Cambodia's famed Kampot pepper withers in scorching heatwave

(MENAFN- AFP) Farmer Chhim Laem shakes his head as he walks between long rows of dead bushes, their brown leaves scorched by heat and drought that have devastated Cambodia's famed Kampot pepper crop. Known for its intense floral flavour, Kampot pepper is prized by top chefs around the world and sells for up to $200 per kilo. Nurtured for generations in two provinces in southwest Cambodia, the pepper industry survived the genocidal Khmer Rouge and decades of instability, but now faces the threat of extreme weather driven by climate change. "It is so hot this year, no rains, and we have no water to water the pepper plants," Laem told AFP. "So they all died." South and Southeast Asia have sweltered in recent weeks under record temperatures, with governments closing schools, people dying of heatstroke and farmers praying for rain. Scientists warn that human-induced climate change will produce more frequent, longer and more intense heatwaves. In parts of Cambodia, the mercury nearly ...