Presentation from the WCCA 2011 conference in Brisbane, Australia.

1. 5th WCCA
World Congress on Conservation Agriculture
26-29 September 2011
Brisbane, Australia
Role for Farming Systems and CA
for Food Security in Cambodia
Dr Seng Vang
Deputy Director of CARDI
26 September 2011
1

2. Outline
1. Cambodia-background
2. The Royal Government Policies for
Agriculture
3. Responding to the Royal Government Policies
for Agriculture: The ACIAR Projects
4. Conclusions

3. 1. Cambodia-background:
Climate,
Land resources,
Agriculture,
Current status of crop production,
Farming systems, and
Constraints to crop production & diversification

4. Cambodia - climate
We have 2 main cropping seasons:
Wet season: May-Oct
Dry season: Nov-Apr
[Early wet season: April-July]
 Rainfall: 1200 – 4000 mm
January : lowest
October : highest
 Temperature: 23 – 33oC
December : lowest
April : highest
 Humidity: 69 - 80%
March : lowest
September : highest
 Day length : 11h - 13h
December : shortest
June : longest
 Evaporation: 2230 mm/year
September : lowest
March : highest 4

5. Soils, areas, and their fertility potentials in
Cambodia
Fertility Areas Areas
Soils
Potential (ha) (%)
2. Latosols, 6. Grey hydromorphics, 8.
High Brown hydromorphics, 10. Regurs, 12. 5,082,564 28
Basic lithosols, 15. Lacustrine alluvials
5. Cultural hydromorphics, 9.
Medium Alumisols, 13. Alluvials, 14. Brown 3,404,599 19
alluvials
1. Red-Yellow Podzols, 3. Planosols, 4.
Plinthite podzols, 7. Plinthitic
Low 9,443,663 53
hydromorphics, 11. Acid lithosols, 16.
Coastal complex
Total 17,930,826 100
Source: Crocker (1962)
5

6. Generalized soil fertility potential map
of Cambodia
6

7. Land use categories in Cambodia
7
=4.37 mil ha (24%)
Source: MPWT/JICA (2002)

8. 18,022 (0.1%) 532,133 (2.9%)
Area (ha) covered by LU categories
36,254 (0.2%)
1,883,882 (10.4%)
Agriculture
1,078,243 4,370,027 (24.1%)
Forest cover
(6.0%)
Grassland
Shrubland
Soil-Rock
Urban
10,215,094 (56.3%)
Water
8

9. Share of agricultural sector to the country’s GDP
Share of agricultural sub-sectors (%)
Sector Contribution (%)2009 (%)
Sectoral Contribution in in 2010
6.1
Industry Crops
12.8
Agriculture Fisheries
29 53.8
28
Livestock
27.3
43 Forestry
Services
40.00 34.4% Agricultural Sector (%)
35.00 31.5% 32.1% 28.9% 29.5%
30.00 28.1% 26.7% 26.8% 28.0% 29.0%
25.00
20.00
15.00
10.00
5.00
0.00
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

10. Crop Production in 2010 (MAFF, 2011)
Crops Area (ha) (%)
Rice 2,795,892 74.9
Maize 213,622 5.7
Cassava 206,226 5.5
Soybean 103,198 2.8
Mungbean 69,206 1.9
Vegetable 52,732 1.4
Sesame 43,206 1.2
Peanut 20,041 0.5
Sugar cane 17,207 0.5
Sweet potato 11,452 0.3
Tobacco 10,062 0.3
Jute 594 0.0
Fruit tree 190,629 5.1
Total 3,734,067 100.0

11. Current status of rice production in Cambodia
2010 Relative to
2009 (%)
Cultivated area (mil ha) 2.80 2.82
Harvested area (mil ha) 2.78 3.84
Average yield (t/ha) 2.97 4.74
Total production (mil t) 8.25 8.75
Paddy surplus (mil t) 3.93 12
Data source: MAFF (2011)
Rainfed Lowland: 80.2%
Upland: 1.9%
Deepwater/Floating: 3.4%
Dry Season: 14.5%

12. 4.5 Wet season 4000
4.0 Dry Season 3500
3.5
3000
3.0
2500
2.5
2.0 2000
1.5 1500
1.0 1000
0.5 500
0.0
0
1990 1995 2000 2005 2008 2009 2010 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Average rice yield (t/ha) in wet season
and dry season Surplus of milled rice (x1000 t)
Source: MAFF Statistics for each of the indicated years.

