Market Fluctuations Push Cambodian Small Farmers into Debt Traps

[CEOCambodiaNews]

Farmers who replaced crops by trying to follow the market are falling into debt
8 April 2022 10:10 AM
An Vicheth

With the price of export crops such as mango, longan, and pepper fluctuating wildly in recent years, farmers and plantation owners have been trying to follow the market — replacing poorly selling crops with more profitable ones. But sharp price fluctuations have left many in tens of thousands of dollars in debt, with farmers urging the government to do more to stabilize prices and keep farmers afloat.

Heng Socheat, a technical expert at Cambodian Grassroots Cross-sector Network (CGCN), said that plantation owners have been rapidly moving to other crops that they consider valuable for the market, a move that requires significant capital and which is seeing many fall into debt.

“Generally, most of them fall into debt. The debt is from $ 10,000 up to $ 100,000. For farmers, $ 10,000 is a lot of money, and in some cases they were forced to leave their land”, said Socheat.

In March, Socheat carried out an informal study of farmers in Battambang and Pailin, who have stopped harvesting their mango and longan plantations amid low prices. Other plantation owners, he said, are removing those crops entirely.

“I saw mango and Pailin longan plantations that were abandoned. Mangoes are fully yielding but no one is harvesting them. There is no market. Some owners left their mangoes without harvesting, some cut them down, while others sold their land.”

Moeung Mich, who owns several plantations in Pailin province, said that he recently cut down his longan and mango trees and replaced them with papaya. “They have no value. it’s [selling] too cheap, so I cut them down,” said Mich.

Currently, Mich gets a wholesale price of 200 riels per kilo of mango and 800 riels per kilogram of longan.

“[It is] so cheap, it isn’t even enough to pay for pesticides. Everyone who grows 200 Pailin longan trees is losing 6 million to 7 million riels [in expenses].”

Full article: https://cambojanews.com/farmers-who-rep ... into-debt/

[AndyKK]

Something we read every year.
Quote - Loss is loss, no profit! Despair.”
For the small farmers this maybe the case, but I would think that their market is at home and not export. The plantation owners may feel the pinch at times, although the fertilizer seller and the buyers, exporter, make a good profit from the low cost buying of crop's from the farmers.
But then again the government sector say it's all false or fake reports. I also thought China was paying a good price for Cambodian produce.

[Ghostwriter]

Legalize it, export it ?

200 riels per kilo ? I pay around 4e for a single mango in France, so someone is getting rich somewhere...not him, not me.

[CEOCambodiaNews]

A catastrophic market crash strikes Cambodian mango farmers.

April 25, 2022
Both hands tied: Farmers dump 30 tons of mangoes due to lack of buyers
Farmer were forced to throw away 30 tons of mangoes from their plantation because of lack of a market where he could sell his product and buyers.

This was reported by local media concerning farmers in Siem Reap, the report was released on April 24.

Sen Phon, a farmer residing in Siem Reap City, Siem Reap said, “What will I feel, when I work to produce fruits but there are no buyers. Fellow farmers have dumped 30 tons of mangoes. We can’t walk forward.”

“Dozens of tons of mangoes were dumped on the morning of April 23 in a large circle at a large plantation in Khnar Sanday Commune, Banteay Srei District, Siem Reap,” Phon said.

He continued that, “Farmers don’t want to plant anymore because there are no buyers for this crop and farmers will just dispose them. Farmers in Siem Reap have been able to grow crops in the recent years, but there are no buyers and middlemen only pay less than 100 riels per kilogram.”
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501063400/ ... of-buyers/

[Tootsfriend]

A catastrophic market crash strikes Cambodian mango farmers.

April 25, 2022
Both hands tied: Farmers dump 30 tons of mangoes due to lack of buyers
Farmer were forced to throw away 30 tons of mangoes from their plantation because of lack of a market where he could sell his product and buyers.

This was reported by local media concerning farmers in Siem Reap, the report was released on April 24.

Sen Phon, a farmer residing in Siem Reap City, Siem Reap said, “What will I feel, when I work to produce fruits but there are no buyers. Fellow farmers have dumped 30 tons of mangoes. We can’t walk forward.”

“Dozens of tons of mangoes were dumped on the morning of April 23 in a large circle at a large plantation in Khnar Sanday Commune, Banteay Srei District, Siem Reap,” Phon said.

He continued that, “Farmers don’t want to plant anymore because there are no buyers for this crop and farmers will just dispose them. Farmers in Siem Reap have been able to grow crops in the recent years, but there are no buyers and middlemen only pay less than 100 riels per kilogram.”
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501063400/ ... of-buyers/

Meanwhile back in the big city supermarkets I'm searching every shelf for ,,,,,, Guess I'll have to make my own. There are just so many delicious mango recipes that turn plain white rice into a scrumptious meal.