Prior to 2013, Dom Dorn, a farmer in Phnom Sruoch district of Kampong Speu province, used oxen to farm his white-rice paddies; now, after just his second harvest of sowing phkarmalis (also known as jasmine or fragrant rice), he is using a kor yun, or hand-held motorised tractor to plant his seeds.

“The revenue from selling phkarmalis paddy has improved my family’s living conditions,” Dorn told the Post yesterday. “It is very easy to sell, and the price is good.” Traditionally sourced from Thailand, fragrant rice also flourishes in Cambodia’s climate and soil conditions, a fact that has led to a sharp rise in demand for the Kingdom’s product.

Data released yesterday from the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export show that Cambodian rice exports for the first three months of 2013 amounted to 95,228 tonnes, already close to half of last year’s total exports, and almost three times the 36,430 tonnes exported in the same period of 2012.

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Thanks to seasonal demand, the price of rubber has increased from 2012’s year-end prices. But it was still slightly lower than at this time last year, a rubber-plantation owner said yesterday.

Mak Kimhong, president of the Cambodia Rubber Association and owner of the Chhop Rubber Plantation in Kampong Cham province, told the Post dried rubber prices had increased from about $2,700 a tonne in November and December to $3,100 a tonne this month.

Kimhong said it was common for the price to rise at this time of year, but it was still lower than in March, 2012.

“[International demand] always ups from February to April due to limited supply,” Kimhong said, but he was unable to account for why prices are lower than at this time last year.

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