Worried

Popping up on the mid term horizon is the never ending quest by Italian farmers to shoulder out cheap imports. Even though they are not in direct competition, there might be something to say for displacing non-risotto rice growers forcing them to solely focus on that market. Anyhow, full grades to the Italians for persistence. 
The Phnom Penh Post (Mar. 30):

'The European Commission has found sufficient evidence to launch an investigation into whether Cambodian rice exported to the EU puts an unfair burden on European rice farmers, potentially imperiling the Kingdom’s tariff-free exports to the bloc.The investigation was launched on March 16 in response to a request from Italy, which called for “safeguard measures” – most commonly import restrictions or tariffs – to be imposed on rice from both Cambodia and Myanmar, according to a notification of the investigation published in the EU’s official journal....Cambodian rice sector representatives said yesterday that the investigation was worrisome, and questioned the legitimacy of Italy’s complaint.“Our rice species are different from Italy’s rice, so what they raise up, it is not possible to hurt their local producers,” said Hun Lak, vice president of the Cambodia Rice Federation....The share of the EU rice market captured by Cambodian rice has grown from 13 percent five years ago to 21 percent last year, according to the EU. Meanwhile, the share of the rice market controlled by European producers has fallen from 52 percent to 30 percent over the same period.Italian rice farmers have complained about Cambodian rice imports since at least 2014, but this is the first time a formal investigation has been launched by the commission.EU regulations stipulate the investigation must be completed within a year of its March 16 starting date'.

Note that despite all assurances the EU representatives are not well known for voting with know-how, it's more about voting with their feet.

Cash
It's not the only problem on the horizon. The Phnom Penh Post (Mar. 29) reports on the lack of data adding up:

'The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is forecasting that 44 percent of Cambodia’s total rice exports will be smuggled out of the country through informal channels this year, a persistent problem that weighs down profits and threatens to cripple the industry.The FAO’s forecast, released earlier this month, predicted that Cambodia’s rice exports in 2018 would reach 1.35 million tonnes, a 5 percent increase over last year. But only 750,000 tonnes of that would  be formal exports, according to Shirley Mustafa, an economist at the FAO'.

It continues (Apr. 6):

'Cambodia’s rice exports declined in the first quarter of the year, down 3 percent compared to the first three months of last year, a slide that rice exporters and industry representatives blamed on smuggling operations operating with impunity.According to Agriculture Ministry data released yesterday, Cambodia exported 161,115 tonnes of rice in the first quarter of this year, down from 166,678 tonnes last year.
That’s despite a bumper year for the rice crop, as an improved harvest and strong international market have drawn higher prices from brokers and middlemen coming to buy rice and transport it illegally into Thailand and Vietnam....Smuggled rice is a regular problem for Cambodia’s rice sector. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation forecasted that 44 percent of Cambodia’s total rice exports this year would be smuggled out of the country, which, while problematic for the industry, would be an improvement over previous years.Song Saran, CEO of rice exporter Amru Rice, said that fluctuations in the rice market were normal, and said that farmers would benefit from the higher paddy rice prices. “It is a good option for farmers to sell their paddy rice, they don’t have to worry about the price since brokers from [neighbouring countries] also pay a good price,” he said. Dem Srey Lim, a rice farmer in Battambang’s Sangke district who owns 5 hectares of rice fields, said the price this year for paddy rice was good, up to 1,700 riel per kilogram, compared to just 1,200 riel per kilogram the year before. “Our paddy rice price is good, we are happy to sell all paddy rice,” she said, “We like to sell to Vietnamese brokers, as they pay us cash directly in the field. If we sold to a local broker, they are a week late to pay us.”'

Once again what's important is what returns farmers get. Only then look at the larger scale. And then discover that as a nation you are being outrun by the competition. Improve and improve. And only then complain.

On a side note Channelnewsasia (Mar. 6) looks at Cambodians floating rice:

'Grown in floods and thriving without pesticides, floating rice offers Cambodia a sustainable alternative for its eco-friendly food production amid threats from climate change.
...
In 1975, there were 410,000 hectares of the crops in Cambodia, according to research by the Australian National University’s Fenner School of Environment and Society. By 2015, the area had shrunk by 88.6 per cent to 46,759 hectares.
“While high-yield variety rice has a clear domestic and international market acceptability, the same cannot be said for floating rice,” said Dr Van Kien Nguyen and Assoc Prof Jamie Pittock in their research.
The crops, they added, are unpopular in urban markets and largely consumed by farmers, who believe in their health benefits'.

