Agriculture and fishing
Nestlé report details labor abuses on Thai 'slave ships'
Nestle, the world’s largest food company, has acknowledged that it is almost certain that seafood bought from Thailand by itself and other large Western firms is produced by what are effectively modern-day slaves, many of them Cambodian. In a report, released by Nestlé on 23 November, ...
Low yields sour Savannakhet sugarcane farmers' prospects
Some individual sugarcane growers in Savannakhet province now owe the milling company as much as 174 million kip following their poor harvests, it was recently revealed. According to a workshop on reducing debt risks for farmers in Vientiane, some families in Savannakhet’s Xaybouly district are in ...
Lao Deputy Prime Minister promotes rice production in Khammuan
Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Somsavat Lengsavad, and other senior officials last week visited Nongbok district, Khammuan province for the promotion of agricultural production to ensure food security and a commercial basis. The delegation was warmly welcomed by the provincial authorities, especially the agriculture development promotion company ...
Another drought year in store for Cambodia
As the weather pattern known as El Niño threatens to wreak havoc on climactic conditions across the globe, the Cambodian government has warned that higher-than-usual temperatures, which already sparked droughts this year, will cause next year’s rainy season to be even shorter. What’s more, the heat ...
Hundreds of workers faint in Kandal SEZ
Hundreds of people working at six different factories in Kandal province’s 7NG Special Economic Zone fainted on 20 November, with most blaming a pesticide that was believed to have caused a separate mass-fainting incident in the area a day earlier. Un Yong, Khsach Kandal district’s deputy ...
Thailand brushes up on measures to tackle IUU fishing after EU assessment
European Union (EU) Representatives have decided not to remove Thailand’s yellow card status, after first assessment of the country’s efforts to tackle problems in the fishing industry. Keep reading ...
Lao ministry sets target yields for agriculture
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry is asking farmers around the country to grow 4.2 million tonnes of rice this fiscal year, seeking to boost commercial production and ensure food security. According to the figures provided by the ministry, 2.1 million tonnes of the total rice ...
4G spectrum windfall to help farmers
The government will spend part of the revenue from the fourth-generation (4G) spectrum auction to finance the country’s agricultural plan to ease the impact of drought on farmers. Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak, who leads the government’s economic team, said on 19 November a portion of revenue from the spectrum bidding ...
Rare giant catfish signals hope for species
A group of Cambodian fishermen caught quite a surprise earlier this month: a massive Mekong giant catfish, the first one seen in the country in a year. Caught near Phnom Penh, the fish was nearly seven feet long and weighed an estimated 200 to 250 pounds ...
Mekong rice straw to go to Japan
Rice straw, which is usually burnt by Cuu Long (Mekong) farmers at rice fields after harvest, will be exported to Japan as animal feed, according to Song Hau State Farm in the Mekong City of Can Tho. Keep reading ...