Average

Straight into Cambodia's rice business.

The Kingdom is still looking at last year's data. The Phnom Penh Post (Feb. 9) looks at rice export data:

'Cambodia exported 50,450 tonnes of rice worth $39 million to the international market in January, down 15.39 per cent compared to the same period in 2018, Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) secretary-general Lun Yeng said on Sunday.
Yeng told The Post that Cambodian rice exports to the European market last month decreased 5,269 tonnes (22 per cent) year-on-year since the EU Commission introduced safeguard measures last year on rice imports from the Kingdom.
Last month’s rice exports to China decreased 3,664 tonnes (20 per cent) year-on-year, he said.
“Cambodian rice exports to the EU market are set to increase in the coming months, thanks to a drop in taxes on rice imports from €175 to €150 [$190 to $160] per tonne, which will take effect in mid-February,” he said.
Customs duty to the EU for last year stood at €175 per tonne and will be reduced to €150 this year and to €125 next year'.

While the Khmer Times (Jan. 28) is still looking at production. And then export:

'Some 7.9 million tons of wet season paddy rice were harvested in 2019 while the milled rice export was reported at 620,106 tons, registering a year-on-year decrease of about 1 percent.
China is the Kingdom’s biggest rice market purchasing 248,105 tons, followed by France and Gabon with 81,905 tons and 36,663 tons, respectively. Though the quota to China is 400,000 tons for 2019, exports fell way below target for the second consecutive year.
The dry season rice production, the report stated, were achieved at 528,136 hectares, equal to 114 percent of the yearly target.
Cambodia produced 7.4 million tonnes of paddy rice in 2018, a 3.5 percent increase. Total production in 2018 was only 88.47 percent of what the government expected, adding that 2.4 million hectares were harvested out of 2.7 million hectares of available agricultural land.
On average, each hectare produced 3.07 tonnes of rice, the report says, noting that in 2006 the average yield was only 2.6 tonnes'.

Slightly odd, it's foreign press that report on the following. Vietnamplus (Feb. 11): 

'Cambodia shipped 50,450 tonnes of rice worth 39 million USD to foreign markets in January, a year-on-year decline of 15.39 percent, according to the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF).
CRF secretary-general Lun Yeng said that exports to the European market, the largest importer of Cambodian rice, in the month fell 22 percent year on year to 5,269 tonnes since the EU Commission introduced safeguard measures last year on rice imports from the country'.
However, Lun Yeng said rice exports to the European market are set to increase in the coming months, thanks to a drop in taxes on rice imports from 175 EUR (190.99 USD) per tonne last year to 150 EUR this year'. 

Further afield. Reuters (Feb. 18) reports on Vietnam's rice-related data. But they are for the year ahead:

'Vietnam expects to export 6.75 million tonnes of rice this year, up 6% from last year, Vietnam Food Association Vice Chairman Do Ha Nam said on Tuesday.
“Demand is seen rising this year as Vietnamese rice is more competitive in terms of prices,” Nam told Reuters, adding that the coronavirus epidemic in China had had no impact on shipments of Vietnamese rice to China'.

Tons

Looking at other crops, the Khmer Times (Feb. 18) has a mention of hybrids, but in maize:

'The Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries has approved the first Cambodian hybrid maize, named CHM01, for public use throughout the Kingdom'.

More data from the Phnom Penh Post (Feb. 3); that of cassava:

'The price of cassava in provinces bordering Thailand remains steady during the 2019-2020 harvest season which is currently about 60 per cent complete, officials said.
Cambodia’s cassava is mostly grown in Battambang, Pailin, Banteay Meanchey, Kratie and Kampong Thom provinces. The crop is planted in May and harvested between November and the end of February each year.
Battambang provincial Department of Commerce director Kim Hout said on Monday that the average price at which the province’s farmers sold their crops this year was a little higher than last year.
Fresh cassava goes for 250-260 riel (6.1-6.4 US cents) per kilogramme while dry ones sell for 700-720 riel, Hout said.
He said about 80 per cent of Battambang province’s cassava is exported to Thailand, while another 20 per cent is sold to Vietnam by traders.
During this harvest season, the province has 112,543ha cultivated with cassava, with an average yield of 26.43 tonnes per hectare, a report from the Battambang provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said'.

The Khmer Times (Jan. 27) on rubber:

'Cambodia exported 282,071 tons of dry rubber in 2019, an increase of 30 percent from 217,501 tons in the year before, according to Agriculture Ministry on Sunday.
The Southeast Asian nation made a gross revenue of roughly 377 million U.S. dollars from exports of the commodity last year, up 31.8 percent from 286 million U.S. dollars in a year earlier, said the ministry’s annual report.
“A ton of dry rubber averagely cost 1,336 U.S. dollars in 2019, about 19 U.S. dollars higher than that of 2018,” the report said'.

The Phnom Penh Post (Feb. 20) adds data to our rubber knowledge, but only concerning January 2020:

'Cambodia exported 27,445 tonnes of rubber worth $40 million in the first month of the year, up 17 per cent compared to the same period last year, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries official Khuon Phalla told The Post on Thursday.
Phalla, who is the director of the General Directorate of Rubber’s Department of Administration and Legislation under the ministry, said production also increased last month.
An increase in global demand was the main driver of the industry’s growth last month, he said, as China remains the largest market for the Kingdom’s rubber.
The average price last month was $1,433 per tonne, up $207 from December. “I expect that the price of rubber will continue to increase over the next few months,” he said'.

Khmer Times (Feb. 15) has data on last years mango:

'Cambodia exported more than 58,000 tonnes of mangos to various international markets in 2019 and is mulling the expansion and diversification of the exports'.

Phnom Penh Post (Jan. 26) has news on possible expansion of Cambodia's coffee plantations:

'Bangkok-based Charoen Pokphand Group Co Ltd (CP) has expressed interest in growing coffee in Cambodia to meet the Thai market’s growing demand.
In a meeting with Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak on Friday, a CP representative said even though Thailand is one of the world’s biggest coffee bean producers, demand is outstripping supply for the domestic market.
The representative said his company is conducting a feasibility study on the coffee crop in Cambodia.
...
Though the Kingdom’s coffee export figures for last year are currently unavailable, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries data shows that Cambodia exported 2.25 tonnes of coffee beans in 2018, a 15.14 per cent drop from 2017’s 2.66 tonnes.
In 2016, the Kingdom exported 2.25 tonnes of coffee beans, data showed'.

