Modern cultivation methods makes for model Kratie farm
MORE and more of the Kingdom’s farmers are moving away from traditional methods of cultivation, after realising that modern techniques offer a path out of subsistance farming. Thanks to the use of the latest methods, one farming family in Kratie province’s Chitr Borei district has more than doubled their annual income.
San Tevy, 39, told The Post that she and her husband Tok Kren, 41, have two daughters. Thanks to the training provided by the provincial authorities, they have become a model farming family, and the future looks bright for her and her girls.
Tevy’s farm, in Kampor village, Kou Lorb commune, now generates up to five million riel a month. Previously, the family would earn just two million.
She explained that like most traditional farmers, her family would cultivate cash crops like tomatoes, gourds, or other fast growing vegetables, to supplement their income from their staple crop of rice.
However, planting them traditionally, and watering them by hand, meant that the crops were labour intensive and the yields were low.
“We grew them in the traditional way. I would carry the water to the fields, and this was exhausting work. Few of my crops ever produced a decent yield, mostly due to the hot weather. It was very tiring, and we were dispirited when it came time to harvest. When your back is sore and your hands are calloused – all for a very low profit – you wonder why you do it. I am so grateful that those times are past,” she said.
After receiving training from a number of projects, especially the provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, she adopted a systematic style of cultivating crops, and employed new tools
to make it far more efficient.
She prepares the top soil, and then covers it with a thin plastic sheet, which is black on one side and silver on the other.
“The silver side faces up and reflects the sun, so the crops do not absorb too much heat. It also keeps insects away from the plants,” she explained.
“In addition, I have installed an irrigation system that drip feeds a steady supply of water to my crops, so no more carrying heavy pots of water,” she added.
She currently grows cucumbers and peppers, among other crops, without the need for chemical fertilisers. The high quality and abundance of her crops mean that agricultural wholesalers now visit her farm and compete to buy her produce.
“Before my husband and I received training in modern methods, we were averaging earnings of perhaps 20,000 riel a day from our supplementary crops, and we were tired all of the time. Now, we make a clean profit of at least one million a month,” she said.
In addition to the training provided by the agriculture department, she has attended
courses by projects such as Rullip, Napa, Chain, ASPIRE and Pdaff. Along with gaining knowledge of modern irrigation and heat dispersion techniques, she has a better understanding of market forces.
“Tomatoes and eggplants grow well together, but market prices are low at the moment, so I have not planted them. I think I will cultivate them in May and June, once prices have recovered,” she said, by way of example.
Chhum Chhouy, Kou Lorb commune chief, told The Post that several programmes in the commune worked to share modern farming techniques with local farmers.
“I am very happy because the farmers are seeing improved yields, and earning more money. I am also aware of the success of Tevy and her family. Tevy used to ask people how to grow crops, but now she has become a teacher,” he said.
Leang Ponleu, coordinator of the Agricultural Services Programme for Innovation, Resilience and Extension (ASPIRE) Programme in Chitr Borei district, said the programme had run training with about 60 families in the district.
“Our trainers work through the agricultural department, as do the specialists of several other programmes,” he added.
“Many of the families who employ our techniques have formed collectives, to ensure they can share experience and bargain with wholesalers,” he continued.
He said that most of the farmers in the district grow vegetables such as eggplant, tomato, cucumber, watermelon or bitter melon, which are in high demand in the local market.
“They do not use any chemicals which could be harmful to thehealthofconsumers.Because of this, wholesalers will pay higher prices for their produce. I believe that more and more people are aware of the difference between safe, organic food, and mass produced stuff. Before they buy, people want to know about the source of a product.
“This is why farmers who practice the techniques we shared with them demand higher prices – and why the traders are willing to pay” he concluded.