FAO/GIEWS - Foodcrops & Shortages 01/00 - CAMBODIA (1 February)
The harvest of early and medium rice varieties was completed by mid-January, some 2-3 weeks later than normal, whilst harvesting of longer duration varieties will be completed by early February. Notwithstanding flood and drought that adversely affected wet season rice production in parts of the country, 1999/2000 rice production is forecast at around 3.8 million tonnes, some 8 percent above 1998/1999. At this level of production, output would be similar to levels in the early 1970s, when the country regularly exported rice. As a result of favourable prospects, rice prices in late January eased whilst cross border exports to neighbouring Vietnam increased.
Rice accounts for some 84 percent of annual food crop production and is planted on around 90 percent of cropped area, mainly in the Central Mekong Basin and Delta and the Tonle Sap Plain.
Despite a satisfactory food supply situation overall, a sizeable section of the population remains vulnerable to food shortages. In part some of these needs are being met through a WFP Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation.
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