Environmental research

The proposed project will introduce the high quality aromatic rice in 8 target villages which will benefit 488 farm families (out of 925 farm families) in the first 2 years. The capacity of participating families on aromatic rice production will improve through Farmer Field School (FFSs), DEMOs and Field Days. When water is secured and with the appropriate fertilizer application and good quality rice seed, the rice yield is expected to be in a range of 2.5-3.5 tons/ha. Calculating based on data of 2008 by comparing farmer practice and the introduce technologies, farmers could increase their income almost 3 times per ha (1,280,000 riel for current practice with traditional variety vs. 3,850,000 riel for aromatic variety with technical intervention). A total of 2410 m of canal, 50 m of dyke, 5 m of culvert and 4 m of spillway will be rehabilitated. A total of 475 farm families with a total of 900 ha of paddy land will have better security in their rice production and other farming activities through the access to water from the rehabilitated irrigation system and it is expected that at least 70% of the 475 farm families or 630 ha will improve rice yield by 30%. The current yield of rice is about 1.5 tons/ha using their traditional varieties but with the good access to water for the supplementary irrigation, the yield of rice will increase to 1.95 tons/ha. A Farmer Water User Committee (FWUC) will be established with the elected representatives of the beneficiaries villages and the FWUC will manage the rehabilitated irrigation system including the Operation and Maintenance. Four Farmer Water User Groups (FWUG) will be established in Chrab, Lork, Sras Takoun in Sanlong commune and Thnouse in Ang Keo commune for the management of irrigated water in their own villages but they also can be the members of FWUC. The rules and regulations on water use will be formulated with the participation of farmers in the target villages. The elected FWUC and FWUG members and the rules and regulations for the water use will be submitted to Commune Council for the recognition and support. Three existing and 1 new ponds will be rehabilitated in Krom, Ang Taphouk, Kraing Thnot and Ponley villages and each with the size of 1,500 m3 (20m x 30m x 2.5m). Each rehabilitated pond will have the capacity of storing 1,300 m3 of water. In each pond a total of 60 kg of wild fish including snake head, catfish, silver bard, climbing perch will be released. This stocking capacity will allow fish to migrate into paddy field in the wet season for their breeding and therefore increasing the catch by farmers for their protein source. It is expected that the population of wild fish will be increased for the benefit of the villagers for both income and protein. In addition, with the rehabilitation of these ponds farmers can use water for domestic use and livestock. However, farmers who own lands nearby the ponds can also use water for their vegetable production. For the sustainable use of these rehabilitated ponds, village committee will be established and the rules and regulations for the management of ponds and water will be formulated with the participation of the Commune Councils, village chiefs and community members. The rules and regulations will include the responsibility in the maintenance and operation of the 4 ponds and control of illegal fishing. A 250 m dyke, 2,410 m canal, a village road in Sras Takoun, 4 ponds embankment and mountain will be reforested with a total of 7,800 Cassia stamea and Leucaena. The reforestation in these villages with local fast growing trees will increase organic materials through annual leaves dropped (Cassia stamea) and nitrogen fixation (Leucaena leucocephala) which washed into paddy fields. In the later stage, villagers and pagoda committee can introduce other high value trees such as Depterocapus. It is expected that the organic matter in the paddy field surrounding the canal, ponds, road and mountain will increase by 2011 and benefited 132 ha (out of 658 ha) of paddy field in 3 villages of Lork, Sras Takoun and Chrab. Moreover, by 2011 the rice yield will increase from 1,5 tons/ha to 1,75 tons/ha and this prediction is not including other factors such as the availability of water, fertilizer application and improved rice seed variety. A market network for aromatic rice will be established and strengthened with the participation of farmers in 8 target villages. It is expected that farmers will have better sale of their paddy rice with the market price. The lesion learnt from this project will be shared with commune council members within Treang district through cross-visit which allows them to be used in their commune development plan.

Cambodia