Thailand was listed as the number 25 in coffee production (2018, source), hardly one of the world's biggest producers.

Finally, there was this positive-for-trading news. The Phnom Penh Post (Feb. 19): 

'The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has announced that rice exporters and agro-product exporters can now attain sanitary and phytosanitary certificates at one window service centres to streamline the process'.

Crucial 

Non-rice and non-Khmei. 

The Vientiane Times (Jan. 29) reports on expansion of organics:

'The Vientiane Agriculture and Forestry Department is planning to build a permanent market for use by organic farmers, in Nonghai village, Hadxaifong district.
The market would set up a formal system to regulate supplies and prices, and provide farmers with a convenient point of sale for their produce.
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Dr Lien Thikeo told the media the ministry is handing over responsibility to the department for the construction of the market.
...
The farmers’ market currently takes place at Lao-ITECC two days a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Department officials said the market encourages farmers to produce safe and chemical-free products to ensure the health of consumers.
There are now 17 organic farmers’ groups with a total of 313 household members, farming 175 hectares of land.
Six of the groups come from Hadxaifong district, six from Xaythany district, two from Xaysettha, and one each from Sikhottabong, Naxaithong and Pakngum districts. Together they grow 1,000 tonnes of produce a year.
These groups look set to continue to expand, securing new members and aiming to grow healthy vegetables on arable land around Vientiane'.

An interesting poster on non-timber forest products.

CCL Laos:

'A really interesting poster from The Agrobiodiversity Initiative Project which underlines the importance of Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP) for upland families in Laos. The poster highlights the importance of NTFP for household as well as the importance of bush fallow ecosystem which play a crucial role as nearly 30% of NTFPs harvested and 50% of all income from NTFP sales come from shifting cultivation fields and fallows. Overall, the paper demonstrates once again how NTFP value chain constitutes a key component for a sustainable and fair development of northern uplands.#NTFP #LaoUplands #sustainabledevelopmentto download the poster:https://www.researchgate.net/…/339301368_Non-Timber_Forest_…'.

Blocks

Then the big (and messy) business. 

The Guardian (Feb. 6) on chlorpyrifos:

'The world’s largest manufacturer of chlorpyrifos, an agricultural pesticide linked to brain damage in children, has announced that it will stop producing the chemical by the end of the year.
The announcement on Thursday by Corteva, the corporation formed from a Dow Chemical and DuPont merger, comes after the Trump administration reversed regulatory plans to ban the pesticide and rejected the scientific conclusions of US government experts.
Chlorpyrifos has been widely used on corn, soybeans, almonds, citrus, cotton, grapes, walnuts and other crops, but research has repeatedly found serious health effects in children, including impaired brain development. Environmental groups have long advocated for its ban, and the state of California, which grows the majority of the nation’s fruits and nuts, defied Trump and banned the chemical last year.
Corteva said it was ending production due to declining sales. Susanne Wasson, the president of Corteva’s crop protection business, told Reuters it was a “difficult decision”.

PAN Europe (Feb. 11) has an interesting exposé on German labs dealing with studies on glyphosate:

'Fraud in German laboratory casts additional doubts on the 2017 re-approval of glyphosate and on the entire EU pesticide safety evaluation procedure. The Laboratory of Pharmacology and Toxicology (LPT) Hamburg that was found recently to commit fraud in a series of regulatory tests had also carried out many of the tests in the glyphosate re-approval dossier in 2017, new study reveals. At least one in 7 glyphosate regulatory studies, with the certificate “Good Laboratory Practice” (GLP), come from LPT Hamburg, the same laboratory that was caught manipulating GLP toxicity studies by replacing dead animals with living ones, changing tumour data to "inflammations" and generally distorting the data to please its clients. It is highly concerning that GLP studies are still considered the golden scientific standard by regulatory authorities who seem to believe that cheating under GLP is impossible.
PAN Europe asks the European Commission to discard the studies carried out by LPT laboratory from the glyphosate dossier currently undergoing re-evaluation at EU-level, and from any other dossier'.

Then the Guardian (Feb. 20) again, this time of the profits of selling hazadorous pesticides:

'The world’s biggest pesticide companies make billions of dollars a year from chemicals found by independent authorities to pose high hazards to human health or the environment, according to an analysis by campaigners.
The research also found a higher proportion of these highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) in the companies’ sales in poorer nations than in rich ones. In India, 59% of sales were of HHPs in contrast to just 11% in the UK, according to the analysis.
The data from Phillips McDougall, the leading agribusiness analysts, are from buyer surveys focused on the most popular products in the 43 nations that buy the most pesticides. It was obtained and analysed by Unearthed, a journalism group funded by Greenpeace UK, and the Swiss NGO Public Eye.
...
Unearthed used a list of 330 HHPs compiled by Pesticide Action Network International (PAN), based on judgments from authorities such as the US Environmental Protection Agency, European Union bodies, the Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants and the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
The FAO and WHO classify some but not all of these pesticides as HHPs on their list and a spokesman for BASF said the PAN list was “inflated”. Keith Tyrell, director of PAN UK, said: “Efforts to strengthen the UN’s approach are consistently blocked by the pesticide industry.”

Fused

The Guardian (August 8) has an extensive article on the free press and Monsanto. 
Besdies producing harmful chemicals, Monsanto is also producing censorship for all whom stand between itself and ever-increasing profits:

'Monsanto operated a “fusion center” to monitor and discredit journalists and activists, and targeted a reporter who wrote a critical book on the company, documents reveal. The agrochemical corporation also investigated the singer Neil Young and wrote an internal memo on his social media activity and music.
...
A Bayer spokesman, Christopher Loder, declined to comment on specific documents or the fusion center, but said in a statement to the Guardian that the records show “that Monsanto’s activities were intended to ensure there was a fair, accurate and science-based dialogue about the company and its products in response to significant misinformation, including steps to respond to the publication of a book written by an individual who is a frequent critic of pesticides and GMOs”.
He said the documents were “cherry-picked by plaintiffs’ lawyers and their surrogates” and did not contradict existing science supporting the continued use of glyphosate, adding, “We take the safety of our products and our reputation very seriously and work to ensure that everyone … has accurate and balanced information.”
(A Reuters spokesperson said the agency “has covered Monsanto independently, fairly and robustly”, adding, “We stand by our reporting.”)
...
David Levine, a University of California Hastings law professor, said he had not heard of any other private corporations running “fusion centers”, but said it did not surprise him that Monsanto was engaged in this kind of intensive digital monitoring.
The records showed Monsanto was also concerned about Ruskin’s Freedom of Information Act (Foia) requests targeting the company, writing documents on its relationships with researchers had the “potential to be extremely damaging” and could “impact the entire industry”.
In 2016, one Monsanto official expressed frustration of criticisms that the company paid academics to write favorable reports on their products: “The issue was NOT that we wanted to pay the experts but an acknowledgment that experts would need to be compensated for the time they invest in drafting responses for external engagement. No one works for free!”