The Khmer Times (Mar. 12) comes up with  chainbloc technology to assist farmers.

'Oxfam Cambodia and Amru Rice will launch next month a pilot programme based on blockchain and smart contract technology to improve living standards for local farmers.
The project, called BlocRice, is powered by cutting-edge technologies and aims to improve farmers’ livelihoods by increasing the transparency and traceability of international supply chains, according to Lim Solinn, Oxfam’s country director.
Smart contract technology lies at the core of the programme. According to Ms Solinn, smart contracts are digital three-way arrangements between producers, exporters and retailers. Their mission is to facilitate, verify or enforce the negotiation and performance of a contract'.

Ups
Nikkei Asian Review (Mar. 08) looks at the Thai rice market noting that it too has it's marketing problems:

'Thailand's production of premium rice has fallen this year for the first time since the country began growing the crop more extensively a decade ago in an effort to shift agriculture to more value-added export products.
...
Total output of premium Thai rice is expected to fall by 40% to around 4 million tons from 6.1 million tons (in paddy base) in 2017, according to the Thai Rice Exporters Association. The association normally makes a fairly precise projection of the annual output based on surveys of farmers and the rice industry each March.
...
The reduced outlook has pushed up the price to $1,150 a ton this week, a more than 50% increase from $750 a ton last year.
...
Charoen Laothamatas, president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said Thailand faces "fierce competition" at a time when the strong baht has pushed Thai offer prices to uncompetitive levels. Major competitors include India and Vietnam.
Charoen blamed the reduced output on excessive rains during the harvesting period that reduced yields.
He said offer prices for premium rice ranged between $1,150 and $1,200 a ton this week -- well above the $800 to $900 for comparable grades from Vietnam and Cambodia. The strong baht has made matters worse.
...
Thailand will remain in second place this year, exporting some 10 million tons against India's 12.5 million tons, according to the U.S. department of agriculture. Vietnam is expected to come third with 6.3 million tons'.

But then again there's this from the National News Bureau of Thailand (Mar. 31):

'According to the Thai Rice Exporters Association, Thailand sold 1.9 million tons of rice worth 30.318 billion baht to overseas buyers around the world between January and February. The value and the quantity of rice sold increased 16.1% and 10% respectively compared to the same period last year'.

And yes, Vietnam is also doing well, thank you. Xinhuanet (Apr. 2):

'Vietnam exported nearly 1.4 million tons of rice worth 668 million U.S. dollars in the first three months of this year, up 9.1 percent in volume, and up 23.8 percent in value against the same period last year, according to the Vietnam Food Association on Monday'.

Initiative
When your pleas get ignored there are avenues unknown on which to achieve your justice.

The Phnom Penh Post (Mar. 29) reports on farmers being displaced by a sugar growing behemoth:

'A group of some 70 people gathered on Wednesday outside Phnom Penh Sugar Company’s factory in Kampong Speu asking for compensation in a long-running land dispute.
At least some of those at the demonstration on Wednesday participated last year in protests against the NGO Equitable Cambodia, which had been working to settle the dispute on behalf of villagers – leading to allegations that they had been hired to smear the NGO by the company, which is owned by ruling party Senator Ly Yong Phat'.

However, Inclusivedevelopment.net (Apr. 2) shows a way out:

'Displaced farmers from Cambodia have filed a landmark class-action lawsuit against the Thai sugar giant Mitr Phol. The legal complaint was filed in a Thai civil court by two plaintiffs representing a class of approximately 3000 people who were violently displaced and dispossessed of their land and livelihoods in five remote villages in northwestern Cambodia to clear the way for a Mitr Pohl sugarcane plantation between 2008 and 2009. Mitr Phol, the world’s fourth-largest sugar producer, supplies global brands including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle and Mars.
...
Following a two-year investigation of the case, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand found Mitr Phol directly responsible for human rights violations committed in conjunction with its operations in Cambodia. The land grab led to the “collapse of the community,” former commission chairman Niran Phitakwatchara said at a press conference in 2015. The commission’s final report held that the company “must compensate and redress the damages caused to affected people.”
Mitr Phol told the commission that it would compensate affected people in accordance with international standards but has failed to do so.
...
In 2011, the displaced families lodged a complaint against Mitr Phol with Bonsucro, the sugar industry sustainability initiative. Instead of holding member company Mitr Phol accountable for violations of its code of conduct, Bonsucro instead presented the sugar producer with its annual sustainability award in 2015. Bonsucro has yet to address a complaint that was resubmitted to the group against Mitr Phol in 2016'.

