A farmer in Kampong Speu province harvests the Sen Kra’op 01 fragrant rice variety recently. MAFF
The Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) has announced that 40 per cent of the Kingdom’s rice farmers are growing the Sen Kra’op 01 (SKO 01)fragrant variety, as there is high demand in Chinese and European markets. The cultivar is non-seasonal, fast-growing, can be harvested in a short time and provides high yields.
CARDI director Lor Bunna told The Post that the fast-growing variety could yield between 3.29 and six tonnes per hectare, depending on the fertility of the land and the availability of water supply.
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“There are many foreign markets for this type of rice, so farmers are not worried about a lack of demand,” he said of its popularity.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries released the variety to the general public in 2019, and has since encouraged farmers to use its genetically pure seeds. Because of the quality of the fragrant rice it produces, the Cambodia Rice Federation (CRF) – the Kingdom’s apex rice industry body – finds it easy to export.
“Once our farmers began using pure seeds, they began to see better profits. First, they saw yields increase by 15 per cent, and second, there is established market demand. Farmers need less water to achieve high yields, and the plants are more resistant to pests such as rats. When it ripens and its water content is between 25 and 27 per cent, it produces very high-quality milled rice,” said Bunna.
CRF secretary-general Lun Yeng noted that the Kingdom’s other popular fragrant variety, the award-winning premium long grain Phka Rumduol jasmine rice, commands a higher market price but cannot be harvested as often.
He added that even though the quantity of exports is similar, the two cannot be compared.
“Phka Rumduol is the best milled rice in the world, and expensive. As it is seasonal, however, it can only be harvested once per year. SKO 01 is non-seasonal, so the prices should not be directly compared,” he explained.
According to the CRF, in the first nine months of this year, 55 companies exported 456,581 tonnes of milled rice to 57 countries, with a total value of $327.45 million. Milled rice was exported to mainland China and Hong Kong, 26 countries in Europe, five ASEAN nations, and 24 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Of the exports, fragrant milled rice accounted for 82.43%, white rice 12.5%, parboiled rice 3.33%, organic rice 1.77% and short-grain white rice 0.02%.
In the same period, Cambodia exported 3,077,415 tonnes of unmilled paddy rice, worth $862.39 million. Over 59 per cent of the exports were certified by the pertinent authorities.