A second article follows with more details. Casey Gilliam herself writes (August 9) on how Monsanto devised an internal campaign on her reporting on Monsanto:

'But when I recently received close to 50 pages of internal Monsanto communications about the company’s plans to target me and my reputation, I was shocked.
...
I even inspired a Monsanto spreadsheet: as part of “Project Spruce”, the “Carey Gillam Book plan” lists more than 20 items, including discussion of how the company might get third parties to post book reviews about Whitewash.
...
The code name “Project Spruce” is the internal company reference for Monsanto’s plans to defend its glyphosate and Roundup herbicide business from all perceived threats, including scientists and journalists.
...
The company emails also briefly touch on pressure that Monsanto applied while I was at Reuters. The company was perfectly happy with stories that highlighted its new products, or the spread of adoption of its seed technology, or its latest expansion efforts. But if a story I wrote quoted a critic of the company or cited scientific research that Monsanto didn’t consider valid, Monsanto would repeatedly complain to editors, tying up editorial time and resources.
...
I’m just one person, just one reporter working from a home office in the midwest, juggling three kids with irregular writing deadlines. So the knowledge that a multibillion-dollar corporation spent so much time and attention trying to figure out how to thwart me is terrifying.
Truth and transparency are precious commodities, the foundations for the knowledge we all need and deserve about the world we live in. Without truth we cannot know what risks we face, what protections we must make for our families and our futures.
When corporate power is so intensely brought to silence messengers, to manipulate the public record and public opinion, truth becomes stifled. And we should all be afraid'.

Clearly independent reporting is essential to our society. Greed skews this independence; the more at stake, the less it seems truth be told.

In the discussion on hybrid rice, the past has shown that there's very little resistence to the main line of inquiry as presented to us by World.corporation: it's a match made in heaven. 
However on the ground, there seems to be reluctance: at the very least consumers with choice shun the produce meaning lower prices for hybrid rice produce which make growing from hybrid rice seeds uneconomic. 
Let's hope this unveiling means better and fairer reporting in future.

Change

Reporting on rice: it's been quiet these last past few weeks. 

From Cambodia the only article stems from the Khmer Times (Jul. 19):

'Twelve agricultural communities in Preah Vihear province on Wednesday entered into contract farming schemes with major rice exporter Signatures of Asia.
The agricultural communities will sell a combined 2,000 tonnes of organic rice to Signatures of Asia at set prices, guaranteeing a certain level of income to the farmers'.

Thai rice news concerns rains, but ultimately is about prices for exports and exports themselves. The Bangkok Post (Jul. 25):

'Low rainfall, if it extends until August, will possibly lower rice exports to 8.5 million tonnes this year, the lowest volume in seven years, according to shippers.
Chookiat Ophaswongse, honorary president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said this is a tough year for the rice industry because of prolonged low rain levels in the Northeast and the stronger baht.
...
He said milled Thai hom mali rice supply is expected to fall accordingly to only 2 million tonnes from 4 million, leading Thailand without premium rice for export.
...
"The long drought is likely to drive the prices of Thai hom mali paddy to surge to 25,000 baht per tonne from 16,000 baht per tonne, with the prices of domestic milled hom mali rice rising to 36,000 baht per tonne from 25,000 baht per tonne," said Mr Chookiat.
He said if the rainfall comes earlier, Thailand still has a chance to export 1 million tonnes of hom mali rice, with its price increasing to perhaps US$1,500 per tonne from $1,100 last year.
...
Mr Charoen said key threats to Thailand's rice exports include the comparatively strong baht and lower purchase demand from China, which holds hefty rice stocks.
Key rice-importing countries have also changed their rice purchase policies.
For instance, the Philippines has allowed its private sector to play a greater role in rice imports, making competition in the domestic market stiffer.
The drought will cut the country's overall rice production and may result in higher rice prices, he said'.

Headlines in Laotian Vientiane Times (Jul. 2) as Laos apparently exports first shipment of rice which is part of it's quote to China:

'Laos recently began shipping the first 1,100 tonnes of polished rice to China as part of a 50,000-tonne export quota agreement between the Lao government and China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO).
This first shipment is being transported in July and August with further amounts to follow to achieve the total target by 2021, according to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
An agreement on the first shipment of export rice was signed last month between COFCO and Indochina Development Partner Co., Ltd. (IDP) at the COFCO office in China'.

Countered
Some economic data from Cambodia on other agricultural outputs. 
The Khmer Times (Jul. 18):

'Cambodia exported 104,261 tonnes of rubber in the first half of the year, an increase of 24 percent compared to the same period in 2018, official figures show'.

Cashews are presumed to be heading in the same direction. Once more, the 
Khmer Times (Aug. 13):

'Cambodia exported 167,285 tonnes of cashew nuts during the first seven months of the year, official figures show.
In its latest report, the Ministry of Agriculture said that cashew nut exports have increased significantly since the government pledged to reach one million tonnes in shipments in the next ten years.
However, the report did not show the year-on-year growth in exports'.

Pepper has other dynamics ongoing. The Phnom Penh Post (Aug. 6):

'Kampot pepper, one of the Kingdom’s top Geographical Indication (GI) products, is under pressure as over-cultivation drives farmers to give up production, said Kampot Pepper Promotion Association (KPPA) president Nguon Lay.
Lay said farmers’ production has continued to increase annually despite the volume of orders remaining the same, which has created an oversupply of the crop.
In 2017, annual exports were around 70 tonnes with production reaching 102 tonnes, he said, adding that farmers can only sell part of their total output.
...
However, the Kampot pepper price remains stable, with black pepper selling for $15 per kg, red pepper $25 and white pepper $28, said Lay.
Hyn Piseth, deputy managing director at Confirel Co Ltd, a Kampot pepper exporter and producer, said counterfeits of the Kampot pepper brand are one of the main reasons buyers do not trust their products.
“Counterfeiting the Kampot pepper brand affects our pepper exports,” said Piseth'.

