PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The price of raw crickets, a popular snack among Cambodians, has plummeted in recent weeks as heavy rains have made it easier to catch the insects, a local newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Market vendors sell the crickets -- hunted throughout the country -- either raw or fried to Cambodians who eat them like popcorn or nuts are consumed in the West.
``Just in one morning, I can collect one and a half to two tons of crickets in Kompong Thom province alone,'' one cricket vendor told the Rasmei Kampuchea (Light of Cambodia) newspaper.
``The price of crickets has dropped to 1,000 riel ($0.26) per kg, compared with 2,500 to 3,500 riel before,'' he complained.
A cricket hunter told the newspaper that he hadn't seen such high numbers of the insects for at least a year.
``I could catch up to 100 kg per night on the night of the rains,'' he said.
Vendors in northern Kompong Thom said they were putting the crickets on ice and sending them to be sold in Phnom Penh markets, about 75 miles south, where the insect-eating population is larger
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