13. Farming Systems in Cambodia
• Uplands
– Land form: undulated, 50m<elevation <1000 m asl
– Main crops: Soybean, maize, cassava, rubber
– Land preparation: Ploughing by machinery
– Other: Slash and burn
• Lowlands
– Land form: flat, elevation <50 m asl
– Main crop: Rice
– Labour: Oxen, power tillers
– Land preparation: Puddling
– Crop establishment:
• Manual transplanting
• Some broadcasting
– Single rice crop per year, but
• Intensification
• Diversification,
• Adoption of new technologies

14. Constraints in Crop Production
• Water
• Soil fertility
• Variety
• Good quality seed
• Pests and diseases
• Socio-economics of farmers
• Poor agronomic practice
• Aging farmers
14

15. Rice Production: Constraints
Drought
Grain yield
(t/ha) Flood
Low yielding
Impurity
Poor soil fertility Weeds Rats, birds, BPH, leaf
caterpillars, stem
borers
Bacterial leaf blight and
streak, brown spot 15

16. e.g. Surface properties of a sandy soil (Prey
Khmer soil) and percentage of rice area it
occupies (Seng et al., 2005)
Non-rice:
Hardsetting
Acidity
Waterlogging

17. Diversifying the Farming System
MIND SET OF CHANGE
• Legumes in
rotation with rice
• Using adapted
planting
techniques vs.
Machinery?
• No till practice?

18. 2. The Royal Government Policy for Agriculture

19. The National Development Plan 2009-2013
The Rectangular Strategy-Phase II
1. Agricultural Sector:
Improving Agricultural
Productivity & Diversification
Agricultural Strategic
Development Plan of MAFF: To
ensure food security, increased
income, job creation, & improved
nutritional status of all Cambodian
people by improving the
productivity, diversification, &
commercialization of agriculture
with environmentally sound
protection and food safety.
Strategy for Agriculture and
Water (SAW) 2010-2013.
Rice Policy on The promotion of
paddy production and rice export .

20. The RGC policy on the promotion of paddy production and rice export
“Rice = White Gold”
Early maturity Intermediate maturity Late maturity
1. Sen Pidao 1. Phka Rumdoul 1. Riang Chey
2. Chul’sa 2. Phka Romeat 2. CAR4
3. IR66 3. Phka Romdeng 3. CAR6
4. Phka Chan Sen Sar
4 Interventions: 2015 Milestones:
• Enhanced production of rice crops • Paddy surplus : 4 million tons
• Purchasing and processing • Milled rice for export: 1 million tons
• Improved enabling factors, and • Cambodian rice: Recognized internationally
• Marketing.

21. Partners in Agricultural Research
3. Responding to the Royal Government
Policies for Agriculture: The ACIAR Projects
“Improving the Productivity and Diversification of
Farming Systems in Cambodia”

22. CARDI-ACIAR: On-going Projects
Code Project Title Duration Notes
CSE2006/040 Diversification and Intensification of 2007-2012 Completion
Lowland Rice Cropping Mar 2012
ASEM2006/130 Enhancing production and marketing of 2008-2011 Completion
maize and soybean in NW Cambodia and Sept 2011
production of summer crops in N
Australia
LWR2008/019 Developing Multi-Scale Climate Change 2010-2014 Completion
adaptation strategies for farming June 2014
communities In Cambodia, Lao PDR,
Bangladesh and India
CSE2009/037 Improved rice establishment and 2010-2013 Completion
Productivity Feb 2013
CSE2009/005 Improved rice germplasm for Cambodia 2010-2014 Completion
and Australia Feb 2014

23. CARDI-ACIAR: On-going Projects (Cont.)
Code Project Title Duration Notes
LWR2009/046 Improved irrigation water management 2011-2014 Completion
to increase rice productivity in Cambodia June 2015
HORT2009/064 Strengthening the Cambodian and 2010-2013 Completion
Australian vegetable industries through Feb 2013
adaptation of improved production and
postharvest practices
Small Grants (via Cambodian Agricultural Research Fund)
CARDI-274 Improved Productivity of Aromatic Rice 2011-2014 Completion
(CARF Rd9) Varieties with Fertilizer Best Practice in April 2014
Rainfed and Irrigated Lowland Rice
Cropping Systems
CARDI-273 Collecting of Plant Genetic Resources for 2011-2013 Completion
(CARF Rd9) Food and Agriculture in Eastern province April 2013
of Cambodia