Finally, in Laos farmers are faced with increased problems in growing corn. Vientiane Times (Jul. 25):

'Xayaboury province is anticipating a 30 percent shortfall in sweetcorn supplies to domestic and overseas markets this year after the crop has been invaded by fall armyworms.
The current epidemic of this pest (Spodoptera frugiperda) across the province has resulted in big problems for farmers and authorities, who are trying to control the outbreak.
Director of Xayaboury’s Agriculture and Forestry Department, Mr Somvang Keovilaysak, said 30 percent of 35,000 hectares of maize crops had been destroyed by the caterpillars. 
According to the initial harvest plan drawn up by provincial authorities, the maize yield was set at 190,000 tonnes, but this now appears impossible to achieve and the figure is expected to be reduced by almost 25,000 tonnes.
Some farmers have lost a lot of money as a result of the devastating outbreak, the first such event recorded in the province.
A farmer in Saenphon village in Paklai district, where the outbreak was first detected on May 20, said he usually grows sweetcorn on two hectares but almost all of his crop was destroyed by the caterpillars and he had lost the money he invested.
Farmers in Xayaboury export 70 percent of their produce to China, Thailand and Vietnam while the rest is supplied to domestic markets.
...
Last year, they sold their sweetcorn for more than 1,600 kip per kilo'.

Failed

Keeping the system accountable. 
An Australian bank's subsidiaries actions reflect poorly on the mother company which is held accountable to their national standards. 
The documented problems concerning Cambodia's sugar "investments", which in reality are schemes to rob poorer farmers from (access to) their land. 
National retribution (read law and order) have not been forthcoming, so it's no wonder that international backers are then called upon. 
With success. 
Wonder what Mitr Phol, the Thai company heavily involved thinks?

Anyway, the Sydney Morning Herald (Oct. 11):

'ANZ Bank failed to meet its own human rights standards when it financed a Cambodian sugar plantation that was linked to forced evictions, child labour and workplace deaths, according to an Australian government investigation.
...
But the Australian Treasury division stopped short of endorsing a suggestion by non-government organisations that ANZ be forced to divest its profts from the sugar plantation loan to provide financial redress to hundreds of Cambodian families.
...
Representatives of affected Cambodian families told the inquiry that the sugar development was associated with “arbitrary arrests and intimidation of villagers, the use of child labour and dangerous working conditions which have resulted in death”.
In its response, ANZ continued to argue that its financing was linked to the development of a sugar refinery and not the plantation which had required the removal of the families.
...
Concerns about the behaviour of Phnom Penh Sugar were on the public record as early as 2010, but ANZ decided a year later in 2011 to accept the company as a client and loan it tens of millions of dollars'.

So, no compo apparently. 
Well, that also seems forthcoming.  ABC (Oct. 12):

'ANZ will consider whether to compensate hundreds of Cambodian families who were forcibly evicted from their farms to make way for a sugar plantation and refinery partially financed by the bank, chief executive Shayne Elliott has told a parliamentary committee'.

Best

Once again the non-transparent selection of what could be the globe's best rice has shifted back to Cambodia, after Thailand had won the award the last few years. The Khmer Times (Oct. 15):

'Cambodian premium fragrant rice, Malys Angkor, won the World’s Best Rice award – the fourth achievement it earned for Cambodia, after landing second in the last three years'.

However coveted, the Phnom Penh Post (Oct. 15) notes this does not mean that the national rice sector is in an upswing; au contriare:

'Cambodian rice exports fell 8.4 per cent from 421,966 tonnes in the first nine months of last year to 389,264 tonnes in the same period this year, said the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ General Directorate of Agriculture.

Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) vice-president Hun Lak said the decrease is due to the shortage of paddy to supply the industry.

The claim conflicts with government records which show national paddy surpluses of up to more than three million tonnes a year.

“The world rice market this year is good, so there are many brokers to buy the paddy directly from farmers, while our storage [facilities are not yet] ready."

“So the trend of rice exports this year has decreased. Even though we have buyers, we do not have paddy on hand to mill for exports,” Lak said'.

Reliance
While Cambodia's exports are down those of Vietnam are up. The Bangkok Post (Oct. 11):

'Vietnam is seeking to reduce its reliance on Asian rice markets while boosting the output of high-quality grain to better position itself in the global market, the government said on Thursday.
...
The government said it will seek to boost exports to Africa to 25% of its exports and to 10% for markets in the Americas.
"(Vietnam's) rice production in the coming time will focus on clean and organic rice and on diversifying its processed rice products," Tran Thanh Hai, the deputy head of the trade department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade said in the statement.
The value of Vietnam's rice exports in 2018 may rise to between $3.2 billion and $3.3 billion, an increase of up to 26.9% from $2.6 billion last year, the trade ministry said on Thursday in a separate statement on its official Facebook page.
...
The nation exported 4.89 million tonnes of rice in the first nine months of 2018, up 6.7% from a year earlier, while rice exports revenue in the nine-month period jumped 21.3% annually to $2.46 billion, official data showed'.

The Vientiane Times (Sep. 26) shares how the Lao rice market will have nought to export:

'The Nation will not face serious rice shortages but will encounter temporary difficulties in supplying the staple grain, according to the National Ad Hoc Committee in charge of the post-disaster response.
This will occur in some provinces which usually require rice supplies from others.
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Dr Lien Thikeo representing the committee made the comment at their first press conference last week to report on initial assessments of the impact of floods around the country.
“We will not face serious shortages of food but will face temporary difficulty only,” Dr Lien said.
According to the minister, losses in the agriculture and forestry sector have been estimated at 1,260 billion kip.
Some 90,600 hectares or around 12 percent of planted rice fields were damaged by floods and 3.2 million tonnes of rice will be generated from the harvest of wet season paddy fields'.

In more detail, The Nation (Oct. 22) takes a look at the plans to wean farmers from rice:

'Agriculture Minister Grisada Boonrach has ordered officials to proceed with a corn-growing promotion scheme under the government’s San Palang Pracharat public-private partnership initiative.
Moving ahead now would help achieve Grisada’s goal of having rice farmers switch from off-season rice this year to instead growing corn for animal feed on 2 million rai of land in 33 target provinces.
He aims to reduce workplace risk to rice farmers and solve the issue of sagging agricultural product prices due to an oversupply that could drive many to call for government aid.
...
However, Dr Chokechai Aekatasanawan – director of the Kasetsart University’s National Research Centre of Millet and Corn - has advised rice farmers to be very cautious when switching to corn plantations.
“There is a risk of the whole corn plantation being ruined by drought or floods if they are not careful,” he said. “Rice farmers are usually able to curb damage to paddy to an extent when natural disasters strike, because they have had long experience growing rice. Things will be different when they handle corn – a crop they are not so familiar with.”

