Cambodia combats record drought

Annual rains have come late to Cambodia, exacerbating the drought and forcing farmers to wait before planting this year’s crop of rice. Exports of Asia’s staple are expected to fall well short of the 530,000 tonnes shipped in 2015, further exacerbating a tightening rice market as drought has also hit top rice exporters India and Thailand.

Watched by Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni, and a crowd of thousands in the ceremonial furrow in Siem Reap province, the two cows ate 90 per cent of three out of seven snacks on offer in ornate bowls. Each year, based on the oxen’s choice of crops and the amount the animals eat, the Royal Palace astrologers forecast coming harvests and pray for regular rainfall.

“The harvest of rice will be good,” Brahmin priest Korng Ken, dressed in traditional white robes, announced over loud speakers at the ceremony. But rains so far this month have been insufficient for farmers to start planting rice, said Keo Vy, a spokesman for the National Center for Disaster Management NCDM. Authorities have had to truck water supplies to 18 of Cambodia’s 25 provinces, with some 2.5 million people affected by the drought, he said.