Industry & Investment NSW

Good progress has been made against all milestones, and preliminary work underlying later milestones is under way.
Trials have been conducted at CARDI and by GDA in different provinces, and in Australia,and promising lines have been selected. A breeding program has been started at CARDI
for submergence tolerance, and to start introgressing the traits considered important as a
result of the survey.
Equipment to upgrade quality evaluation capacity at CARDI is on its way to IRRI and, following testing, it will be taken to CARDI.

The overall objective of the project is to improve rice establishment and productivity in rainfed and irrigated rice farming systems of Cambodia.
The project effectively commenced in May 2010.
Key objectives, outputs and activities for the first 12 months are:
1. Assess current and potential rice establishment methods.
Existing outputs literature and data on Cambodia rice farming systems was collated and compiled into a database available through a website at the University of South Australia.
A farmer survey was undertaken in 3 target provinces (Takeo, Kampot and Kampong Thom) Analysis of the farmer survey has commenced and continues. Progress on the survey conduct, coding and analysis has been slower than desired and is expected in September 2011.
2. Assemble a spatial database about Cambodia to better target establishment options.
A spatial data base known as Cambodia Land and Environment Atlas and Resource (CLEAR) has been assembled and is preparing for a beta release. This database has been populated with data accessed from existing data and potential users. The release of the beta version is planned for June 2011.
The CARDI soils laboratory has been enhanced to allow improved soil analysis to be undertaken so that field experiments can be fully understood.. New equipment and resources have been ordered but have not yet arrived for use. Laboratory staff member has undertaken a staff mentoring and training program from experienced Australian soils researchers where new laboratory techniques and general good laboratory management were emphasised. The updated laboratory manual is being translated into Khmer
3. Identify strategies to improve rice establishment and weed management
Field experiments have been undertaken by all Cambodian collaborators - CARDI, GDA and RUA comparing improved methods of rice establishment and weed management. These experiments provided the opportunity for our Cambodian collaborators to enhance their ability to conduct adaptive research. These experiments have been conducted in both wet season (rainfed) and dry season (irrigated) rice growing systems, in replicated experiments on research stations and un-replicated trials on farmers fields. The results of the experiments point to the success of drum seeders and associated lower seeding rates, and the successful use of herbicides for weed control in rice.
Training materials on use of new establishment technology including drum seeders and seed drills have been developed in Khmer and weed control training materials for Cambodia have been developed by IRRI researchers.
4. Evaluate new practices
Field trials have been initiated in dry rice growing season by CARDI, GDA and RUA although linkages between these organisations and agri-business have yet to be developed.
5. Build capacity of Cambodian participating organisations - Cambodian researchers are undertaking replicated field experimentation as part of the project in conjunction - Several meeting to share experiences, and information have been conducted.
6. In Australia, literature review has been conducted and field experiments were undertaken to investigate techniques to improve rice establishment and the tolerance of rice varieties to saline water. These experiments have been compromised to some extent by the end of the drought and the very wet summer that ensued. Issues with cockatoos, plague locusts, ducks and then mice plague conditions.