Not all good news though.
 
Finally, VietNam News (Sep. 26) reports on the rising sea levels, the lack of silt laden Mekong waters and their effects both on the land and rice growing in the delta:

'Because of climate change, Vietnam’s Kien Giang province is struggling to maintain its place as the country’s biggest rice producer, a distinction it has held for nearly two decades.
The province is well positioned to produce rice. Located on the coast, in an area in the Mekong Delta with some of the country’s richest soil, Kien Giang has more than 357,000 hectares of rice paddies. It produces an average of four million tonnes each year.
But ever-rising seas have deposited saltwater deeper into the province, contaminating the three key production areas of Long Xuyen Quadrangle, West Hau River and U Minh Thuong and killing off hundreds of thousands of hectares of rice over the last few years.
...
With its economy threatened by climate change, Kiên Giang is pushing ahead with new irrigation facilities to manage the rapid invasion of saltwater.
The province is investing VNĐ950 billion (US$42.2 million) to finance new sluice gates along the An Biên-An Minh coastal dyke that will prevent saltwater intrusion and retain as much fresh water as possible. The funds will also go towards a massive network of irrigation channels in the Long Xuyên Quadrangle and West Hậu River agricultural areas'.

Lamentations
Well, we are now looking at other crops and we're back where we started: sugar and Mitr Phol.

 The Nation (Oct. 15):

'Hit by low prices, Mitr Phol Group chief says producers must focus on increasing productivity and cutting cost
Challenges lie ahead for the global sugar industry and Thai producers must prepare for higher productivity and costcutting, says Isara Vongkusolkit, chairman of Mitr Phol Group, the world’s fifth-largest sugar producer,
Thai farmers should change their thinking when it comes to production, he said.
“They should not be preoccupied with prices, but should instead focus on raising production volume and lowering costs,” he responded when asked about the low prices of farm products, including sugar canes.
...
Isara conceded that new tax structure on beverages with high sugar content had adversely impacted the local sugar industry.
It is a social trend where sugar is blamed for many health issues, but many tend to overlook salt which does more harm, he lamented.
Thailand restructured its sugar industry after Brazil, a rival proฌducer, raised the issue of Thai subsidies before the World Trade Organisation.
“Market liberalisation is expected to make the Thai sugar industry more volatile in years to come,” said Nipon Poaponsakorn, veteran economist at Thailand Development Research Institute.
...
Meanwhile, the government has pledged to support sugar cane farmers with a handout of Bt50 per tonne, followed by sugar producers’ offer of Bt70 per tonne. Each farmer is entitled to receive support for up to 5,000 tonnes'.

It seems that the farmer is to blame. 
However it's very well known that because of poor factory planning, farmers are loosing big time, as their crop takes weeks from field to factory, while sugar content drops.

Phnom Penh Post (Oct. 4) has a write up on banana's:

'Longmate Agriculture Co Ltd, a joint venture between local, Chinese and Hong Kong investors, is set to send some 30,000 tonnes of its maiden banana export to China in January.

Its chairman, Phe Hokchhoun, said: “The first [shipment] of 30,000 tonnes will be exported in January and we will double the amount in the coming years.”

Cambodia inked an agreement in August with China to begin exporting the fruit to the Asian economic powerhouse'.

The Nation (Oct. 5) has an article on Thai rubber farmers receiving handouts:

'The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry is planning to offer Bt3,000 compensation per rai to rubber growers who agree not to tap rubber latex in their plantations for three months.
“This is a planned measure to tackle falling rubber prices,” Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Grisada Boonrach said yesterday.
He said he had already instructed the Rubber Authority of Thailand to consult the Council of State about the possibility of seeking a Bt9-billion loan, with the government acting as a guarantor for the plan’s implementation.
...
While plantation owners are promised compensation, their farm hands look set to bear the brunt. Normally, rubber tappers get paid to do their jobs on the basis of benefit sharing. But compensation is unlikely to be shared if the plan is implemented'.

Phnom Penh Post (Sep. 25) in probably an article sourced elsewhere looks at the regions issues with palm oil:

'Indonesian palm oil farmer Kawal Surbakti says his livelihood is under attack, but the threat is not from insects or hungry orangutans eating his prized crop.

Half a world away, the European Parliament is moving to ban the use of palm oil in biofuels, while British grocer Iceland has announced it will stop using the commodity over concerns that it causes widespread environmental destruction.

Losing the key European market worries small farmers like Surbakti and millions of others in Indonesia and neighbouring Malaysia – the world’s top two producers – as prices drop for an oil found in everything from biscuits and sweets to cosmetics and vehicle gas tanks.

...

Environmentalists accuse the multibillion-dollar industry of destroying huge swaths of rainforest home to indigenous communities, orangutans and other threatened species.

Critics say that palm oil development also contributes to climate change through deliberate forest-clearing fires, which release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and lung-clogging smog into the region’s air.

Many under-pressure firms made “no deforestation” pledges, but activists say they are tough to monitor and frequently broken in the vast jungles of Sumatra and Borneo island.

This week, Greenpeace said a group of Indonesian palm oil firms that supply major international brands including Unilever and Nestle have cleared an area of rainforest almost twice the size of Singapore in less than three years.

A ban would threaten the livelihoods of 650,000 smallholders and over 3.2 million Malaysians who rely on the industry, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council'.

Ironically at the same time smallholders are driven off their land, larger companies simply steal their land.

More climatology. Should dams be brimming or should they fulfill their role as flood regulators?

The Nation (Oct. 10):

'Farmers are being urged to store as much water as possible and carefully plan their farming needs, as most areas in the Northeast and some parts of the North and Central areas will have no water for agriculture during the coming dry season.
With the rainy season ending within the next 20 days, the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) yesterday raised concerns about a possible drought and water shortage in many parts of Thailand, after the agency’s Smart Water Operation Centre revealed that 35 reservoirs across the country have stored water below 30 per cent of capacity, and 95 reservoirs have water at 30 to 60 per cent of capacity.
...
Sutat Weesakul, Hydro and Agro Informatics Institute director, said that based on the long-term weather forecast, he expected that Thailand would face more arid conditions than usual at the peak of the dry season in the first months of next year, due to a strong El Nino in the Pacific. He suggested that farmers store their own water and refrain from growing a dry season rice crop so as to minimise the impacts of the upcoming drought on their farm'.