The Bangkok Post (Apr. 2) picks up on this.

'Farmers from Cambodia have filed a lawsuit in a Thai civil court against Asia's largest sugar producer, accusing it of rights abuses after it allegedly kicked farmers off their land, a rights group said on Monday....Mitr Phol said after it withdrew from the project, it had recommended that the Cambodian government return land "to the affected communities".Seng Loth, a spokesman at Land Management Ministry, which was responsible for the government's involvement in the project, said when contacted by Reuters he was in a meeting and too busy to comment.Government spokesman Phay Siphan said he could not comment and referred queries to the Land Management Ministry'.

There seems to be some lack of clearance on another land grab affair.  Channelnewsasia (Mar. 10):

'Security forces in Cambodia have said they acted out of self-defence in clashes with civilians who were involved in a land dispute with a rubber plantation company in Cambodia’s Kratie province.The confrontation occurred on Thursday (Mar 8) between more than 100 security officers and about 200 villagers, according to local authorities.Initial reports from independent local media, based on eye-witness accounts, suggested several protesters had been killed and dozens injured. However, authorities have denied those reports, saying only two villagers had been injured, along with seven officials....The land dispute, involving hundreds of families, has been running since 2008 when the Memot company was granted 9,000 hectares of land as an economic land concession in Pi Tnou commune'.

Blooming

In other news from Cambodia's ag sector the Phnom Penh Post (Mar. 15) notes:

'A Chinese-based investment firm has announced plans to begin construction on the first of 10 cassava processing plants next month, with a total planned investment of $150 million, according to Agriculture Minister Veng Sokhon.

Hong Kong-based Green Leader Holding Group signed a memorandum of understanding with the government in January, and its first factory is planned to cover 20 hectares in Kratie province’s Snuol district'.

This is followed up, yet again by the Phnom Penh Post (Apr. 2):

'Hong Kong-based Green Leader Holding Group broke ground on a $20 million cassava processing factory in Kratie province’s Snuol district yesterday, part of the company’s plan to spend $150 million on 10 processing factories in the next 3 years'.

How did the pepper season fare? Phnom Penh Post (Mar. 20):

'Farmers of Kampot pepper have had a rough planting season due to climate change, but the decrease in production is unlikely to seriously affect the market, according to the head of the Kampot Pepper Promotion Association (KPPA).

KPPA President Ngoun Lay said he expected his members to harvest just 75 tonnes of pepper by the end of the growing season in June, which would mark a 26 percent decrease compared to last year’s production.

“The yield is less than last year, as in the beginning of season, the flowers of the pepper plant fell a lot because of climate change,” Lay said, adding that it wouldn’t be an immediate problem for farmers due to adequate reserves.

The KPPA is the governing body of farmers who label their pepper as Kampot pepper, which was given geographical indication (GI) status from the World Trade Organization in 2010.

The association’s membership swelled from 387 farmers and 21 distributors last year to 440 farmers and 29 distributors this year, according Lay.

Last year, the group’s members produced 102 tonnes of pepper but sold just 67 tonnes, and currently have about 60 tonnes in reserves, he said'.

The Phnom Penh Post (Mar. 26) also has an interview with Kampot Pepper Promotion Association (KPPA).

Secure
Heading now to the miscellaneous.

An article in the Mongabay (Mar. 8) concerning growing rubber in Southeast Asia and the use of carbon credits to keep land forested, i.e. not become rubber plantations:

'Warren-Thomas and researchers at other universities in the UK as well as U.S.-based Wildlife Conservation Society and the Forestry Administration of Cambodia investigated how profitable rubber plantations are and if carbon credits are priced competitively enough to discourage deforestation.
The team’s results indicate that they are not. In fact, they found carbon credit prices would need to be increased six- to ten-fold to match the revenue generated by rubber plantations'.

