Firm Grabs Slice Of Local Banana Pie With Titanic $51M Venture

Via Phnom Penh Post, an article on firms purchasing Cambodian agricultural land:

Longfruiter Anlong Veng Oddor Meanchey Agriculture Park Co Ltd has invested $51 million in the cultivation of bananas and fruits in Anlong Veng district, Oddar Meanchey province to boost exports, especially to the Chinese market, according to Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon.

Sakhon told The Post on January 24 that the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China (GACC) now allows 22 private companies to export fresh yellow bananas to the Chinese market, up from the initial six.

The minister believes that choosing the region – well-known as the former Khmer Rouge stronghold – to grow bananas was the right decision, as the area has sufficient water resources and is conducive to growing the trees well.

“The Anlong Veng area in Oddar Meanchey province has an important water source, Ta Mok reservoir, which is an important water source for agriculture, so this is a good location that is suitable for growing bananas, as the kind of crop that really needs water,” he said.

With the number of authorised exporters as of the beginning of 2022, the minister expects that Cambodia will soon be able to export “millions of tonnes” of fresh bananas to the Chinese market.

“The possibility of exporting yellow bananas to China could be more lucrative than mangoes, because mangoes require more capital investment – bananas grow faster,” Sakhon added.

Hun Lak, a director at Longmate Agriculture Co Ltd, which grows and exports yellow bananas to China, told The Post that topography, climate and water resources are very important for growing yellow bananas.

In Cambodia, the areas with both fertile land and sufficient water sources for banana cultivation are not plentiful, he said, noting that the large capital investment requirements for setting up a proper modern irrigation system obliges investors to conduct more thorough studies before deciding to invest.

“The yellow bananas that Cambodia has been exporting to the Chinese market as of now is a type that is more special than other varieties. This kind of banana is tastier than others and cannot be left to ripen on the tree, they need to be picked up while dark blue and can be transported far, as it can be stored for up to two months,” Lak said.

He said banana production and exports have increased over recent years, which has encouraged investors to grow more.

However, he suggested that companies intending to invest in the crop adhere to China’s sanitary and phytosanitary standards, to ensure that exports continue to grow.

According to Sakhon, the total land under banana cultivation in Cambodia is currently 16,000ha, of which 11,000ha is harvested, and Ratanakkiri, Kratie, Stung Treng, Kampot, Kampong Cham and Kampong Speu provinces have the largest cultivation areas.

Cambodia exported 423,168.97 tonnes of fresh bananas last year, up by 27.02 per cent over 2020, valued at $4,323,719,300, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA).

Mainland China was by far the top buyer of fresh Cambodian bananas at 376,961.60 tonnes, followed by Vietnam (45,193.37 tonnes), Japan (533.52 tonnes) and Singapore (480.48 tonnes).

 



This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 26th, 2022 at 4:12 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.  You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.  Both comments and pings are currently closed. 

Comments are closed.


About This Blog And Its Author
Seeds Of A Revolution is committed to defining the disruptive geopolitics of the global Farms Race.  Due to the convergence of a growing world population, increased water scarcity, and a decrease in arable land & nutrient-rich soil, a spike of international investment interest in agricultural is inevitable and apt to bring a heretofore domestic industry into a truly global realm.  Whether this transition involves global land leases or acquisitions, the fundamental need for food & the protectionist feelings this need can give rise to is highly likely to cause such transactions to move quickly into the geopolitical realm.  It is this disruptive change, and the potential for a global farms race, that Seeds Of A Revolution tracks, analyzes, and forecasts.

Educated at Yale University (Bachelor of Arts - History) and Harvard (Master in Public Policy - International Development), Monty Simus has long held a keen interest in natural resource policy and the geopolitical implications of anticipated stresses in the areas of freshwater scarcity, biodiversity reserves & parks, and farm land.  Monty has lived, worked, and traveled in more than forty countries spanning Africa, China, western Europe, the Middle East, South America, and Southeast & Central Asia, and his personal interests comprise economic development, policy, investment, technology, natural resources, and the environment, with a particular focus on globalization’s impact upon these subject areas.  Monty writes about freshwater scarcity issues at www.waterpolitics.com and frontier investment markets at www.wildcatsandblacksheep.com.