Still Waiting for the Rain

SIEM REAP (Khmer Times) – People are no longer denying that El Nino – a cyclical weather phenomenon that can cause severe drought – has arrived in Cambodia.

This year, it has everyone from small-scale rice farmers to government officials looking to the sky pleading for rain. With no respite from the dry spell – and intermittent flooding – in sight, farmers are being forced to seek ways to cope.

The annual rice harvest is poised to suffer for a third year in a row, according to a recent report from the Ministry of Agriculture

This year could be worse than the past two, officials have said, with farmers in western Cambodia being among the hardest hit.

read more: http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/15484/still-waiting-for-the-rain/