Monsoon-blessed Bountiful Harvest Excites Cambodian Farmers Amid Looming Low Rice Price 

PHNOM PENH, Oct 6 (Bernama) -- This monsoon season is particularly special for millions of Cambodian paddy farmers, as rice production is projected to increase due to the heavy rainfall in recent months.

The May-to-October monsoon rains arrived on time, cheering up rice planters across the Southeast Asian region who rely on the wet season for paddy planting. 

Agrarian-dependent economies – from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines to Thailand – are upbeat about their production as the monsoon, which remains a lifeblood, provides sufficient water to till their farmland.    

“On-time rainfall will help rice farmers to have good rice harvesting this year, and is expected to increase rice yield as well. 

“In general, with good rainfall, Cambodia can harvest more than 10 million tonnes of rice yield in 2025,” Chief Executive of the Cambodian Farmer Federation Association of Agricultural Producers, Sok Sotha, told Bernama.

Cambodian farmers grow rice on about three million hectares of land countrywide twice annually – the wet season crop followed by a dry season planting. 

Cambodia is known for its long-grain, fragrant, premium Jasmine rice that is usually grown during the rainy season. 

According to the Cambodia Rice Federation, the Kingdom earned about RM6 billion (US$1.5 billion) from paddy rice and milled rice exports from January to August this year. It exported 473,000 tonnes of milled rice.          “This year rice farmers are happy with the good weather pattern for rice cultivation in general, but they still express concerns about rice prices,” said Sotha. 

Global rice production is at optimal level this year, largely due to high-yielding monsoon-dependent crops.  

The Food and Agriculture Organisation, on October 3, forecast that world rice production will reach a record high of 556 million tonnes (milled basis) in 2025/26. In India, the world's largest rice exporter, the timely arrival of the rains bring a big boast to millions of farmers. 

Vietnam, recently crowned as the second largest rice exporter after surpassing Thailand, could produce about eight million metric tonnes, according to local rice agencies. 

However, key rice producers – Vietnam and the Philippines – have been affected by frequent volatile typhoons that have damaged some rice fields.

An abundance of rice supply will lessen pressure on food prices and slash food inflation, predict agriculture experts. 

But there is also a flip side to the rosy rice story. Oversupply and excess global stock is pushing down prices of the grain, which is also worrying farmers. 

“With more recent bumper harvests, global rice stocks are currently at record-high levels, with countries like India and China maintaining large reserves. 

“These stocks are adding further downward pressure to international prices,” the Manila-based International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) said in August. 

Meanwhile, Samarendu Mohanty, director of the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture and Development Studies at Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, said India is likely to export between 22 million metric tonnes and 25 million metric tonnes of rice this year.

“Flood due to excess rainfall had some damage to the rice area but overall production this year will be at a record level. 

“Rice price will be under pressure as production situation has improved in key importing countries, including Indonesia and the Philippines,” he told Bernama.

-- BERNAMA