Ceremony Predicts Good Corn, Bean Harvest

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer Original report from Phnom Penh12 May 2009
Royal oxen have predicted the crops for corn and bean will be good in Cambodia this year, following an ancient ceremony to mark the beginning of the rainy season.In the Royal Plowing Ceremony, the oxen pull a blade through the soil of an ancient rice field, outside the Royal Palace, before offerings of beans, corn, grass, rice, water and wine are placed before them.This year, the oxen nibbled at beans and corn, forsaking rice. That will mean good crops of the first two, but a poor rice crop, perhaps only 30 percent of the typical yield, according to Kang Ken, chief royal astrologer.“The royal oxen did not eat rice at all,” he said.