Innovations and Emerging Trends
Food Safety Control Measures in Developing Asian Countries
Capacity Development for Rice Cultivation
Biocontrol: Using Trichoderma
Biocontrol: Fruit Fly Management
Management of Brown Planthopper and Other Insect Pests of Rice
Safe food, Healthy life in Cambodia
Safe food, Healthy life in Cambodia
Phnom Penh residents start changing their behavior from eating normal vegetable and fruits which contained chemical residue to consume organic products. Though the prices of organic products are higher than the normal products, some people still prefer to eat since they know these products are good for health.
“The sales volume of vegetables and fruits has increased from 100kg a day to 300kg a day,” said Canady Mao, an Assistant Director of Khmer Organic Cooperative (KOC).
In respond to the increasing demand from buyers, KOC start doing contract farming with 20 local farmers in Kampot Province. This will help to improve the income generation of the farmers and to ensure the products quality meets the organic standard and the quantity meets the demand of the market. Until now, there are around 100 different types of organic products for sale at the KOC shop.
“Most buyers come here to buy organic vegetables even though the vegetables do not look good from the outer appearance and have higher price,” said Ms Mao.
KOC also has the strategy and plan to enlarge the scope from working with 20 farmers to many more farmers in other potential provinces. Moreover, KOC is also working collaboratively with community and non-government organizations to promote community’s products. Those products are composed of leafy vegetable, fruit vegetable and processing products.
“Applying organic farming method is not only a way to generate income, but it is also good for human health because we eat safe food,” said Mr. Ieng Sotheara, a Founder of KOC.
The story and photos are outcome of a workshop ‘Impact Story Writing and Basic Photography’ for project staff of Improvement of Livelihood and Food Security of Landless and Land-Poor Households, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS), and their partner, Khmer Organic Cooperative. The workshop was conducted in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from 14-17 February 2017 and attended by 14 attendees. ASEAN SAS Communication Officer provided the training.
By Phen Chhunhak and Lum Sereykut, Improvement of Livelihood and Food Security of Landless and Land-Poor Households and So Saody, ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems
The Phnom Penh Post, 28 March 2017, Push to reduce chemical dependency
The Phnom Penh Post, 28 March 2017, Push to reduce chemical dependency
The Ministry of Agriculture is working to develop a procedural framework for the trade and use of biological control agents (BCAs) in agriculture in an effort to improve crop yields, protect consumer health and ensure continued access to key export markets. Regulation could also create opportunities for the import or local production of BCA products a possibility that has piqued the interest of foreign firms.
Speaking yesterday at a consultative meeting on regulations and national registration of biological control agents, Sam Chhom Sangha, deputy secretary-general of the Ministry of Agriculture, said the use of BCAs could provide “holistic” support to Cambodia’s struggling agriculture sector, which he claimed had been damaged by the overuse of chemical agents.
“We need to find ways to boost agricultural productivity, encourage crop resilience and diversification and improve commercialisation,” he said.
“Our fields are under-producing and this is because the soil has been damaged by years of reckless use of chemicals.”
Biological control agents are an integral part of pest management programs that use natural mechanisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, algae or natural insect predators to protect crops from devastating plant diseases and insect infestations. While already in limited use in Cambodia, a regulatory framework on the trade and use of BCAs would facilitate the import of these products and provide solid footing for local production.
“BCAs can improve our yields once we finalise and implement their regulation, allowing our farmers to be less dependent on chemical pesticides,” explained Sangha.
The Ministry of Agriculture is working with regional experts to draft a national regulatory framework on biological control agents based on ASEAN guidelines.
Sangha said the government must speed up its adoption of regulations or risk challenges to its agricultural exports as countries tighten restrictions on the import of contaminated products.
In one recent example, the European Commission has given Cambodian producers of white rice until June and fragrant rice until December to eliminate the use of the fungicide Tricyclazole. Failure to comply could block rice export shipments to the European Union, the Kingdom’s largest market for milled rice.
Thomas Jaekel, a regional GIZ expert, said BCAs offers farmers an “economically and environmentally viable” way to increase yields by building crop resilience and improving soil quality. However, convincing Cambodian farmers to cut back on their chemical fertilisers and pesticides can be a challenge.
“BCAs are used to complement, not eradicate, the use of chemicals, but the problem is that Cambodian farmers and distributors of chemicals are convinced that the more you spray your crops the better they will be,” he said.
Jaekel noted that when Indonesia adopted ASEAN regulations in 2014 and set up the procedures for properly registering products, there was a massive uptake in applications for BCA products.
“A week after the BCA regulation was approved in Indonesia, they had already over 10 applications from foreign and local firms trying to register their products,” he said.According to GIZ data, the Indonesian government receives almost 200 applications annually.
Sarah Anderson, a Singapore-based research and development project manager for German industrial giant BASF, said that despite BCAs having a limited market in ASEAN, there was plenty of room to grow. She said BASF, which has an entire arm dedicated to research and development of BCA products, would consider exporting to Cambodia if clear regulations were put in place.
“The problem is that there is still a gap between government intentions and those of the traditional chemical distributors,” she said. “Easily 5 percent of the pesticide market in Cambodia could be replaced by bio-pesticides.”
However, she said the use of the products hinged on the government cutting red tape. “If the regulations are too strict or large companies see that costs are too high, they won’t enter the market,” she said.