Monsanto is in the court (Guardian, Mar. 5) and is required to prove Round-up is safe. An interesting read. 

Did we also report (Reuters, Feb. 28) that Monsanto will be purchased by Bayer? So expect more opposition to chemical-free agriculture. 

A very interesting youtube vdo on Forest tea in northern Laos. Basically, communities are saving older tea trees when practicing swidden agriculture. A great find suggested by LaoFAB Facebook page (Mar. 30).

Outside the region, but still relevant. We may fume about the ignorance of authorities for all policies on agriculture but even In Australia things are not always hunky-dory.

The SMH (Apr. 2) has an article on how all seeds into the nation will be fumigated, thus rendering the Australia organic sector void of non-national organic seeds.

'Australia is almost totally reliant on imported vegetable seeds. However seeds treated with fungicide would not be considered organic, meaning the range of organic or pesticide-free vegetables grown in Australia would fall dramatically under the proposal....In a statement, the department said Australia’s biosecurity was paramount and the review aimed “to ensure ongoing protection for Australia’s vegetable industry from increasing biosecurity risks”.The review recognised the importance of ensuring Australian producers could access imported seeds, but also “that there is an increased risk of seed-borne pathogens ... and the importance of managing that risk.”“The proposed mandatory treatment ... will help manage the risk of these pathogens being introduced to Australia,” it said'.

Premium

Keeping up to date with hybrid rice developments especially in Southeast Asia is not really an enduring task. However if the price of rice is tantamount, it means following the rice pledging saga of Thailand (see below).

But let's start with some company news. 
Devgen, the Belgian rice-hybrid pioneer, is being gobbled up by Syngenta (Bloomberg, 21 Sept.). Price is just over US$ 520 million, including a 70% premium! The logic behind is a gamble. But as competitors such as Bayer and BASF are already ahead in the game, it's a not a question of why not to step in, but when. Now.
Interesting is that the major players are looking more into pipeline technologies, so as to be able to combine hybrids with their own produce. They are not in the seed business. Or else a company such as SL Agritech may well have been purchased ....

Hybrid hype? SL Agritech will team up with Capital Rice of Thailand to produce hybrid rice in Burma. SL will provide technical input, Burma the cheap land/labour and poor legislation while CR will market the produce ... If all would be so wholesome, why the need to obtain land in Burma?

Local news

Another deal done with China (Phnom Penh Post (PPP), 5 Oct.). But is it a deal done? 

Rice registration? The PPP (4 Oct.) treats it's readers to an unclear article. Or is the proposed policy unclear?

'In an effort to promote rice exports among Cambodian farmers, government officials said on Tuesday they will register the type of rice seed set for export and the rice seed produced for the national market'.

Well, the Arab Emirates are not buying in Thailand, but according to the PPP (2 Oct.) they may well want a slice of Cambodia's rice cake. The good news:

'Kim Savuth [Chairman of the Federation of Cambodian Rice Exporters] said he already conducted a study about the Arab market last year.
“I found out that they are not strict on the quality of milled rice,” he said'. 

Let's hear it for not strict. The bad news? The articles title is misleading [UAE asks for more rice], it´s Cambodia wanting to push their produce ....

Cambodia = World's Best Rice? According to the World Rice Conference, Cambodia was the winner. From Oryzae.com.

Not directly rice, but PPP (27 Sept.) reports that transport costs remain high in Cambodia:

'The comparison found Cambodia’s free on board (FOB) costs were US$ 35 a tonne, whereas Thailand and Vietnam costs per tonne were $17 and $16 respectively'. 

That's more than double. 

'PCF’s comparison shows that poor logistics and infrastructure make Cambodia not only more expensive but also less efficient than its neighbours'.

Organic rice? PPP reports (26 Sept.) that 

'Five metric tonnes of certified organic rice — the first such shipment from Cambodia — will depart for the European Union this Friday'. 

Organic not only refers to the method of growing, but also to the miller. 

'“For insect and vermin control, we avoid using poisons. In terms of catching mice and rats, we set traps rather than risk contaminating the paddy by poisoning them,” he [Green Trade chairman and director-general Virak Thon] said'. 

