The government-run Rural Development Bank (RDB) was asked by the Ministry of Agriculture to provide financial supports at low interest rates to rubber farmers. Pol Sopha, director-general of the ministry’s general directorate of rubber, said interest rates charged by microfinance institutions and commercial bank are so high that make it difficult for rubber farmers to survive. The financial support will be for family-owned rubber processing, he said, adding that technical assistance including rubber tree breeding and technical planting would be from the ministry. There are more than 30,000 rubber farmers across the country, planting over 150,000 hectares. As of February 2018, Cambodia had 436,812 hectares of cultivating rubber, of which 171,000 hectares were being harvested. (Source: Khmer Times)