Permissive

From now on, readers will note the lack of references to the Cambodia Daily. Politics have determined that publishing the news should be considered contentious. That's if you fear the light of truth.
The changing climate is also described by this by Phnom Penh Post (Oct. 16):

'Svay Rieng officials on Saturday prevented a local farmer coalition from conducting a workshop on raising chickens on the grounds it had failed to get permission from district and provincial authorities, a possible sign of increased scrutiny of NGOs working in the provinces.

...

The Coalition of Cambodia Farmers Community was conducting the workshop for 25 families when Ampil commune authorities and police told them to stop, said Chhem Kosal, a project coordinator with the NGO.

“I informed them that we had informed the commune chief already, and the commune chief also permitted [it]. But they still required me to ask for permission from district and provincial levels,” he said'.

Free
Something on-topic. The Phnom Penh Post (Sep. 9) has an extensive article on everything but traditional agricultural varieties:

'The government has denied the presence of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the agricultural sector amid persistent reports that some local farmers may already be cultivating genetically engineered “hybrid” seeds, warning that countries could restrict or ban the import of Cambodian agricultural products if use of the biotechnology is confirmed.
...
Hean Vanhan, an undersecretary of state at the Ministry of Agriculture, cast doubt on the veracity of the reports, stating firmly that Cambodian farmers have never taken up GM seeds – and the government would like to keep it that way.
“We are still not using any GM seeds for cultivation as they remain highly controversial in the international market, and we are dependent on exports so must comply with market trends,” he said. “If we allow GMOs to exist in our market it would have an impact on our exports as some countries do not trust them.”
Vanhan noted, however, that the government has never formally banned GM seeds or issued any regulations to prevent their import or cultivation “because there is no definitive proof that they are harmful”.
...
Sam Vitou, executive director of agricultural organisation CEDAC, said while the government appears to have blocked efforts by Monsanto and other GMO producers to market their products in Cambodia, there are fears local farmers could inadvertently be sowing their fields with GM seeds imported from Thailand, Vietnam and China.
“Even though the Ministry of Agriculture has not opened our market to Monsanto our agricultural sector could be threatened by the unofficial flow of [seed imports from] neighbouring countries,” he said.
Vietnam has embraced GMOs, approving at least 14 varieties of GM corn and eight varieties of GM soybean for cultivation, while indicating plans to have up to half of its farmland planted with transgenic crops by 2020. Thailand has waffled on GMO support, taking a more measured approach after field trials of GM papayas began contaminating nearby crops, resulting in several countries banning its papayas from their markets. To date, the country has approved 15 varieties of GM crops, mostly corn.
...
The confusion extends to the media, which often blurs the line between hybrid and GM seeds or incorrectly assumes that all Monsanto, Dow and Syngenta seed varieties are genetically modified.
A news report published online last year by Monash University’s School of Journalism made the explosive claim that over 100 families in Kandal province’s Kbal Koh district switched to planting Monsanto GM corn about a decade ago on the advice of local Agriculture Ministry officials.
Bun Tounsimona, director of Kandal province’s Agriculture Department, categorically rejected the report’s claims, insisting he had personally inspected farms in Kbal Koh district and did not find any GM plantings there.
“We use only hybrid seeds for corn farming as they provide high yields, but never GM seeds,” he said, adding that farmers had been warned not to use GM seeds because of the possible health concerns and risk it could restrict their exports to certain markets.
...
Four crops – corn, soybean, cotton and canola – account for nearly 99 percent of global GM acreage. GM varieties of rice have been developed and tested in field trials, but have never been commercially grown.
Hun Lak, vice president of the Cambodia Rice Federation, stressed the importance of keeping GMOs out of the Kingdom’s rice sector, adding that Cambodian rice has been tested and certified as GMO-free.
“Our farmers farm according to industry guidelines and market demands,” he said. “If GM rice is grown it will damage our export market because it is controversial and overseas buyers don’t trust GMO.”

So there does seem to be reluctance to grow GM crops, but no policy initiatives to avoid GM crops coming in. Naive at the best. Presumably GM corn is already grown with seeds available from neighbouring countries.
Perhaps the following news snippet (Business Monitor, Sept. 27) can enlighten what's going on, though arguably from the Philippines, a country which seems to have less scruples when it comes to growing whatever be it GM crop or not.

'In the Philippines, the cultivation of GM corn, such as the insect-resistant Bt-corn and roundup-ready corn varieties, is preferred over hybrid or native varieties because of its benefits, according to Romero [Gabriel O. Romero, Regulatory Affairs Lead of Monsanto Philippines Inc.].
Romero said that, before, it was only India and the Philippines planting GM crops in Asia. “Australia has its GM cotton; India has GM eggplant or  Bt eggplant. Now, Myanmar is planting GM cotton,” Rotmero said sans citing sources.
Romero added that China has been into GM cotton and GM papaya, while Pakistan is now also planting GM cotton.
“Not all of these are ‘legal planting’,” Romero said, adding that legal planting is only in the Philippines, Vietnam and Australia'.

Basically the article (without any emphasis on the negatives) bandstands Monsanto's objective to steam roll all Asian agriculture, one country at a time. But ultimately all Asian agriculture will see GM crops massively adopted, preferably those of Monsanto. 

Royal
A scathing article from the Bangkok Post (Oct. 18) notes a near Perronesque attitude to what the late King stood for. Anyway, it seems the current Thai regime has it's own ideas:

'Unfortunately, certain authorities recently seem to be doing things that contradict the late King's principles. This month, the Department of Agriculture (DOA) appeared to push for an amendment of the 1999 Plant Varieties Protection Act during the period when Thai people are mourning the late King ahead of the royal cremation ceremony. The amendment effort is also being criticised for favouring giant seed companies, enabling them to monopolise the ownership of certain "patented" plant varieties they developed from local plants and seeds. Accordingly, it will make it difficult for farmers to be self-reliant. The law amendment effort is seen to be aligned with the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) Convention of 1991. For decades, big transnational corporations, particularly giant seed companies, have put pressure on Thailand to accept the 1991 UPOV Convention.
Biothai, a non-profit organisation working for the protection of Thailand's biodiversity, issued a warning several years ago that several international free trade agreements (FTAs), particularly the Thai-US FTA and the Asean-Europe FTA, would force Thailand to change its laws to comply with the convention. And now it is actually happening. The DOA's proposed amendment to the law has been accused of jettisoning farmers' rights to save commercial seeds and regrow them. Violators risk facing criminal charges in which the punishment is a jail term or a fine or both.
However, the DOA has denied the allegation, saying that, under the proposed bill, small-scale farmers can still keep seeds for replanting, while plant variety study and innovation research will be expanded to create new strains that will bolster exports of agricultural products.
...
Still, it is stipulated in Section 35 of the bill that replanting must be carried out for the purpose of plant variety breeding and it must receive approval from a committee authorised to designate which plant varieties will be restricted or banned from replanting. In layman's terms, farmers will not be allowed to save commercial crop seeds and regrow them to make a living and feed their families. What they can do is buy new seeds from companies for new cultivation.
...
Instead of pushing for this new law, which is seen as favouring a handful of seed firms and limiting the rights of millions of farmers, the department should have followed the late King's valuable example'.

