Cabbage is the one vegetable that most people in Samrorng Commune, Soutr Nikom District, Siem Reap province prefer to grow. In Angkuhn Village, 90 percent of villagers grow cabbage because it is one crop the rather thin soil seems to support.
Ms. Chan Theurn is 36 years old and like many local farmers, received some very general introductory training to crops from the provincial Agriculture Department. Last year, her Commune became part of Voucher Skills Training Program and when the Council selected compost fertilizer making as an option, she was quick to indicate her interest. The soil is very thin and production of cabbage has been falling. Even worse, crops are now being imported to Siem Reap and it is difficult to compete with them in price as productivity falls. Composting worked. The quantity of cabbages increased. But now, the competing products had taken away part of their market and the price of fuel had led to middle men demanding that farmers share the transport cost. So by doing better, the trainees were actually not better off and many decided to reduce production and try to find another crop they could grow. Theurn was told that only cabbage can grow on her land even with compost and, in any case, she cannot take the risk of a crop failure with an unknown crop.
Ms. Chan Theurn is 36 years old and like many local farmers, received some very general introductory training to crops from the provincial Agriculture Department. Last year, her Commune became part of Voucher Skills Training Program and when the Council selected compost fertilizer making as an option, she was quick to indicate her interest. The soil is very thin and production of cabbage has been falling. Even worse, crops are now being imported to Siem Reap and it is difficult to compete with them in price as productivity falls. Composting worked. The quantity of cabbages increased. But now, the competing products had taken away part of their market and the price of fuel had led to middle men demanding that farmers share the transport cost. So by doing better, the trainees were actually not better off and many decided to reduce production and try to find another crop they could grow. Theurn was told that only cabbage can grow on her land even with compost and, in any case, she cannot take the risk of a crop failure with an unknown crop.
One of the Minitry of Labor and Vocational Training staff had done her graduate work in Germany and Russia and remembered well the pickled cabbage and “sauerkraut” that was so popular there. Others immediately remembered the Kim Chi so favoured by many of the Korean Volunteers. If the cabbage could be processed to make pickle or relish, Theurn and her neighbour, Mr Seurng Thaing were certain they could sell the product all year round in the local market and maybe even replace some of the expensive pickle imports coming from other countries. The Provincial Training Center (PTC) has no capacity for this training and there is no expertise available from other Ministries in the Province. But for Theurn, if there is no way of preserving her cabbage crop, she really does not see an alternative. So the Commune and the PTC need to build a Post Harvest Technology capacity as quickly as possible. This dream is now a reality with the Asian Development Bank managed Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction having approved a post harvest and bridging program for the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training in Cambodia.
Reported by Tung Sopheap
VSTP Consultant
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment