AKP Phnom Penh, February 27, 2026 --

Cambodian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has issued a clarification regarding recent reporting by The Nation Thailand on Cambodia’s rice production growth in 2025, following what it described as a misrepresentation of findings from the USDA Rice Outlook – February 2026.

According to H.E. Khim Finan, Under Secretary of State and Spokesperson for the MAFF, while The Nation Thailand cited the USDA report as attributing Cambodia’s rice production growth to increased fertiliser use and the adoption of hybrid rice varieties, the outlet explicitly added the term “chemical fertiliser”, which does not appear in the original USDA assessment. 

The spokesperson said this deviation could create a negative perception of agricultural practices in the country and potentially harm Cambodian farmers and agricultural markets.

In response, H.E. Khim Finan provided detailed explanations behind the increase in rice production recorded in 2025.

He stressed that Cambodia does not adopt hybrid rice varieties, noting that the country’s agricultural development continues to rely on long-established, improved non-hybrid rice varieties.

Regarding fertiliser use, he stated that Cambodia’s rice production increased by approximately one million tonnes in 2025, primarily due to expanded cultivation areas, improved farming techniques and pest management, favourable rainfall distribution, and effective mitigation of climate impacts. They emphasised that the growth was not driven by increased fertiliser use or hybrid rice cultivation.

Official data further indicated that Cambodia’s fertiliser imports declined slightly in 2025, confirming that production growth is not linked to increased use of chemical inputs, underlined the spokesperson.

By C. Nika