I hope they he is not implying that non-organic rice contains rat poison?

Laos has decided that it's farmlands are worth protecting. In line with some other Southeast Asian countries (the Philippines?), changing the land use of paddy field to anything other than that may become more difficult. According to the Vientiane Times (9 Oct.): 

'If the proposed regulation goes ahead, it will prohibit the converting of agricultural plots which have been surveyed and allocated for agricultural production purposes, for non-agricultural usage'. 

Considering that the intention is sustain food security they will have to limit this to rice paddies, me thinks ... 
And what if the enlighten folk of Lao PDR manage to steer this through? A venomous and embarrassing (to the Lao officials) piece of writing is to be found on New Mandala. In the article, the author goes to lengths to scratch the veneer and delve the depths of just one land removal (= land-grab), albeit the most famous, that of Vientiane's Don Chan gardens. A must read.

One way of dealing with land-grabs is to call on consumers. For instance CropWatch mentions (on Sept. 11) that Cambodia activists (read mostly non-Cambodians, but with their hearts in the right place) are trying to garner international attention.

'Human rights monitoring groups and Cambodian activists are calling for an international boycott of Tate & Lyle and Domino Sugar, who do business with sugar suppliers accused of participating in government-sanctioned land grabs and illegal evictions throughout rural Cambodia'.

To pledge

We now have a tedious listing of the past months newsworthy pieces concerning Thailand's rice-pledging system. 

Recap. On the face of it, the main factors are all too simple. For political reasons the government seeks to intervene in the market, i.e. acting as wholesale buyer at preferable rates. Fine for farmers, everybody now knows the rate and it means less fluctuation in price (so better to forecast returns). The government then needs to act on what they have purchased, it's stockpile. Because of the favourable price, the stockpile is bigger than the estimate. But governments are poor market players. Possibly they could sell easily in an market with increasing prices, but with prices remaining the same or dropping they need to use their non-existent business acumen. 

In the meantime, competition (from other countries) will be making hay. With little or no effort, their produce will have increased in price (the supply has been choked) while volume will also have increased.

See here the winners (traders and farmers all over the globe) and losers (Thai government / taxpayer; tank u!)

But in practice the rice-pledge scheme has now become a daily battle front with traders and the Thai opposition on one side and the government on the other. What here follows is just the last 3 weeks worth of reports: 

• The government will continue the rice pledging scheme according to Bangkok Post (BP), 20 Sept.: 

  'A recent opinion poll showed farmers appeared to be supporting the programme. It was found that 86.5 per cent of farmers surveyed wanted the government to implement either a price-pledging or a price-subsidy scheme. And more than 35.4 per cent of the respondents said they were more satisfied with the price-pledging option because they could get more money and get paid faster'.

• 22 Sept., BP: 

  'MR Pridiyathorn [former deputy premier and finance minister] is one of the key people campaigning against the rice pledging scheme as he believes it will "cost the country a huge loss".

  Discussion has forty plus reactions ...
  On 11 Oct. BP reports though that the legal challenge has been lost ...

• Nation (22 Sept.): Traders question goverments estimates:

  'Was the projection based on the total pledging volume this year? And how can the government prove that all that rice seed is Thai?'

• BP (24 Sept.) gives air-time to former PM Thaksin: Rice-pledging is a good thing. Example: 

  'Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy expanded 4.2% in the three months through June from a year earlier, exceeding all 16 forecasts in a Bloomberg News survey that had a median prediction of a 3.1% rise. The rice policy "helped boost the economy in the first and second quarter," Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Board, said on Aug 20'.

• Thai Central Bank advises against extending rice-pledging programme (Nation, Oct. 3). 

• BP (4 Oct.) lets PM respond: 

  'Ms Yingluck said Tuesday the rice pledging programme was aimed at helping rice farmers and the rising incomes of farmers would eventually stimulate the national economy'.

• BP reports (on Oct. 9) that a 'panel' has uncovered fraud. A mish mash, including: 

'... about 200 tonnes of rice smuggled into Sa Kaeo from a neighbouring country has been confiscated. Authorities suspect the owners of the rice intended to sell it under the pledging scheme as domestically produced paddy. A probe has started'. 

