Cambodia has a total of 13,608 hectares of Ta-ngen or Pailin longan plantations nationwide, half of the land is ready for harvesting, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF).

Some 6,927 hectares of the plantations provide a total longan fruit yield of 111,000 tonnes, said H.E. Veng Sakhon, Minister of MAFF, last week in an interview with TVK.

Pailin longan is planted in 14 provinces, but Palin, Battambang, Rattanakiri, and Banteay Meanchey provinces share the most plantation land, he added.

A hectare of longan plantation can yield about 16 tonnes, he continued, pointing out that the price is 1.8 million Riel (approximately US$450) per tonne.

The ministry is working to open markets for longan fruit export.

MAFF said that recently it has asked the Chinese and Thai governments to accelerate negotiations on sanitary and phytosanitary requirements on export of the Cambodian longan to the two countries.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Press