<p>Kao Thach, Delegate of the Royal Government In Charge as the CEO of Agricultural and Rural Development Bank (ARDB) urged cashew farmers to join the Cashew Nut Association of Cambodia (CAC) and other farming communities to learn production development, strengthen quality and have the power to sell their products.</p> <p>On Tuesday, Thach led his colleagues to join a meeting with the Cashew Nut Association of Cambodia (CAC) in Kampong Thom province to improve cashew nut production, quality and market.</p> <p>Agricultural and Rural Development Bank (ARDB) posted on social media that Thach has made some important recommendations to the Cashew Association of Cambodia.</p> <p>“Kao Thach made some recommendations to CAC including taking constant care of cashew nut growing and production yields, proper use of fertilizers in the cultivation of cashews before flowering and during flowering, increasing the processing of cashews final products and encouraging more local investors to join the association,” said ARDB.</p> <p>In addition, Thach also explained how to manage working capital and investment capital for the whole process including capital for the purchase and process of cashew nuts and capital reserves for use in disasters.</p> <p>Uon Silot, President of the Cashew Nut Association of Cambodia (CAC), confirmed to Khmer Times on Wednesday that Thach met with many communities of the Cashew Nut Association of Cambodia (CAC) and modern farming communities from Sandan and Sambo districts.</p> <p>He said that Thach suggested many good recommendations for the farmers that can earn them a sustainable income. “To reduce production costs, farmers are required to join associations or communities to learn more about unnecessary costs in cashew production. If we can reduce the production cost by one million riels per hectare and we can harvest two tonnes per hectare, then we can make a good profit,” he said.</p> <p>“Farmers must join hands with the CAC or farming community to have the power to sell and purchase. The wholesaler will make more profit than the individual. Farmers will have more competitive prices if they buy the input together.”</p> <p> </p> <p>Silot added that farmers should seek more market formation from various sources, mainly from ARDB-TV, which releases the price of commodities daily.</p> <p>A working group of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) recently visited and gathered information to update cashew production prices in four provinces including Kampong Thom, Siem Reap, Preah Vihear and Stung Treng.</p> <p>The MAFF team talked to cashew plantation owners, cashew communities, cashew processing enterprises and collectors in the four provinces to update the price of cashew production, quality processing, market, challenges, suggestions and solutions.</p> <p>Three modern farming communities for cashew in Kampong Thom province will be officially formed in August or September including Kampong Thom Sala Visai with 88 members and 204 hectares of cashew cultivation area, Prasat Sambo with 97 members with 509 hectares of cashew cultivation and Tamring Kampong Thom with 76 members and 460 hectares of cashew production area.</p> <p>According to the MAFF report, Cambodia exported more than 545,340 tonnes of raw cashew nut in the first half of 2024, an increase of 50.44 percent compared to the same period last year with 362,491.09 tonnes.</p>