Cambodia - Agriculture



With a population density of just 263 persons per square kilometer (681 per square mile) of arable land, Cambodia has special advantages compared to much more densely populated rural areas such as Bangladesh, Vietnam, or Indonesia, whose densities are 3 or 4 times as great. However, the sector is far below its potential. The 80 percent of the workforce engaged in agriculture account for only 43 percent of GDP in 1998. Average rice paddy yield in 1997 was 1.8 tons per hectare, compared to an average of 2.7 tons per hectare achieved by neighboring countries. Among numerous problems affecting agricultural

productivity are a lack of irrigation, shortage of male manpower, and the continued presence of land mines in the northwest region of the country, a major rice-growing area. At present only 16 percent of rice land is irrigated, though the government has the goal to increase this figure to 20 percent by the year 2003. Important secondary food crops are maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, beans, vegetables, and fruit. Among industrial agricultural crops are cotton, soybeans, sesame, jute, sugar cane, and rubber. Principal crops in 1999 in order of magnitude of production were rice, cassava, vegetables, sugar cane, maize, soybeans, sweet potatoes, and mung beans.

Also read article about Cambodia from Wikipedia

User Contributions:

We wish to know if the government of Cambodia offers any opportunities/incentives or facilities for Oil Palm Plantation in Cambodia.

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: