The production, marketing, and export of rice in Takeo

Abstract

Takeo is one of the main rice-producing provinces in Cambodia and increasingly engages in cross-border trade with Vietnam. The aim of this study was to examine the production and marketing of rice in Takeo Province with a view to identifying ways to increase the benefits accruing to rice growers. Rice production in Takeo provides a subsistence base for farm households, an adequate return to household labour and, for those who have access to irrigation in the dry season, an important commercial activity. The returns to farmers could be improved by providing better information about and regulation of the key inputs-seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides. The rice market in Takeo is well structured with a network of collectors, traders, and exporters. Farmers can readily sell their paddy at a competitive market price. The marketed surplus is traded and milled efficiently in the domestic market, but the milling sector does not have the physical capacity or capital to handle the dry-season paddy surplus, which is exported directly to Vietnam. Thus the export of paddy remains crucial for the commercial rice industry in Takeo. If Vietnam’s rice policy changed to protect its own farmers, the rice sector in Takeo would be vulnerable. Nevertheless, while Cambodia continues to develop its rice processing and export capacity, the cross-border trade in paddy provides a viable source of income for a sub-sector of rice farmers in Takeo.