PHNOM PENH, Aug 25, 2009 (Xinhua) -- An independent watchdog for agriculture in Cambodia warned Tuesday that at least eight provinces out of the country's total 24 provinces and cities are facing drought.
The Center for Study and Development of Cambodian Agriculture (CEDAC) said in its statement that as of August this year, at least eight provinces are facing drought and the affected farmland is more than 79,000 hectares, which brings worrisome to mass Cambodian farmers.
It said the provinces affected by drought are Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Pursat, Kandal, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng and Takeo.
CEDAC said if there will be no rainfall for two more weeks, then Cambodia's farming will be in critical situation.
Rice is one of Cambodia's main agricultural production. Last year, Cambodia produced 7.15 million tons of rice from a total farming land of 2.25 million hectares.
Cambodia can now produce an average of 2.54 tons per hectare, but a large number of farmers across the country can only farm one time a year due to lack of water.
CEDAC was established in 1997 for helping Cambodian farmers in agriculture development.
The Center for Study and Development of Cambodian Agriculture (CEDAC) said in its statement that as of August this year, at least eight provinces are facing drought and the affected farmland is more than 79,000 hectares, which brings worrisome to mass Cambodian farmers.
It said the provinces affected by drought are Banteay Meanchey, Battambang, Pursat, Kandal, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng and Takeo.
CEDAC said if there will be no rainfall for two more weeks, then Cambodia's farming will be in critical situation.
Rice is one of Cambodia's main agricultural production. Last year, Cambodia produced 7.15 million tons of rice from a total farming land of 2.25 million hectares.
Cambodia can now produce an average of 2.54 tons per hectare, but a large number of farmers across the country can only farm one time a year due to lack of water.
CEDAC was established in 1997 for helping Cambodian farmers in agriculture development.
6 comments:
cambodia, please turn to using modern technology more, and stop depending so much on the rainfall. i mean, of course, rainwater is good for farming, however, keep in mind too that there are other ways to bring water to the crops like pumping machines, irrigation canals, stocking water for other uses, etc, etc... the list goes on. please wake up and be smarter by learning and looking for improvement around the world. god bless.
remember too that diversifying of crops is always a good idea for income, consumption, etc... wake up already and be smarter. learn from around the world.
One year drought, next year flood, drought, flood = Deforestation. Those illegal loggers should be hang in public.
i have a piece of rice farmland (dey sre) in takeo that has been passed down over the years from my ancestors. There, my grandad dug a large pond with his own bare hands many years ago and the pond never runs out of water even in times of drought. in such hard times neighbours used to bring over their cattle for watering; the less rain there is the more people show up to get free water. now and then my mum would go back to the village and get a few people to help dredge the pond.. It's fine to be helpful but, come to think of it, this is a quick way to transmit diseases
like H1N1, H5N1 etc.. how can yo stop ducks & chickens from poo-ing in these ponds?
If the government of Cambodia allcoation some budget for agriculture digging irrigation, training farmer on modern technique and provide capital or loan to farmer with low interest. I guarentee in five years Cambodia will be a rice producing country and standard living of farmer will be better off and economic will fast growth.
A farmer from Battambang
perhaps, this is a wake up call for cambodia to start looking for other ways to control deal with drought and annual flooding, for that matter. how about build or invest in hydrology system like canals, irrigation for water storage or water contral, levee to prevent flooding, pumping machines to help with drought, etc... i mean the list of ideas goes on and on and on!!! wake up cambodia, learn from all the world!
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