Yet again, forty plus reactions.

• The Nation (Oct. 9) notes that the Agricultural Bank needs to top up on cash for pay-outs to farmers. It also lists the whole discussion once more. Including this: 

  'The government believes that when Vietnam sells its rice, the price of Thai rice will automatically rise'.

  That will be the day ...

• Then it gets weird. BP (10 Oct.): 

  'Officials who implement the government's controversial rice pledging scheme could be damaging the country and risk being taken to court, a senior economist from the Thailand Development and Research Institute (TDRI) has warned. 

  ... ... claims the rice pledging scheme is a breach of the constitution as it causes market distortions and disrupts normal trading practices'. 

  The end of government?

• The Nation (10 Oct.) meanwhile lists the winners and losers. 

  'An exporter source said the country's top five rice exporters - with the exception of Siam Indiga  - have faced export drops in terms of both volume and value by an average of 40-50 |per cent. 

  ... 

  According to reports from Thailand's Foreign Trade Department and Customs Department, during the first seven months of this year, rice exports to Indonesia have dropped significantly by 52.61 per cent to 297,640 tonnes; to the Philippines by 99.85 per cent to 246,000 tonnes; to Bangladesh by almost 100 per cent to 58,000 tonnes; to China by 65.8 per cent to 65,003 tonnes; and to Ivory Coast by 46.24 per cent to 173,014 tonnes. Remarkably, those markets have been named by the government as its key buyers under government-to-government contracts'.

• Sales might have taken place according to BP (12 Oct.): 

  'Mr Boonsong [Commerce Minister] has claimed the government has signed contracts to export 7.3 millions tonnes of rice under the controversial pledging scheme, though critics question whether the deals exist and have called for evidence.

  Addressing a press conference yesterday, Mr Boonsong provided only slightly more information than he had previously. The minister was ordered by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to disclose "as much as possible" on the G-to-G deals so that the public might better understand the much-criticised pledging scheme'.

• Topping off (BP, 13 Oct.):

  'The use of a cargo terminal at Don Mueang airport to store pledged paddy has become the latest headache to hit the government's controversial rice pledging scheme.

  ... 

  The reason the government had to store the pledged rice for the time being was not because it had a problem with exporting the product but because it needed to wait until rice prices improved in the world market, he said'.

• Then there is the Nation's (11 Oct.) own wrap-up. Excerpts: 

  'On the subject of Thailand's rice policy, many will agree that raising the price of rice is a good thing as long as it is not so high that Thailand prices itself out of the market completely. Unfortunately, that is increasingly the case

   ... 

  But poor Thai farmers won't know what to do or who they can turn to when the sky falls, as their government's policy has completely destroyed the very mechanism that has successfully sold their crops all these years'.

What is clear is that government involvement is thwart with so many potential disasters, even if in hindsight the original objectives are achieved, upsetting the market chain is hardly going to have a positive outcome. One wonders if simply handing out the cash might have been a better way of supporting the rural poor ... 

Interesting is the discussion on Thaivisa. Q:

'How Much Does A Thai Rice Farmer Receive Per Kg ? ?'

A:

'The only person I know whose wife is a rice farmer got 12,000 baht per ton of rice up here in Khampaeng Phet province instead ot the "promised" 15,000 baht.
Not too bad in a way as it was "only" a 20% ripoff instead of the usual 30 or more %.
...
Last year the wife decided to sell some of her rice to get the governemnt price which I think was supposed to be 20B/kg. Anyway first she had to have her land papers as only people with proper chanote title could claim. So she loaded up the truck, about 3 tonne, and headed to the local major rice buyer, there are several but only one that buys for the goverment scheme.  Gets there at about 8am takes a ticket and finally gets to be the second last load to be taken for the day at just before 4:30pm.  They take a sample and tell her, "too much red rice, no good, can't buy" so she brings it home. Next day she heads off to the smaller buyer she normally goes to and he pays her 14.5B/kg'.

Oh, and by the way, Laos now wants to do the same. Vientiane Times (25 Sept.) reports the following: 

'The government is proposing that, during the wet and dry seasons of 2012-2013, the public and the authorities should buy paddy sticky rice from farmers or producers for no less than 2,500 kip per kg, and not over 3,000 kip per kg from the rice association, rice mill groups or other businesses'.