Vegetable consumption in Cambodia is currently one of the lowest in Asia. In 2010, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries estimated vegetable production at 376 546 tonnes. Whilst production has increased somewhat in recent years it is still insufficient to meet current consumer demand with domestic production heavily supplemented by imports. The RGC has a long term strategy to replace these imports with local production and to increase vegetable consumption.
It is in this context that HORT/2006/107 seeks to build on its predecessor HORT/2003/045 and to implement a seed to plate approach to vegetable research and development in Cambodia, and in doing so, enhance Cambodian vegetable farmers' ability to meet domestic demand for high quality and nutritious tomatoes, chillies and leafy vegetables.
The project is a partnership between 2 Australian organisations: NSW Department of Primary Industries and Charles Sturt University; 3 Cambodian organisations: General Directorate of Agriculture; Cambodian Agriculture Research and Development Institute and Royal University of Agriculture and 1 International organisation: Asian Vegetable Research and Development Centre.
The objectives of the project are to:
 To more fully map supply chains for tomatoes, chillies and leafy vegetables;
 To improve product quality and supply through delivery of technical packages on production, disease management and supply chain management;
 To build capacity of research and extension staff in vegetable production and postharvest research, and plant pathology and
 To better understand gaps in vegetable extension material and produce an appropriate suite of materials suitable for use with farmers and supply chain participants.
Key outputs/activities in 2010/2011 have included:
 Completion of the 'Vegetable Value Chain Analysis' in Kampot and Kandal. Four reports on the different components have been produced by CARDI and these are currently being consolidated into a succinct Value Chain Report;
 Commencement of an irrigation adoption study looking at reasons why farmers adopt or abandon new technologies, such as the IDE low-cost drip irrigation system. Insights gained will enable us to develop better extension strategies that will facilitate the adoption of new technologies or improved production/postharvest practices;
 Completion of trial work towards the development of an effective low-cost pre-cooling system for leafy vegetables. The next step will be demonstrating this system to collectors in Kandal province;
 For the pathology component, the completion of farmer surveys in the provinces of Kandal and Kampot, disease surveys in both provinces, joint training and sharing of facilities, and the successful running of the first plant disease workshop activity;
 For the production component, further on-farm trial work looking at the implementation of improved production practices including new varieties, low cost drip irrigation systems, mulching and optimised crop nutrition;
 Building project team capacity in the development of effective extension materials that will lead to the production of a series of Farmer Fact Sheets covering varieties, improved production and postharvest management and pest and disease management.
 For the Australian component, the continued development of extension resources for NESB growers.

The aim of this three and half year (2007-2010) project in Cambodia is to increase the range of crops grown under rainfed lowland conditions by promoting non-rice crop technologies that provide efficient water use and high financial return to the growers. This aim can be achieved by adding a non-rice crop after the main wet season rice crop (i.e. rice/non-rice double cropping) and the key research issue is water - how to select the appropriate soil and water environment in the wet season for the following non-rice crop and how to ensure adequate water for it. The project will measure the available water and examine a range of management options for growing non-rice crops such as peanut, soybean, and mungbean.

The objectives of the project are:

(i) To develop profitable double cropping options for a rice/ non-rice (mungbean, soybean and peanut ) system for the rainfed lowlands in three provinces.

(ii) To define the water requirements for non-rice crops, determine the best use of small amounts of stored water, incorporate water use into available lowland models and predict the level of risk under mainly rainfed conditions of the diversified cropping systems.

The intended target group of the project is for small scale lowland rice farmers with favourable water availability on-farm. Limited amount of water may be available from underground or on-farm pond as supplementary irrigation to non-rice crops.

The project has almost identical activities in three major lowland rice growing provinces of Kampong Thom, Kampong Cham and Takeo. A few Districts were selected for each Province and farmers and collaborators from Provincial and District offices participated for activities to achieve Objectives 1-2. The project examines potential non-rice technologies in rice-based lowlands, and aims to develop agronomic packages for non-rice crops in lowlands. Assessment of cropping risks and economic evaluation of new technologies are two key aspects of the project.

The project commenced several months after the official commencement date of 1 April 2007. An UQ agronomist has been stationed at the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), Phnom Penh.

For the 2007/2008 period, one of the major activities for Objective 1 (Development of profitable double cropping systems) was testing of a number of soil types that are potentially suitable for legume crop production across three Provinces. Eleven experiments were conducted to test 4 different soil types and the three legume crops, each crop with two varieties. The soil types were Prateah Lang, Prey Khmer, Bakan and Toul Samrong, which are all common lowland soils in the Provinces. This series of experiments was successfully completed with several key observations. They are; importance of sowing at optimum time, requirements of furrow and bed planting for some soils, potentially large impacts of insect pests and diseases, and importance of providing sufficient amount of irrigation water to maintain optimum crop growth. Some, if not all, of these issues are strongly connected to labour availability and costs of appropriate field maintenance. As this series is the first attempt for the project to grow legumes after rice in lowlands in Cambodia, the findings and experience achieved here will assist development of project's future experimental and economic programs.

In addition, two model farms have been developed with farmer owners; one in Kampong Thom and the other Takeo. The main attribute considered here is the use of pond water to irrigate non-rice crops in lowland after rice harvesting. It is clear from the development and operation of the model farms that a major challenge facing these farmers is to secure an adequate quantity of water required for crop production with a minimum cost.

