Neighbors Survey 'Rice Intensification' Gains

By Kong Soth, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
17 September 2008

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Experts from five countries recently traveled to Phnom Penh to learn more about a new way to grow rice, one that requires less chemicals and yields greater results.

Agriculturalists from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, China and Pakistan spent five days in Cambodia to review the System of Rice Intensification, which is being developed in Cambodia by the Center for Study and Development in Agriculture.

"The farmers in some of these countries in Asia, they are very interested with the experience we have to encourage SRI," said Yong Sang Korma, director of the center, which is known by its French acronym, CEDAC. "By following natural principals, rice farms have higher production, while using their own resources more effectively and expending less chemicals or pesticides."

SRI differs from traditional growth methods, but proponents say the yield can be much greater. Under the system, rice fields are kept moist, but not saturated, and rice stalks, whose seedlings are planted early on, are spaced farther apart to promote the growth of roots.

South Tichaykunvuth, a farmer from Thailand, said agriculture there is divided among families, who produce for themselves, and agro-businesses, which farm for export abroad. Around 70 percent of Thai farmers use pesticides on their crops, he said, a situation that is similar to Cambodia now.

"The use of chemicals can impact crop soil or the way the produce tastes and smells," he said.

Laiv Pai Yin, of Malaysia's non-governmental Action Network Asia and Pacific, said the best choice for farmers in Southeast Asia was a reduction in pesticides.

"It is a real threat to environmental and human health," he said.

Cambodia has nearly 3 million hectares of agricultural land, but much of it is farmed through the use of chemicals. CEDAC works to encourage farmers to give up these habits and turn to natural fertilizer and other methods.

Yim Kim Sean, secretary of state for the Ministry of Environment, said he supports organizations educating people about agriculture. Only about 20 percent of Cambodia's farmers know the negative impacts of chemical use on the environment and human health, he said.

Cambodian has nearly 3 million hectares of agriculture land in daily profession Khmer people they likes to used chemical and pesticide ,and these produce are imported from Thailand and Vietnam. Since 2000 CEDAC it research agriculture locally have to encourage farmer to give up old habitat so they turn to used normal fertilizer more.

Agency Pushes to Boost Rice Yield

By Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
18 March 2008

The aid group Oxfam will distribute a video to promote a system of rice growing that improves yields, as the growing season approaches.

The System of Rice Intensification, or SRI, can improve rice yields by 150 percent, the group said Tuesday, creating a larger surplus that leads to more income and farm improvements.

At first, farmer Rum Mao did not believe in the new method. But, he said Tuesday, after practicing it, his yields were higher than in the past. He was pleased with the new system, he said, as it allowed him to sell more rice and earn a better living.

The group's information video, "Do You Speak SRI?," which it produced with the Cambodian Center for the Study and Development in Agriculture, will help farmers implement the method.

'Rice Intensification' Takes Off, Group Says

Soth Virak, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
25 October 2007

Rice farmers who began an experimental system of planting as early as 2000 are starting to reap tall, bountiful benefits, the aid agency Oxfam and Cambodian farmers said recently.

Rice planted "against all…experience and instincts" of Cambodia's farmers, are producing more rice, with no chemicals.

A new program asked that farmers to abandon chemical fertilizers, plant fewer seeds and not flood paddies, Oxfam said in a statement earlier this month.

"The same seeds used to produce plants that came up to my knees," farmer Mey Som said in a statement. "Now they reach above my head."

The transformation of the rice plants comes from following a plan called the System of Rice Intensification, which was developed in Madagascar, an island off the east coast of Africa, in the 1980s. The system was introduced to Cambodia by the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture, or Cedac, in 1999.

At the heart of the system is the promotion of the growth of a rice shoot's roots, by transplanting full-grain seeds, using nursery beds, wider spacing between each plant, shallow transplanting and other methods.

The result is higher rice stalks and more rice grains.

Cedac Director Yang Saing Koma told VOA Khmer the first step was to convince the farmers to use an organic growing method, so that they could sell in organic markets.

Only 200 families at first participated, he said, but year after year, more farmers began to trust the system.

"First, the sale of the products brings good value," Yang Saing Koma said.

The cost is low, too, he said, because farmers don't have to purchase expensive chemical fertilizers.

"Furthermore, it is good for their health and environmental friendly. All of these reasons catch their attention," he said.

Now, 4,000 families use the system, he said, and "it might go up."