Agriculture in Cambodia

Agriculture in Cambodia

Agriculture is one of the important sectors in Cambodia which play the role of producing and growing of plants, animals and other life forms. Good management of this sector can lead to development of the country. Besides that, the sector also is important to ensure Cambodia people can have enough supply of daily food and nutrients.

In Cambodia, agriculture always is the most important economic sector. Plants in Cambodia included paddy, rubber, corn, vegetables, cashews and tapioca. Some types of plants also have been exported to other countries such as paddy, rubber, corn ad tobacco. So by increasing the yield of all type of crops, the economic in Cambodia also can be increased.

Approximately 80% of the people in Cambodia work in the agriculture sector. However, the performed for this sector is very poor due to few reasons, such as adverse weather conditions that cause a lot of crops and animals die, inexperienced and incompetent personnel, security problems and government collectivization policies.

Besides that, farmers in Cambodia always face the problem of getting good quality of seeds since imported seeds is very expensive and only available in village level. Low quality of seeds also is will cause low yield of that particular crop. 78% of farmers use seeds that they have produced themselves. However, due to lack of knowledge and experience, those seeds that produce by farmers are in low quality.

Since the major crop in Cambodia is paddy, a very limited work has been done on vegetable production and research in Cambodia. Therefore, the yield of production of crops other than paddy is very low and not enough to supply to whole Cambodia people.

Existing Garden in Cambodia

In Cambodia, more than 65% of farming population is women. A lot of women will try to construct a small garden around their house. Usually this type o garden is in small scale. Different type of fruits and vegetables will be planted there. Sometime child may also involve in this job.

A lot of Cambodia people have low income and usually the income not enough to supply the spent of the whole family throughout the whole year. Low yield of crops also cause the problems even worst. So women play a very important role in this case. They try to provide enough and nutritious food to their family from their home garden. Although the garden usually is in a small scale, it still can produce enough food for their family.

By having a home garden, sometime the owner can have extra income due to extra production. Usually, those women will use the money to buy chicken, seeds, fencing and food for their family. Therefore, income from home gardens can thus improve the welfare and nutritional status of the family as well as contribute to the empowerment of women.

However, due to some social and natural problems, the home garden in Cambodia is not really that successful. For example, during the dry season, people in Cambodia face the problem of lack of clean water for the irrigation. These cause the yield of crops poor. Besides that, they always the problem of poultry and animals damage due to low knowledge in fencing their plants.

Home garden is a very good way to improve the welfare and nutritional status of people in Cambodia. However, still got a lot of problems that we need to solve or improve in order to reach the desire yield of different type of crops.

Aim of Our Design Project

"To improve the welfare and nutritional status of each Cambodia people that involve in this project with the lowest cost and highest yield of each crops by the easy and self sufficient method."

The main aim of our project is to produce enough 3 daily nutrient foods to 80 people in Cambodia which is around people from 2 village and increase the yield of each type of crops. By increasing the yield of each type of crops, they can have extra income by selling their products. So, overall it can improve the welfare and nutritional status of Cambodia people.

Besides that, the design we suggested must be easy to maintain, self sufficient and can overcome most of those social and natural problems. By this, we wish to improve the knowledge and experience of each of Cambodia people in the agriculture. Since agriculture is the main economic sector in Cambodia.

The design that we suggested here also needs to be sustainable. What we aim is for long term and not short term duration. By time to time, hopefully the yield of each type of crops can be increased until the level which is enough for all Cambodia people and export to other country. By this not only can improve the welfare of Cambodia people but also the development of the country.

Besides, what we aim is having the greatest benefits with lowest cost. We will apply different methods and ways in our design so that cost can be reduced but the benefits can be increased. By this way, we not only can save money but also reduce the risk for the whole project.

Problems Faced by People in Cambodia for Agriculture Sector

According to research, the yield of each crop in Cambodia is consider poor and cannot provide enough nutritious food to each Cambodia people per year. Malnutrition will cause the problem of diminished physical and mental abilities, loss of productivity, disability and even death. Vitamin A deficiency also may cause the problem of night blindness and lead to anemia. A lot of Cambodia people have faced this problem especially infants, children and pregnant women.

During the raining season, Cambodia people may face the flood problem. A lot of crops and animals will be damaged by this reason. Floods happened in some parts of the country are due to low topography and poor drainage systems. While during the drought season, they faced the problem of lack of clean water for irrigation especially around February to April. At this time, water inside those wells also may get dry. This causes the problem even worst.

There was a research centre in Cambodia call Kbal Koh Vegetable Research Station. The main purpose of this research centre is produce good quality of seeds to farmers in Cambodia. However, that research centre has failed to do that due to the problem of lack of resources and skilled man power. Besides that, the research there is more focus to the paddy since paddy is the most important and main crop in Cambodia.

According to research, around 78% of farmers use those seeds that they have produced by themselves. However, those seeds always have