Another major activity for the Objective 1 was to assemble varieties of mungbean and soybean that were available in the country. This was achieved in 2007, and 28 varieties/advanced lines of mungbean and 29 varieties/advanced lines of soybean together with two peanuts varieties were tested for their performance at CARDI in 2007/08 dry season. Peanuts showed better adaptation to the poorly structured Prateah Lang soil at the field site, as was also observed in the soil type experiments mentioned earlier.

Objective 2 (Water requirements of non-rice crops and prediction of cropping risks) was achieved in conjunction with activities for Objective 1. It appears that the amount of water applied to the legume crops in some experiments was not adequate for achievement of maximum yields. This may be possibly due to the participating farmers and District Agriculture Office collaborators not being aware of the amount of water required for maximum yield, but also the cost of irrigation was high resulting in reduced irrigation frequency and amount.

The aim of this three and half year (2007-2010) project in Cambodia is to increase the range of crops grown under rainfed lowland conditions by promoting non-rice crop technologies that provide efficient water use and high financial return to the growers. This aim can be achieved by adding a non-rice crop after the main wet season rice crop (i.e. rice/non-rice double cropping) and the key research issue is water - how to select the appropriate soil and water environment in the wet season for the following non-rice crop, particularly peanut, soybean, and mungbean and how to ensure adequate water for it. The intended target group of the project is for small scale lowland rice farmers with favourable water availability on-farm. Limited amount of water may be available from underground or on-farm pond as supplementary irrigation to non-rice crops. Assessment of cropping risks and economic evaluation of new technologies are two key aspects of the project.
The project has almost identical activities in three major lowland rice growing provinces of Kampong Thom, Kampong Cham and Takeo. A few Districts were selected for each Province and farmers and collaborators from Provincial and District offices participated for activities to achieve project objectives. An UQ agronomist was stationed at the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), Phnom Penh for the whole reporting period.
One of the major activities for Objective 1 (Development of profitable double cropping systems) was testing of a number of soil types and legume species that were potentially suitable for legume crop production after rice in lowland across three Provinces. Eleven experiments were conducted in 2007/08 dry season to test 4 different soil types and the three legume crops, each crop with two varieties. The soil types were Prateah Lang, Prey Khmer, Bakan and Toul Samrong, which are all common lowland soils in the Provinces. This series of experiments was successfully completed in May 2008 and several conclusions were drawn; Prey Khmer soil is most suitable for legume crops after rice in lowlands (eg, 1075- 1244 kg/ha for peanuts). Crop yield varied greatly in Prateah Lang soil (eg, 47-1160 kg/ha for mungbean), which is the most common soil type in lowlands of Cambodia. Peanuts is most suitable in terms of crop vigour and yield among the three crops examined followed by mungbean. Crop yield was generally low but there were also several key observations that would help increase yield. They were; importance of sowing at optimum time, adverse effect of low soil fertility, requirements of furrow and bed planting for some soils, potentially large impacts of insect pests and diseases, and importance of providing sufficient amount of irrigation water to maintain optimum crop growth. Some of these issues are strongly connected to labour availability and costs of appropriate field maintenance. These observations were utilized in developing a series of experiments that were conducted in the 2008/09 dry season. Preliminary results of the second year experiments indicate yield was generally higher than the first year, and some treatments, such as mulching, helped increase yield, but data need to be analysed fully before firm conclusions can be drawn.
In addition to the experimental series, two activities of significance were conducted in the reporting period. One is continuous development of the two model farms that had been developed in the first year with farmer owners; one in Kampong Thom and the other Takeo. The third one is being developed in Kampong Cham. A major achievement so far is the demonstration of feasibility of double cropping (rice-legume in Kampong Thom) and triple cropping (rice-rice-legume in Takeo) using only supplementary irrigation water, and mostly by hand watering. Most of cropping areas of the farms were used to demonstrate the feasibility, although the legume crops (mungbean and peanuts) suffered some water stress and yield could be reduced to some extent. When the dry season legume yields become available, on-farm input and output analysis will be conducted.
The other major non-experimental activity during the period was conducting survey and workshops for farmers in the target area in Kampong Thom. The results of survey and workshops suggest the following points for the project; it would be useful to grow legumes in paddies adjacent to village or housing areas because they tend to be more accessible for supplementary irrigation and inputs of organic materials and also the crops can be protected from free grazing cattle and perhaps thief. Cultivating method specially land preparation should be selected to maintain soil moisture, and no tillage and mulching technique based on existing rice stubble may be useful. Farm or non-farm job opportunity and hence availability of family labour should be considered for successful adoption of the legume crops in lowlands.