Stocktaking

Away from the controversy, exports of rice from Cambodia are ever increasing. The Phnom Penh Post (Oct. 6 ):

'Cambodian rice exports increased nearly 17 percent during the first nine months compared to the same period last year, with exporters pushing to fill orders under China’s higher import quota as European markets remained steady.
A total of 421,900 tonnes of rice was exported between January and September, a 16.7 percent increase compared to the first nine months of 2016, according to government data published yesterday.
China – which has agreed to accept 200,000 tonnes of rice this year – was the top destination for rice shipments, receiving 124,700 tonnes during the period, with 53,900 tonnes and 35,400 tonnes delivered to France and Poland, respectively'.

More in the pipeline, with the deal with Bangladesh becoming reality. The Phnom Penh Post (Sep. 29):

'Cambodia and Bangladesh have finalised terms on a massive rice deal that could see up to 1 million tonnes of rice purchased from the Kingdom over the next five years, with the first shipment due to begin by November, a source close to the deal said yesterday.
Hun Lak, vice president of the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF), confirmed that an agreement had been made between the two governments after the relevant ministries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in August that hoped to replenish Bangladesh’s stockpiles after heavy flooding earlier this year decimated the country’s crops.
 ...
He added that the deal, which will be managed by the state-run company Green Trade, allows for flexibility in the next harvest season that will begin in January. While he declined to provide the agreed upon price for the deal, he said that the current market price for Cambodian white rice was at $430 a tonne.
In late August, Reuters news agency reported that Bangladesh had agreed to purchase Cambodian rice at $453 a tonne, while local officials insisted that price negotiations were still ongoing'.

How to develop the sector? A double take from the remaining news source on improving storage and drying facilities. The Phnom Penh Post (Sep. 13):

'The government-run Rural Development Bank (RDB) has extended the deadline to receive proposals from registered Cambodian agricultural firms to develop rice storage and drying facilities after receiving a tepid response to its finance offer, a bank official said yesterday'.

Phnom Penh Post (Sep. 26):

'The state-run Rural Development Bank (RDB) received a total of 10 proposals from Cambodian agricultural firms expressing interest in developing rice storage and drying facilities across three provinces using government-backed low-interest loans, a bank official said yesterday.

Kao Thach, chief executive of RDB, said six more companies submitted proposals for the $15 million finance package after the bank extended the application deadline from September 8 to September 22 due to a low response. Only four companies submitted proposals during the initial three-week call for submissions.

...

The storage facilities are intended to alleviate the stress on farmers and millers when rice stockpiles begin to stack up and are expected to be operational by the start of the next harvest season in January.

...

Earlier this year RDB awarded a $15 million low-interest loan to Thanakea Srov (Kampuchea) Plc, the operator of the Cambodian Rice Bank, to expand its rice storage warehouse in Battambang province.

The warehouse is set to be the first privately owned centralised storage facility with a capacity to store 200,000 tonnes of wet paddy rice and to process 3,000 tonnes of paddy rice daily'.

Direction
Thailand's The Nation (Oct. 2) looks at proposed new taxing:

'Citing its likely impact of further impoverishing already vulnerable rice farmers, some academics and farming leaders are slamming a proposed new national water-use policy that would tax farmers for irrigating their fields.
...
In the volume-based billing system, water costs would range from Bt0.5 per cubic metre of water for agriculture and animal husbandry, Bt1-Bt3 per cubic metre for tourism-oriented businesses, restaurants, and recreation businesses, and more than Bt3 per cubic metre for large-scale use such as large farms, industry, and power generation.
Economics lecturer Decharut Sukkumnoed from Kasetsart University, is concerned that the seemingly sensible approach would end up further hurting already struggling farm families. Collecting a water bill from farmers would intensify their financial difficulties by generating a new expense at a time when increased farming costs and decreased crop prices are already resulting in deficits among small farmers'.

Concerning price and market. The Nation (Sep. 30):

'Charoen Laothamatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said yesterday that growing strength of the Thai currency has negatively impacted on the country’s exports of rice and other farm products such as rubber |sheet, tapioca and sugar. These products have 90 per cent local content, so the baht’s rise makes them more expensive than those of our competitors.
“The Thai currency has risen by 8.5 per cent against the US dollar, whereas the Vietnam dong has just risen 2 per cent against the greenback, resulting in Thai rice exporters losing market shares to their counterparts in Vietnam ,” he said'.

Bangkok Post (Oct. 17):

'Strong overseas demand for Thai rice is expected to support prices even as an influx of around 25 million tonnes of the 2017/18 major crop is about to flood the market next month, say industry officials.
Thai Rice Exporters Association president Charoen Laothammatas said hefty demand from the overseas markets could push 2017 rice exports to 10.8 million tonnes, nearly matching the record high of 10.9 million tonnes in 2014'.

What says the competition?
An interesting article from Vietnam.net (Oct. 8) looks forward and sees that rice is not the export flagship all regard:

'Phong [Hoang Ngoc Phong, deputy director of the Economic Development Consultancy Center] stressed that it is necessary to find a new direction for the delta development by changing the agricultural production model.

...

“Agriculture doesn’t always mean rice cultivation. It would be better to reduce the rice growing area to a reasonable level. We don’t strive to grow rice to export rice products at low prices, because farmers cannot make profits, while the state has to make heavy investments,” he said.
Phong went on to say that instead of trying to prevent saline intrusion, Mekong Delta should adapt to it.
In fact, in many localities, people have adapted to the saltwater intrusion when changing the crop structure. They have one rice crop and one shrimp/fish crop instead of two rice crops a year'.

But the above note is but a sideline, see this article from nhandan.com (Oct. 17):

'The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) has set the target of raising Vietnam’s rice export revenues to between US$2.3 and 2.5 billion by 2030.