24. Putting efforts in rice cropping
CSE/2006/040
CSE/2009/037
CSE/2009/005
LWR/2009/046
LWR/2008/019

25. Grain yield of rice, cv. Sen Pidoa grown by various methods. Plotted
values are mean of 2 sites x 3 replicates.
Grain yield (t/ha)
FP BC DS TP
Establishment Methods
FP: farmer practice (BC 60 kg/ha, no weeding)
BC: broadcasting (60 kg/ha)
DS: drum seeder (60 kg/ha)
TP: transplanting (2-3 seedlings/hill, 20 days, 20x20cm)
Source: CARDI (CSE/2009/37, 2010)

26. Grain yield of rice (cv. Phka Rumduol) and Returns under 3
establishment methods
Source: CARDI (CSE/2009/37, 2010)

27. Source: CARDI (CSE/2009/37, 2010)

28. Correlation between rice grain yield and weed dry weight under various
weed control methods
1.2
Yield (Kg/m2) DW (Kg/m2)
y = -0.077x + 0.501 y = 0.149x + 0.18
R² = 0.972 R² = 0.907
0.8
Kg/m2
0.4
0.0
Herbicide Connor Farmer practice Non Weeding
Treatment
Source: PP (CSE/2009/037, 2010)

29. Effects of land leveling on rice grain yield
4000
4500 Addional by Leveling
3500 174
**
Unleveled field
64
4000
0.
3000
Grain yield fom leveled fields (kg/ha)
=
R2
2;
3500 2500
88
683
+
0x
2000
9
3000
0.
=
3474
1560
y
2500 1500
1000 1982
2000
500 860
1500
0
1000 Minimum Maximum Overall mean
difference difference difference
500
500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 4500
Grain yield from unlevelded fields (kg/ha)
Source: O. Makara (2011). Crop in unleveled field

30. Post-rice legumes (Mungbean, peanut)
Three mungbean varieties
were released:
1. CMB01
2. CMB02
3. CMB03
Improved bedmaker
Improved irrigation
technique (Furrow)

31. The effect of furrow irrigation frequency on grain yield and water
use efficiency (WUE) of mungbean and peanut grown after WS rice
Irrigation Water use Grain yield WUE
Frequencies (mm) (kg/ha) (kg/ha/mm)
Mungbean
Every 3 days 250 985 3.94
Every 6 days 216 1044 4.84
Every 9 days 177 686 3.87
Mean 216 899 4.16
lsd (5%) ** 168** 0.75*
Peanut
Every 3 days 285 720 2.52
Every 6 days 244 812 3.33
Every 9 days 211 649 3.08
Mean 249 749 3.01
lsd (5%) ** 114* 0.48**
Source: CSE/2006/040

32. Effect of mulch on weed biomass and grain yield of mungbean at
four locations in Cambodia in 2008-09 dry season
Source: Mitchell et al. (2011). Field Crop Research.

33. Model Farm: Returns
33

34. 4. Conclusions
1. The ACIAR-funded research projects in Cambodia has made a significant
contribution to the improved research capacity and technology developed
for Cambodian farmers.
2. The increased farming systems productivity, especially in rainfed lowland
farming system through diversification and intensification has been made
possible with the improved understanding of research know-how and
technology transfer.
3. More efforts are required to increase the adoption by farmers of the
developed technologies, e.g. post-rice legumes.
4. Increasing and stabilizing the productivity of rice-based lowland farming
systems of Cambodia remain a priority for the growth of agricultural sector.
5. Given the situation of labor market competition and aging farming labors, a
[slowly] change from traditional farming practices to mechanization
farming practices has been happening in the country.
6. More research is need to develop technologies most suitable for the
Cambodian lowland conditions for the use of mechanization or other tools
with high labor productivity.

35. Acknowledgements
• ACIAR for all kinds of support for all
projects, particularly for participation in this
congress
• The WCCA5 Secretariat
• The NSW DPI (YAI) via CSE/2009/037
• The UQ (SLCFS) via CSE/2006/040
Thank you, Or kun!