Global Rice News

Fewer rice fields were destroyed by drought last year than in the previous one, largely due to the prevalence of flash floods.

According to agricultural experts, a flood that recedes within a fortnight can actually be of benefit to rice production.

Cambodia Agriculture Association director Theng Savoeun said yesterday that the drought situation of rice last year was better than 2020 because flash floods brought enough water to irrigate the rice fields, although some were inundated for too long and were destroyed.

Savoeun said: “Last year, farmers suffered from reduced prices for produce. These reductions were driven by the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the corresponding reduction in exports,” he said, adding that farmers were disheartened by the fact that they were not seeing profits, regardless of how hard they had worked.

“The price of gasoline is high, meaning pumping water into rice fields is expensive, chemical fertilisers have increased in price, and the lack of a labour force, all factors that made it costly for them to produce rice. After harvest, they could not get prices that satisfied them, and this has left them disappointed,” he said.

National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM) spokesman Khun Sokha said that anecdotally, fewer rice was destroyed by drought in 2021 than 2020. He said that no data had been reported yet as the pandemic had meant that authorities across the country were too busy to report on drought.

“NCDM depends on those reports from provinces to make the end-year report 2021 of rice destroyed by drought across the country”, Sokha said.

According to reports received from Ratanakiri province, there were no losses to drought last year. In fact, the province reported 505 hectares of rice fields destroyed by flash floods. A further 4,081 hectares suffered some damage from flooding. An additional 1,927 hectares of mixed crop production was damaged, with 277 being destroyed. 13,869 people were evacuated due to flooding in the province.

Ratanakiri deputy governor Neang Samart, who is in charge of disaster management for the province, is committed to educating the public about disaster risk and response preparedness to increase awareness and reduce the damage caused by disasters.

He stated in his report that provincial authorities continue to cooperate with partner organisations to support activities in the field of disaster management within their jurisdiction. He also urged local authorities, including commune and village chiefs, to continue to disseminate to local people to be very mindful of climate change, and its effects.

Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501004500/effects-of-natural-disasters-on-rice-production-assessed/