SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

8 - Agriculture3.4 Non-rice cropsWhile traditionally dwarfed in importance by rice, there are also considerable quantities of othercrops produced in the LMB. Such crops include maize, fruit and vegetables, oil crops, fibre crops,and cash-crops such as coffee, tea,sugarcane and tobacco. Many of thesecrops can offer higher economic returnsthan rice. It is likely that the basin willwitness increasing diversification into suchproducts with more balanced croppingpatterns throughout the year as rice farmingfails to deliver desired increases in livingstandards. 54 In particular, the basin as awhole faces shortages of oil crops such assoybeans. These are necessary for cookingand animal protein feed, which createsprofitable opportunities for those farmerswilling and able to diversify. 55Lack of markets and marketing infrastructure inhibitscrop diversificationIn Cambodia, non-rice crops accounted for 8 percent of GDP in 1999. 56 Non-rice food crops weretraditionally considered to be of secondary importance to rice, but have grown in popularity due tolocal rice deficits and the clearing of upland areas suitable for their cultivation. 57 Maize production, inparticular, has increased as a result of this trend. High value commercial crops such as soy, mungbeanand vegetables have also been planted over a greater area as market reforms have encouragedsmallholders to adapt their planting patterns. However, the area devoted to such crops coversapproximately 250,000 ha, which, as is the case for rice, is substantially less than the 310,000 ha usedfor producing such products in the 1960s, before war began. 58 This decline in cultivation is mostlikely a result of the lingering presence of minefields. Rubber tapping areas cover approximately45,000 ha and their output comprises the main Cambodian agricultural export earner.Table 10. Cambodia selected non-rice crops, 1999/2000*CropHarvested Area (ha)Production (tonne)Yield (tonne/ha)MaizeYellow MaizeCassavaSweet PotatoVegetablesMung BeanPeanutSoy BeanSugar CaneSesameTobaccoJuteRubberCastor Oil59,73932,01114,0039,32231,24026,74710,55734,9458,37416,4108,29226139,7181,51595,27454,680228,51232,516181,85115,9139,24435,063159,8597,3856,35826445,2041,3651.591.7116.323.495.820.590.881.0019.090.450.771.011.120.90Note: “*” data are for the whole country rather than for just for the territory within the basin.Source: Cambodia National Institute of Statistics 2000159