Cambodia exported 670,000 tons of raw cashew nuts to the international market worth $1.07 billion, registering a decrease of 34.65 percent. In particular, exports to Vietnam amounted to 660,000 tons, a decrease of 37 percent, according to the Cashew nut Association of Cambodia report.
Uon Siloth, president of the Cashew nut Association of Cambodia, told Khmer Times, “In the last two years, due to the problems of climate change, and increase in prices of fertilizers, pesticides and fuel, the farmers could grow lesser cashew, harvest low quality produce and sell cheap.”
Because of these reasons farmers cut down about 100,000 hectares of cashew trees in the last two years, and the plantation area declined from 800,000 hectares to 700,000 hectares by the end of 2022, Siloth said.
Despite the decline in plantation area, “in favourable weather conditions, we still expect Cambodia to produce between 800,000 tons and 1 million tons of raw cashew by 2023,” he said.
Cashews plants are now in full bloom, earlier than the previous years. To avoid the impact of the mid-February dew, cashew harvesting could begin this month, he said.
Currently, the Cambodian government is preparing a draft national policy for cashew nuts in order to strengthen the capacity to grow, process, and export more cashew products to international markets.
Reach Ra, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Commerce and Deputy Chairman of the Cambodian Cashew Policy Joint Working Group, said, “The purpose of the draft national policy is to turn Cambodia into a major producer and supplier of cashew products to serve both the domestic and global markets.”
At present, he said, “Cambodian cashews are facing some challenges: the cultivation is not in line with the technology and not resistant to the weather changes, the use of pesticides and fertilizers are not up to standard, and also there are not many processing factories in Cambodia.”
The Cambodian cashew policy once declared officially will help solve these problems, especially to attract more processing factories, because there is demand for Cambodian cashews in the international market. Also, Cambodia has investment laws that are favourable to investors from abroad, he said.
This article was first published in Khmer Times. All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
