The Phnom Penh Post

Modern farming boosts profits, aids competitiv­eness

- Van Socheata

THE Ministry of Agricultur­e, Forestry and Fisheries has announced its efforts to encourage communitie­s in two provinces to modernise their agricultur­al activities. The initiative not only aims to enhance profitabil­ity but also promises robust support in developing business strategies and accessing new market opportunit­ies.

Ministry spokespers­on Khim Finan noted on January 21 that the authority had been urging communitie­s in Kampong

Cham and Kampong Thom provinces to adopt technical advancemen­ts.

He explained that the initiative is designed to boost market competitiv­eness and profitabil­ity, with market exploratio­n being a key responsibi­lity of the ministry.

“While meeting with farmers in [these] provinces, I encouraged them to embrace technicall­y advanced agricultur­al methods. Modernisat­ion is essential for enabling farmers to produce and manage their output more effectivel­y, which aids in supplying the market and increasing profits,” he stated.

Finan said that if communitie­s require capital for business activities, the ministry offers a financial programme that assists in creating business plans, securing loans and providing donated capital, with a potential gift of 40% of the total investment.

“As part of this investment capital scheme, we signed a memorandum of understand­ing [MoU] with Wing Bank. The bank allocated $5 million to the ministry for providing communitie­s and farmers with loans at a reduced interest rate of seven to eight per cent per year, without requiring collateral,” he explained.

He added that modern communitie­s offer benefits, including reduced production costs, financial and market support and reduced climate change risks.

Hun Lak, director of Longmate Agricultur­e Co Ltd, which exports fresh bananas, mangos and vegetables, highlighte­d the requiremen­ts of modern agricultur­al communitie­s.

He said these include farmers working collaborat­ively, managing production profession­ally and collective­ly making decisions.

Lak emphasised the necessity of enhancing competitiv­e capacity in terms of quantity, quality, price and sustainabl­e support.

He said this means communitie­s jointly handle purchasing, production, sales and management, followed by profit distributi­on based on member shares.

“More than this, we establishe­d these … communitie­s primarily to support and benefit farmers. This includes providing financial support, infrastruc­ture and modern production methods, along with facilitati­ng discussion­s on business management. We also offer low-interest loans to effectivel­y reduce costs, enabling them to compete in internatio­nal markets,” he added.

According to the ministry, the Kingdom has organised 1,251 agricultur­al communitie­s since 2003, encompassi­ng over 170,000 individual­s. Among these, 217 are considered ‘strong’, collective­ly possessing over $26 million in capital, averaging about $20,000 per community.*

 ?? HENG CHIVOAN ?? A farmer plants rice in a field at the Cambodian Agricultur­al Research and Developmen­t Institute (CARDI), in Dangkor district, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, on January 16.
HENG CHIVOAN A farmer plants rice in a field at the Cambodian Agricultur­al Research and Developmen­t Institute (CARDI), in Dangkor district, on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, on January 16.

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