Odd, so it's just an advice, like hell that will work. Not. 
It also notes that last year policy: 

'... the government banned farmers from exporting rice, including to neighbouring countries, as it had caused an unacceptable spike in the price of rice'. 

So is the price too high or to low?

Prices

Interestingly, ODI mention that 

'Unlike stocks held in China and India that are unlikely to be exported, those held by Thailand are such a strain on warehouses and finances, that at any sign of rising rice prices, they will probably be offloaded on the world market. They are therefore a significant insurance against rice harvest failures'. 

So the Thai are doing global consumers a favour!

Going down

Answers to the drop
Despite all the suggestions to the opposite, exports of Cambodian rice seem to be declining.
An article in the Phnom Penh Post (25 January 2012) reports 40% declines of milled rice, year on year for January 2012.
Partially, this is due to the easing of the market, as witnessed in lower global prices. Lower prices reflect changes in demand and supply, mostly because harvests in Vietnam and South Asia have been good combined with bursting of the global growth bubble.
The article reports that Cambodia's 'competitors' have undercut the Kingdom's prices and it seems that more new lessons are needed to be learned, as witnessed with this citation:

“Look how different the price is. How can we export to the international market when the price changes so greatly?”

Quite. But this is all part of the game.
The price differential with the competitors is dropping in both relative as well in absolute sense, so buyers will seek to look for other ways to distinguish the to be bought product. Say quality. Ah, quality ....

A few weeks (14 February 2012) after this article, the Phnom Penh Post has another write up on Cambodia's rice exports. Probably one of Cambodia's most knowledgeable expert on rice production in the Mekong Delta, Tim Purcell of ADI, corroborates above statements.
Other industry suggestions are the need for creating economies of scale.

In an interview (PPP, 17 February 2012) with Royal ANZ bank CEO, he suggests government should involveitself in the sector with the creation of a marketing board (a down under solution?), which would be part of this economy of scale as well as an institute to initiate standards. Finance not so ...

Cross the border
A good article was featured in the New Mandala.
Focusing on Thai farmer's ability to cope with floods, it stated that despite the floods, rice production went up, as those paddy fields not affected saw much larger outputs. Farmers also sought financial compensation.
That said, the financial compensation was much lower than that what could be expected if the produce could be part of Thailand's rice mortgage scheme.
The article then looks at the sustainability of this mortgage scheme which has cost lower than expected, as the overall rice output dropped.
In a by-the-way message it also notes that exporters have seen drops of nearly 60% in export numbers.

A recent article in the Nation (17 February 2012) looks in more detail at the market circumstances.
Yes, pledges have been less than expected, but posts have been reset and the Thai government seems to be aiming for 10 million tonnes of stored produce so as to determine domestic and international prices.
However:

'They '[Thai exporters] question how the ministry can sell Thai premium-quality rice at such a high price when Vietnam's jasmine rice has almost the same quality in terms of glutinousness and aroma. In addition, Vietnam imports jasmine rice from Cambodia, which has same quality as Thai rice, for re-export'.

Visionary
Further afield. It seems that GE rice is the future. If one is to believe the new rice expertise of Bill Gates. AFP has on record:

'"If you care about the poorest, you care about agriculture. We believe that it's possible for small farmers to double and in some cases even triple their yields in the next 20 years while preserving the land," Gates said'.

Well, the past has clearly indicated that yield gains hardly ever fall to small farmers. And Mr Gates illustrates his case with:

'Another key development is the use of satellite technology developed by defence departments to document data about individual fields, ...'.

He continues to ventilate his expertise. On the issue of land investments that are referred to by their critics as "land grabbing", he said:

'It's not actually possible to grab the land. People don't put it on boats and take it back to the Middle East.
"If we could have clear guidelines there could be more land deals and overall it could be very beneficial... The truth is the person who is most at risk on a land deal is the person who is putting the money in'.

But kicking someone off one's own land is surely land grabbing?

Other issues of vision, possibly a lacl of? A report of the lack of seeds which may contribute to lower production figures in Cambodia's future. Demand seems to be outstripping CARDI's ability to produce seeds, with the private sector not yet clear on whether or not they are stepping in to meet the increased demand.