspect that the power plant may consider using coal, if there are not enough bagasse for its power generation.

“We in fact should think about such industrial operations’ impacts on paddy fields,” Chainarong said.

He said the Thung Kula way of life was about people working in their paddy fields during the rainy season and herding their cattle during the dry season.

“If paddy fields in the area are replaced by sugarcane plantations, there will be no place for cattle. And very likely farmers will fall under the control of contract farming,” he warned'.

Blows
May (the month, not the Brexit PM) proved to be dark month for Monsanto and thus Bayer:
Guardian (May 7):

'Ever since Monsanto introduced its line of Roundup weedkillers to the world in 1974, the products have been touted by the company and regulators as extremely safe. The EPA reiterated that stance last week.
But the emergence of long-held corporate secrets in three public trials has revealed a covert campaign to cover-up the pesticide’s risks and raised troubling questions about lax oversight of all pesticides by the Environmental Protection Agency and other regulatory agencies that are supposed to be protecting public health'.

This article really reveals how the company used the system to it's benefits. Or better said, Monsanto was allowed to design the system itself.

Buzzfeed (May 13):

'A California jury awarded $2 billion on Monday to an elderly couple that developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after years of using Monsanto's popular weed killer Roundup, delivering a major blow to the agrochemical giant'.

Japan Times (May 13):

'Germany’s Bayer apologized Sunday after revelations in France that its subsidiary Monsanto had a PR agency collate lists of politicians, scientists and journalists and their views on pesticides and GM crops'.

ewg (May 29): 

'Monsanto paid a shadowy chemical industry front group to help push back against the mounting scientific evidence that the company’s signature Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, court documents reveal'.

Reuters (May 30):

'Los Angeles County sued Monsanto Co on Thursday, seeking to force the unit of Germany’s Bayer AG to help pay for reducing PCB contamination in dozens of bodies of water'.

And what does this add to the hybrid rice discussion?
Ultimately hybrid rice is being pushed as the next big thing. However the precious little reporting in favour of hybrid rice is now also circumspect. Companies themselves can't be trusted but also seems that these corporations will do everything to tinker the system of societal checks and balances to their favour. Even buying independent thinking (see f.i. earlier postings on Nobel laureates backing  Golden Rice) has to been regarded as suspicious. 
Very few different thinkers and publishers remain ...