Participants of the intraregional visit in Cambodia gain knowledge from organic farmers and farmer cooperative members

Visit to progressive farmer, Takeo province

The second day of the SATNET Intraregional Visit for Smallholder Value Chain Actors in Cambodia comprised of visits from Phnom Penh to various farmer locations in the neighbouring Takeo province. At the first site visited, a progressive farmer is implementing organic farming and sustainable practices with support from CEDAC. The group saw integrated and multipurpose farming techniques including System of Rice Intensification (SRI), fruit and vegetable cultivation, aquaculture (which also enriches nutrients in water for irrigation) and poultry rearing. A number of innovative ways to cope with irrigation water scarcity in times of climate change and practising safe pest control were demonstrated. 

Demo of innovative and safe method for pest control

The group then visited a woman farmer who has recently won an award for obtaining high yield of rice (7.3 tons per hectare) and profit from practising SRI. She shared tips from her own experience for maximizing the yield such as rotation between rice and vegetable crops, ideal time for transplanting saplings, effective water management, and use of compost made from cow dung. The visitors also saw demonstration plots showing a comparison between the performance of SRI and conventional rice cultivation techniques.  

Visiting a rice mill cooperative

Apart from the above, during the day, the visitors were exposed to farmer savings groups supported by CEDAC which are playing an important role in promoting financial self-reliance in rural areas. A number of such groups have established farmer cooperatives which are bringing tangible benefits to their members such as establishing warehouses and rice milling units in order to corner a greater share of profits, enabling greater bargaining power vis-a-vis buyers to help realize better prices, and generally allowing farmers greater control over the value chain. The visitors enjoyed the opportunity for interaction with such stakeholders to learn from their experience.