Royal oxen plough fields (Source: VNA)Phnom Penh (VNA) – More than 10,000 people flocked to Cambodia’s Takeoprovince to attend a traditional royal ploughing ceremony which was held on May22 under the chair of King Norodom Sihamoni.
Also present at theevent were Chairman of the National Assembly Heng Samrin, Senate President SayChhum, and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng, among others.
Talking to reporters,Governor of Takeo province Ouch Phea conveyed his honour and delight at hisprovince having been chosen to host the ceremony for the second time since1969. The event is organised annually to mark the beginning of the farmingseason.
The governor was alsoassigned by King Sihamoni as the king of the ploughing ceremony, while hiswife, Srey Punnadavy, chosen as the queen of the sowing ceremony.
The designated kingploughed the rice field by using royal oxen and the assigned queen sowed seedson the furrow as the symbol of planting.
After three rounds ofploughing across the field, the oxen were offered seven plates of food: rice,corn, green bean, sesame, water, fresh-cut grass, and wine.
At this year’sceremony, the oxen had rice, corn, and green bean, and a court soothsayerpredicted that these three crops would give good yields this year.
Rice cultivationremains important to Cambodia’s agriculture. Last year, the country produced7.4 million tonnes of rice, a year-on-year increase of 3.5 percent. –VNA
VNA
