Organic Agriculture in Cambodia

Latecomer with potential

Cambodia currently produces less than one percent of its agriagri cultural products organically organically. Since many farmers use fertilizfertiliz ers and pesticides in low quantiquanti ties, the conditions for more organic farming are favorable. favorable Crucial are, however, more knowledge, state involvement and better structures.
Cambodia is certainly a latecomer on the international organic farming scene. While neighboring Thailand already looks back on several decades of experience in the organic sector, sector the Cambodian organic sector only took off less than a decade ago. Yet, the country has considerable potentials. potential Most farmers still not use agricultural chemicals as propagated by several institutions. An exception is the conventional vegetable production, where unsuspecting farmers apply regularly even banned pesticides. Agriculture ensures livelihoods livelihood About 70 percent of the nearly 15 million people in Cambodia depend for their livelihood on agriculture. However, the sector only contributes about 36 percent to the gross-domestic domestic product and based on 2011 data about 28.3 percent of the population is still living below poverty line. The landscape is characterized by a central plain, which is partially surrounded rounded by mountains up to about 1,800 800 meters. The agricultural activities in the country are highly dependent on the tropical monsoon climate with its distinctive change between dry and rainy season. Since only a small portion of the farmland land has access to irrigation, irrigation production is usually limited to one cycle per year. The average annual temperature is around 27 degrees Celsius and in the central lowlands it rains an average of 1,400 millimeters annually. About 21 percent of Cambodias land area is used for agricultural production - about 3.5 million hectares. The soils are usually highly weathered and relatively infertile. On roughly 2.8 million hectares farmers plant rice, chiefly during the rainy season. season Other important crops cro are cassava and corn. There are also significant areas planted with rubber, cashews, and black pepper epper. After over two decades of civil war, the productivity of the Cambodian agriculture has substantially increased since 1990. During the recent years, the t country generated a considerable rice surplus nearly 45 percent of the annual production of around eight million tonnes. Although yields are relatively low due to depleted soils, soils most rice farmers apply only low quantities of nitrogen fertilizer. They still plant predominantly a diversity of different local varieties, including aromatic varieties such as Phka Malis and Phka Rumduol which command a higher price. Currently, the organic sector in Cambodia contributes to less than one percent of agricultural production. However, there are several sectors with considerable potential. Especially for rice, it will be important to involve larger traders and exporters to cooperate with organic farmers. Furthermore, an active promotion by the state is desirable. So far, only some provincial departments of the Ministry of Agriculture support organic cultivation. cultivation

Organic Agriculture in Cambodia - Latecomer with potential

In 2006, several international development programs and local NGOs, which were promoting sustainable farming, initiated the Cambodian Organic Agriculture Association (COrAA). COrAA sees itself as an association of individuals, food processors, retailers, plantation owners, farmers cooperatives and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) committed to the promotion of organic agriculture. The objectives include advising members, providing certification as well as informing consumers and the lobbying of the government. In addition, the NGO CEDAC plays an important role. CEDAC began to trade organic rice about ten years ago and initiated the trading company SAHAKREAS CEDAC, which sells organic food and exports certified organic rice to the U.S since 2009. Presently, COrAA is establishing a certification program for the local market. So far, rice, fruit, pepper, vegetables and cotton products have been certified. The certified products may be labeled with the mark Organic Certified by COrAA". Rice plays an important role In the past decade, NGOs and international development programs have encouraged the cultivation of organic rice. In the promotion of sustainable practices the System of Rice Intensification or SRI played an important role. Meanwhile, more than 10, 000 farmers produce organic rice, on average on about one hectare. In addition, thousands of farmers, especially in remote areas, produce rice without using fertilizers and pesticides, virtually organic. Due to the limited capacities in marketing organic rice and the lack of capital, only about 2, 500 organic rice farmers were involved in certification schemes in 2011. Most of the organic farmers sold their paddy to conventional traders. The cultivation of organic vegetables is still very limited and cannot meet the demand. In May 2012, the first cooperative of vegetable producers was certified on the basis of COrAAs Standards for Chemical-free Crop Production." The requirements of this standard are less difficult to follow than common organic standards. The aim is to encourage vegetable producers to convert to organic production and to provide consumers an alternative to conventional produce. Currently, several farms prepare the cultivation of organic vegetables on larger scale. More than 4 000 cashew farmers, producing about ten percent of Cambodian cashew nuts, are certified for international markets. Considerable potential still exists for organic black pepper; the demand is far greater than the current production. In addition, several orchards with a total of 250 hectares are managed organically. Cooperation with the government sought Up to now, most Cambodian organic farmers fertilize with compost and manure. But because of the limited number of animals, mostly cattle, the available production is not sufficient to improve or maintain fertility of the soils. So far, green manure is planted only by a few practitioners, even though it has been shown to significantly contribute to higher yields. Obstacles to a more intensive organic farming include the lack of knowledge and in many areas the traditional practice of letting cattle and water buffalos graze freely on harvested rice fields. The COrAA has represented Cambodia in the Asia Working Group on Global Organic Market Access Initiative (GOMA) in its meetings from 2010 to 2012. While several countries where represented by their government as well as the private sector, Cambodia was one of the countries that were not represented by the government. Therefore, COrAA is now looking toward cooperation especially with the Ministry of Agriculture in the quest to establish a national organic policy. GOMA recently approved the regulatory framework, the "Asian Regional Organic Standard" (AROS), and recommended it for adoption by the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Consequently, the Cambodian organic sector would like to promote AROS together with the Royal Cambodian government.
by Winfried Scheewe (This is a translation of an article written in German for kologie & Landbau, Issue 4, 2012)