KBAL
GOH, Cambodia — For as long as Cambodian rice farmers can remember,
their product has had an unsavory reputation. Tough, dirty and unmilled,
it was impossible to cook evenly, and even farmers traded it as pig
feed in exchange for cash or better-quality rice from Vietnam or
Thailand.
Even
while Cambodia recovered from decades of war and other areas of
agriculture flourished, rice production languished, a national
embarrassment in a country where 80 percent of the population works in
paddies. In 2009, Cambodia exported just 12,613 tons of milled rice,
putting it at the bottom of the global heap.
But
as Thailand, one of the world’s largest rice exporters, struggles with
political instability, Cambodian exports have improved along with their
quality; the rice can now be found in high-end grocery markets in the
West. Last year, Cambodia was the world’s fifth-largest exporter of rice
and the second-biggest exporter of premium jasmine rice. Sales of
milled rice abroad reached 378,856 tons.
“When
the rains come and there is a lot of water, we plant rice. When it’s
drier, we plant corn, but rice is a staple and people must have it,”
said Mr. Tony, although he said he would prefer to grow more corn than
rice, which he says requires more work.
Modern
milling systems adopted in the last few years have helped elevate
Cambodian rice to the international market. And locally milled rice has
also received an unexpected lift from Thailand, where rice hoarding and
huge government subsidies threatened to produce an enormous shortfall of
rice on global markets.
Cambodia
hopes to make the most of the opportunity, setting a target of one
million tons of milled rice for export by the end of 2015. It already
has the milling capacity, and customs fees on rice exports have been
scrapped.
In
a bid to reach that ambitious target, the rice federation was formed in
May. It merged three industry bodies into one and elected Sok Puthyvuth
as president. Mr. Puthyvuth, the son of Cambodia’s deputy prime
minister, Sok An, said the move had eliminated some costly competition,
defined the industry’s goals more clearly and created a unified voice
for lobbying.
“The
plan that we are preparing is to focus on the whole chain. It means
that we are looking at how much farmers will get, how much millers will
benefit, and how much exporters will get, based on market prices,” he
said.
Still, there are formidable obstacles to reaching the new target.
For
one, the country must tap new markets, like the United States, China
and Africa. Just 1,780 tons have been exported to the United States so
far this year.
Mr.
Puthyvuth also said that quality needed to improve further, as do
relationships among growers, millers and exporters. Before the rice
federation was formed, the sectors were divided into three industry
bodies. The government has lamented that only 40 percent of Cambodia’s
nine million farmers can produce rice suitable for export. Too many
farmers still use chemical pesticides with cheap, poor-quality seeds —
practices the government is working to change through education.
“Trust
within all sectors — from farmers to millers, and exporters — is not
strong enough yet,” he said. “We have to figure out ways to make them
trust each other. This is the main obstacle we are facing. When they
have quality rice, they receive a good price.” Low-end, long-grain white
rice sells for $250 to $290 a ton; high-quality jasmine rice can go for
as much as $410 a ton.
The
rice industry also faces opposition in crucial markets. Italy wants the
European Union to impose an import tariff on Cambodian rice, arguing
that Italian-produced rice cannot compete on price and that local jobs
are being lost as a result. Mr. Puthyvuth added that although the Thai
subsidy program created more demand for Cambodian rice, it also caused
the price to fluctuate dangerously.
“Thailand
has dropped their prices substantially in order to export rice from
their warehouses, and it affects our exports. Our members could not sell
their milled rice,” he said.
But
the changing regional market is also creating opportunity for
Cambodians. In Europe, rice imports are expected to be 99 percent pure,
containing few rice grains of any variety other than what is on the
label, but many Cambodian farmers are still reluctant to buy expensive
seeds. Instead, they prefer to replant whatever has been growing in
their paddies, saying it is easier to produce feed for Vietnamese
livestock than to grow rice that can make a decent pudding.
This
has created a niche market for other producers focused on high-quality
rice and geared toward socially and environmentally aware consumers in
the West. One of those growers, Ibis Rice, is trying to improve the
traditional perceptions of Cambodian crops. Although the company is not
yet exporting, its methods illustrate how growers are working to improve
quality.
An
Ibis spokeswoman, Vanessa Ferrer, said the company, certified by the
Wildlife Conservation Society, was formed in 2009 as an environmentally
friendly producer working with rice-growing villagers who shared a
desire to protect local wetlands, a natural habitat for the ibis, a
migratory bird.
She
said annual demand could be as high as 4,000 tons. But sales have been
restricted to just 400 tons, with production curtailed by the conditions
of the conservation society. The current harvest of 435 tons represents
a 54 percent increase from the 2012-13 growing season, figures show.
Annual sales have tripled to about $121,000 in the last four years.
“I’ve
had to tell so many people ‘I’m sorry but we can’t,' ” Ms. Ferrer said.
“We cannot give them enough rice. We’re not quite there yet. Maybe in
four to five years.”
Mr.
Tony said he was trying to improve the quality of his rice, avoiding
chemicals and paying top dollar for high-end seeds, up to $3.50 a
kilogram.
But
he also stressed that many of his problems stemmed from a government
that had yet to deliver on creating greater access to markets and higher
prices. And many farmers cannot read, live in remote areas and rely on
middlemen, often strangers, who buy the rice for milling and export,
dictating terms and prices.
“They won’t tell us how much of our rice they sell, or how much they make,” he said.
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