Kandal Governor Kuoch Chamroeun ordered emergency irrigation measures yesterday to save more than 400 hectares of rice crops currently suffering from a severe water shortage.

During a visit to Mukh Kampul district in Kandal Province, the governor, as the Chairman of the Kandal Provincial Disaster Management Committee, urged local officials to identify and address the community’s challenges, especially the shortage of irrigation water for rice farming.

He said that for rice fields currently facing water shortages, authorities and technical officials have carefully considered the situation and made every effort to find water sources for irrigation so that farmers can achieve good yields without suffering from water scarcity.

The area lacks water reservoirs and depends on irrigation canals, which can dry up, causing problems for farmers’ rice fields. To combat this, authorities pump water from nearby streams and rivers into the canals for irrigation.

He urged village and commune leaders, along with local residents, to help maintain the water-pumping machines that irrigate their rice fields.

The emergency intervention comes as the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology issued its first dry-season forecast for 2026. The ministry warned that water levels will remain a concern through May and urged citizens in rural areas to use water sparingly.