The aim of this three and half year (2007-2010) project in Cambodia is to increase the range of crops grown under rainfed lowland conditions by promoting non-rice crop technologies that provide efficient water use and high financial return to the growers. This aim can possibly be achieved by adding a non-rice crop after the main wet season rice crop (i.e. rice/non-rice double cropping) and the key research issue is water - how to select the appropriate soil and water environment in the wet season for the following non-rice crop, particularly peanut, soybean, and mungbean, and how to ensure adequate water for the crop? The intended target group of the project is for small scale lowland rice farmers with favourable water availability on-farm. Limited amounts of water may be available from underground or on-farm ponds, as supplementary irrigation to non-rice crops. Assessment of cropping risks and economic evaluation of new technologies are two key aspects of the project.
In the first 2 years, the project had almost identical activities in three major lowland rice growing provinces of Kampong Thom, Kampong Cham and Takeo, but we have dropped Kampong Cham to concentrate on the two most appropriate Provinces in the reporting period. A few Districts were selected for each Province and farmers and collaborators from Provincial and District offices participated in activities to achieve project objectives. An UQ agronomist was stationed at the Cambodian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), Phnom Penh for the whole reporting period.
In the first year (2007/08 dry season), we identified that Prey Khmer soil was most suitable for legume crops after rice in lowlands, followed by Prateah Lang soil, which is the most common soil type in lowlands of Cambodia. We also found that peanuts followed by mungbean were the most suitable in terms of crop vigour and yield among the three crops examined. We also noted a number of constraints for achieving high legume yield including: adverse effect of low soil fertility; requirements of furrow and bed planting for some soils; potentially large impacts of insect pests and diseases; and difficulty in providing sufficient amount of irrigation water to maintain optimum crop growth. Some of these issues are strongly connected to labour availability and also cost of appropriate field maintenance. These observations were utilized in developing a series of experiments that were conducted in the 2008/09 dry season to determine best options for legume growing in terms of irrigation water requirement, effect of mulch, time of planting and use of fertilizer and soil amendment. The main points to come from these experiments were the strong effect of straw mulch and the importance of adequate water supply without providing excess water to the crop. We also maintained two model farms that had been developed in the first year with farmer owners; one in Kampong Thom and the other Takeo. We have made economic analysis of model farm activities. Another area of economic analysis conducted is cost-benefit analysis of legume cropping after rice in lowlands. The analysis clearly indicated the adverse effect of labour cost on profitability of growing legume crops, particularly for watering by hand which is common in the area.
From the results of experiments and economic analyses, we developed the best bet technologies for growing mungbean and peanuts. The documents describing them were distributed and discussed with PDA officers in Takeo and Kampong Thom. In 2009/10 dry season, these PDA established 20 demonstration farms where mungbean, peanuts as well as tomatoes were grown as per our best bet technologies. While we have not received complete yield data set, some farmers appear to be producing very good crops of mungbean and peanuts. We also had a field day at Takeo where our model farm, experiments on irrigation frequency and mulch levels and demonstration of drill planted legumes were inspected by some 100 people (mostly farmers). Some commune chiefs were also invited from other areas and they showed strong interest in participating in the project in the future. Another field day was held in Kampong Thom.
In the 2009/10 dry season, we conducted experiments in 2 Provinces (Takeo and Kampong Thom) and at CARDI. The main aspects were to examine the effect of different quantities of straw mulch, plant density and bed configuration, and frequency and quantity of irrigation water application for both mungbean and peanuts.
We have also made selections among lines of mungbean, soybean and peanuts in 2008/09 dry season, and some selected lines of mungbean entered into replicated yield trials at CARDI in 2009/10 dry season.