The target was announced at a conference on realising Vietnam’s rice export strategy during the 2017-2020 period, with a view towards 2030.

Under the strategy, Vietnam will gradually reduce its rice export volumes whilst increasing the proportion of high-earning varieties, with the annual volume for the 2017-2020 period targeted at 4.5-5 million tonnes and shrinking to 4 million tonnes by 2030'.

It could be argued that growing less would result in higher prices thus achieving the same return with less effort ...
From afar this article in the  Guardian (Sep. 24 ):

'India is rice country: the cereal provides daily sustenance for more than 60% of the population. Half a century ago, it was home to more than 100,000 rice varieties, encompassing a stunning diversity in taste, nutrition, pest-resistance and, crucially in this age of climate change and natural disasters, adaptability to a range of conditions. Today, much of this biodiversity is irretrievably lost, forced out by the quest for high-yield hybrids and varieties encouraged by government agencies. Such “superior” varieties now cover more than 80% of India’s rice acreage'.

It then describes a local Orissa state initiative to save it's own varieties and seeds to increase the ability to be independent of outside agents be they government or privateers.

'By reviving seeds, they are also reviving food, taste, ritual, nutrition, and sustainability – attributes often forgotten as a result of the obsession with yield. Attributes that make rice more than just a bundle of calories and starch'.

Suited

From rice to veggie growing. The Phnom Penh Post (Oct. 6) gives space for vegetable growing initiatives:

'German development agency GIZ held a consultation workshop in Phnom Penh yesterday for its two-year Facilitating Trade in Agricultural Goods in Asean (FTAG) initiative, holding discussions with Ministry of Agriculture officials and local traders aimed at identifying the most suitable fruit and vegetable crops for cross-border trade between Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam'.

Phnom Penh Post (Oct. 10):

'A $20 million Ministry of Agriculture programme has struggled to meet its goal of introducing 160 tonnes a day of high-quality locally produced vegetables to the market, with ministry officials saying that as a result of high production costs and pricing issues it was currently supplying less than a third of that amount.

...

Kean Sophea, deputy director of the Department of Horticulture and Subsidiary Crops at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that while the programme had so far signed on 2,060 farmers and 260 rice cooperatives, disagreements between farmers and buyers over prices had led to its poor performance.

“Farmers are ready to farm and sell following our food safety standards, but buyers complain about the higher prices and consumers are not happy either,” he said.

“The main challenge is still between farmer, buyer and consumer and until that is solved we will only be able to supply 50 tonnes per day.”

Pluses

Vientiane Times (Oct. 9) looks at coffee growing:

'The value of coffee exported by Laos is expected to exceed US$112 million in the 2017 fiscal year, an increase of 3 percent compared to 2016.
Coffee exports topped US$74 million in the first six months of this year, an increase of US$50 million compared to the same period in 2016.
...
Association Office Head Mr Sivixay Xayaseng told Vientiane Times on Friday that many companies have supported and encouraged local farmers to grow more coffee under the 2+3 system and to set a purchasing plan before reporting the figures to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
The 2+3 policy is a government initiative that encourages investors and land owners to partner in industrial tree plantations.
The system refers to a framework where farmers must provide land and labour while investors provide funding, technical support and a ready market for growers'.

And this (Vientiane Times, Oct. 16):

'The government is planning to develop coffee-rich Bolaven Plateau in southern Laos as the country’s top agri-business and agri-tourism destination due to its perfect climate and fertile volcanic soils.
A master plan for developing the plateau is being drafted by the National Economic Research Institute to ensure sustainable development in Bolaven'.

Life 
Bangkok Post (Oct. 1) has an expansive exposé of rice growers choosing for organic growing with the only alternative being growing sugar cane:

'A new machine stands quietly in a corner of a small rice mill north of Amnat Charoen town. Its operation will commence at the end of this year, marking an important step for local farmers to boost
their rice production. ...
When local farmers talk about "changing the world", it means supplying premium organic produce to the market. In return, they receive a reasonable income that lifts up their livelihood.
...
The self-determination movement of local farmers in Amnat Charoen is challenging the perspective of the central government and the entire agriculture sector, whose direction is determined by top-down policies. Promoting large-scale farming is on the agenda of the current military regime too, leading to conflict and public scepticism about whether it can save farmers in the long run.
...
At first, organic rice farmer Isara Keaodee didn't know who came to buy paddy fields in his community in Amnat Charoen's Nam Plik subdistrict.
It started with a few plots, then more.
The purchaser offered enticing prices for each plot. Farmers mired in debt could hardly resist such offers that delivered quick cash. Some sold their land without knowing the consequences.
It later became clear that each small tract pieced together in a large land plot, where a new sugar cane mill and a 61-megawatt biomass power plant will be soon built.
The mill, with a total daily processing capacity of 20,000 tonnes of sugar cane, will be run by Kalasin Mitr Sugar Company Limited, owned by Thailand's and Asia's biggest sugar and bioenergy producer Mitr Phol Group. The biomass plant will be fed by bagasse.
The advent of the sugar industry has raised concerns among organic rice farmers. Most of their fears concern herbicides and chemical fertiliser used in sugar cane plantations. Water seizure by cane monoculture is another major worry.
...
Funded by money from their own pockets, a group of organic farmers toured communities around sugar cane mills in the Northeast to get more information.
"I've seen many farmers suffer when they produce only to serve factories. They produce fast. They get support. But they are in great debt from purchasing chemicals and fertilisers to boost growth to catch up with the factories' demand," says Mr Isara.
"They don't actually hold market shares. They have very low negotiation power."
Two public hearings on a sugar cane mill and a biomass power plant were held at Nam Plik. Protesters claimed that the hearings did not provide complete information about the pros and cons of the project.
When Spectrum [= Bangkok Post] requested an interview with Mitr Phol, we were told by its public relations department that the executive who can comment was abroad'.

Finally, following a very interesting and intriguing video describing life in the Lao highlands. It notes the difficulties facing agriculture, practises in using chemical herbicides and eking out a living with hunting and collecting. 
More can be found here.

'This video is Part 2 of the 3-part series that covers the lives of the villagers in Houay Len over a 12-month period. It looks at the lives of three Phong women Mrs. Tong, Mrs. Bua and Mrs. Chueng and examines local women’s lives during the production season from April to August. The women talk about the work that goes into getting fields ready for planting rice and maize, as well as how they feel about pesticides and why they are used in the village. We also learn more about nutrition and where Houay Len’s villagers get their food'.