Rural Assistance Program Prey Veng (RAP), Cambodia

Mr. N  is one of our farmer leaders.

Mr. A is  43 years old.  Mr. N  lives in Beng village, Prey Paun commune, Kampong Trabek district, PreyVeng province. His wife is 42 years old and they have  several  children. Two of their children live and depend on them. Mr. N  owns land  used for rice farming  and a home-stead.  Mr. N joined our program in  April 2014 where he has been an active participant  as a farmer but also taking advantage of RAP's training and coaching in technical innovation in organic agriculture. We consider him one of our " model farmers"  due to his hard work and success in learning new farming techniques. 

As a model farmer in our program  he  has received some incentives from the project such as fish fingerling to stock a small pond, vegetable seeds, chicks for breeding , tree nursery, canal rehabilitation, one drilled well and organic fertilizer. As a result of all of these resources:  training, coaching, and exchange visits with other farmers , he  now uses these   innovations in ecologically sound  agriculture and   in 2015 experienced the following results:

• Raised  150 walking catfishes (each fish weight between 0.5Kg to 0.6Kg per head)
• Made one tree nursery consisting of 320 seedling trees
• Raised 15 hens, 1 rooster, and 40 chicks as well as 2 pigs
• Made  master feed from jack fruit, banana, and papaya
• Made  one compost pile (well-prepared and storage area for compost  for use on home garden)
• Changed  the use of dry paddy rice into germinated paddy rice for chicken feed
• Used  an organic fertilizer on 0.5ha of rice field (in 2014, he harvested 1,100Kg and this year he harvested 1,750Kg. The rice product was increased to 650Kg. Mr. N also used the organic fertilizer on mango trees and  they now produce a significant increase in fruit. 
• Grew   four kinds of vegetables (cucumber, string bean, water convolvulous, and onion leaf).

Due to  Mr. N's success in  vegetable and rice production, the neighbors and two other organizations came to learn from him on his farm.

His family’s total farming income from agriculture is 4,840,000Riel which is about $ 1250 US Dollars.  (Chicken: 430,000 Riel, Pig: 3,250,000 Riel, Fish: 210,000 Riel, Vegetable: 950,000 Riel ).

Mr. N can  see that since he changed from chemical fertilizer  to organic fertilizer and has changed some of his farming techniques that  his agricultural outputs have increased remarkably. Based on these results, he is committed to organic farming for   his home garden and  maintaining  his entire rice field as an organic farm going forward.

This is a great example of how the success of one individual in a community can build skills in others and in this program promote  a "green" and more ecologically sound way of life while increasing income.

We welcome your continued support of our efforts in this area and hope that you will encourage others to join you in making a real difference for a better  world.

Barbara & Mark Rosasco