Phnom Penh: Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen has encouraged farmers to consider local varieties for their rice farming. On his social media network on Jan. 20, Samdech Techo Hun Sen commented that local farmers should choose local rice varieties that are popular both in the country and in foreign markets. At the same time, the Senate President recalled the time when he helped solve the problem of farmers suffering from a lack of water for rice cultivation in Takeo and Kandal provinces 30 years ago. ‘Harvesting rice in water is better than nothing to harvest,’ Samdech Techo Hun Sen stressed.

According to Agence Kampuchea Presse, before, Cambodia needed short-duration rice varieties that can be harvested quickly because Cambodia lacked food, but now the country has 6 to 7 million tonnes of paddy rice surplus. Today, Cambodian farmers have produced not only for food, but also for the market, therefore our farmers must use the varieties that the market needs, he added. Samdech Techo Hun Sen emphasised that now local rice varieties are popular both in the country and in the foreign market.

Cambodia exported some 651,000 tonnes of milled rice to international markets last year, a slight decrease of 0.7 percent from 656,000 tonnes in 2023, according to a report from the Cambodia Rice Federation. The Kingdom earned US$491 million from rice export in 2024, up 5.3 percent from US$466 million recorded the previous year. Additionally, the Kingdom also generated US$1,496 million from the export of 5.1 million tonnes of paddy rice last year.

Currently, Cambodia has different profitable rice varieties, but the most popular one is Malys Angkor (Phka Romdoul). Last year, Malys Angkor – the trusted name for Cambodian premium aromatic rice – won the World’s Best Rice Award in the World Rice Conference in Manila, the Philippines. Since her participation in the World Rice Conference, Cambodia won the prestigious title multiple times, in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2018, and 2022.