Ieng Sotheara, founder of Entree Baitang Co Ltd, said local demand for BCAs was growing. His company has been distributing Trichoderma – a naturally occurring fungicide that also protects plants against pests and toxins for the last two harvest cycles.
Last year, the company sold 100 tonnes of compost impregnated with Trichoderma. This year it has orders for 500 tonnes.
Sotheara said he sells the locally-produced Trichoderma at $12 per kilo, or $400 per tonne when mixed with compost.
“Some of the rice farmers say that it has increased their yields by 20 percent,” he said.
From Fruit to Juice: From Integrity to Food Security (Video). Write us for the free copy!
From Fruit to Juice: From Integrity to Food Security (Video). Write us for the free copy!
ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems (ASEAN SAS) is launching a two-version video of Thai and English filmed in Kuibuiri of Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Thailand. The video tells the lives of pineapple farmers, fruit processing factory owner, and SGF’s fruit juice quality assurance auditor and their roles in maintaining the business sustainability and living security.
This first version is 15-minute long with Thai narration and English subtitle. The second version soon to be introduced is 8 minutes in length with English narration. One hundred copies of the video will be distributed at no cost. Please write to Mr. Prawat Chansomboon <prawat.chansomboon@giz.de> stating your name, agency, purposes for the video use, and mailing addresses.
Hope you enjoy it! 😀
Phutawen Farm: The new hub of sustainable agro-tourism in Lao PDR
Phutawen Farm: The new hub of sustainable agro-tourism in Lao PDR
Posing with sunflowers, picking organic vegetables, and cycling tour are some highlights at Phutawen Farm in Lao PDR.
Situated in Ban Hai Village in Pak-ngum District, a 90-minute drive from the Vientiane Capital, Phutawen or the Hill of Sunflower, aims to be a model to promote sustainable food production and agro-tourism across Lao PDR.
“We would like to create a model farm that benefits local community and Lao’s agricultural sector,” said Ms Dalounny Douangpaseuth, Vice President of DPS Group, founder of Phutawen.
“Due to our [construction] business, we have chances to travel to different parts of the country and seen a lot of empty land which the owners have no clue what to do to generate an income from the land.
“Also, while consumers in Lao increase more concern that food they eat should be safe and have good quality, but the country is flooded in with imported food from neighboring countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and China which might contains high chemical residue, we have seen opportunity.”
DPS Group started its farm business in 2012. The first two years were spent on research, feasibility study, and analysis, deriving the present Phutawen Farm, which combines sustainable agriculture, business, and tourism together.
In 2016, DPS Group’s Phutawen Farm Project entered into cooperation with the GIZ-ASEAN project Standards in the Southeast Asian Food Trade (SAFT). The integrated Public-Private Partnership (iPPP) contract was signed by DPS Group and GIZ on 30 September 2016.
Under the collaboration with GIZ, DPS will verifiably apply Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standards for the fruits and vegetables production farm, and the Lao Organic standard for the rice and field crops farm. Regional market linkages as well as farmer and consumer awareness will also be strengthened in the process.
“We have seen many supports to agricultural sector in Lao PDR coming from international donors. However, the beneficiaries [farmers] were not able to continue after the project faded out,” said the Vice President of DPS Group.
“With Phutawen Farm Project, we aim to promote sustainable agriculture that is safe and has good quality and environmental friendly. We hope to share the knowledge we have to interested people and can contribute to improvement of farmers’ livelihood. Also, we provide opportunity to students as well as interested people to have an internship and real practices at our farm.”
Agriculture is a key sector for Lao PDR. Around 75 per cent of population is engaged in Agriculture. However, the sector in general is still considered underdeveloped and income generation is relatively low.
“Currently, agricultural and food products that comply with certain food standards are rarely available or limited. Through food standards, it can ensure that food we consume is safe. Therefore, we would like to start from our farm first to produce quality products that comply with national and regional food standards and to be the showcase that other farmers and companies can learn.
“In general, local consumers are not aware of the importance of food standards and that we need to educate them and raise their awareness,” Ms. Douangpaseuth said.
With the support from GIZ, different experts have been invited to the farm. One expert from Kasetsart University, Thailand, who specializes on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), conducted a training on GAP standard for farm staffs in November 2016. Recommendations on how to make improvements to comply with GAP were also provided by her.
The farm has also been supported by two other experts with experience working with the Royal Project Thailand on the two main topics; plant production and pre-and-post-harvest handling. Both on-the-job trainings and in class trainings were conducted at the farm to train farm staffs as well as university students. They learned about plant production, plant production planning in greenhouses, plant propagation, proper chemical usage, integrated pest management, pre-and post-harvest management, how to reduce postharvest losses, quality production and quality management.
Phutawen Farm opens to public on weekends. For a weekday field visit, it needs to be booked in advance. Activities include farm tours, cycling, and camping. Visitors could enjoy a combination of agriculture and nature as watching blooming of sunflowers and cosmos fields, as well as picking and buying fresh vegetables, for example, tomatoes, leafy salad vegetable, and cucumber.
We thank all the different organizations such as ADB, GIZ, Department of Tourism Promotion, District Agricultural Office, Agricultural Office of Vientiane Capital, Borikamxay Provincial Office, regional and international experts, among many others, for their continuous support and a shared vision for this farm.
Southeast Asian Food Trade is a partner project of ASEAN Sustainable Agrifood Systems.
By Weerinpat Janewatanakul, Southeast Asian Food Trade (SAFT)