August 24
Hi! My name is Oeurn Vanna, an FBA in Chiphoch Village, Mesang District, Prey Veng Province Cambodia, and this is my wife Meit Kong and our one-year-old daughter, Rachana. I moved to here three years ago once I got married. I was actually born in TaSa-ang, Kandal Province.
My wife helps me sell seeds and fertilizer while I am off to visit the existing clients and also to find new ones.
To find new clients, I travel around and visit houses that have vegetable gardens and I stop there and talk to them and give ideas and introduce them to my seed options. Some farmers might not believe at first but I ask them to come and see my demo vegetable garden. Also, in commune meetings, weddings, and other meetings, I can introduce my products and find more clients.
I think FBAs can find new clients if they have good demo garden to prove their work. Sure! They say, I could use more technical training.
This is a 30-metre long tomato vegetable garden which I planted 3 months ago. Fungus is one of the problems happen to my tomatoes, and some of them die, but that doesn’t matter because I harvested them 2 or 3 times already, which provided me 40-50 kg.
The drip irrigation system is very useful because it saves time and water. However, I still use a water cask like this one to water them because I see that drip irrigation gives water only to the stem, but it’s hot in the afternoon so the leaves need some water.
Now I have an idea! I am going to water them with the pump machine using shower from the cask.
Oh! It’s 2kg! Well, generally I sell them to the market, which gives me a higher price, but occasionally villagers come to buy at our house and my wife picks them up. They look smaller than those from other neighboring countries, but they taste more delicious.
Here is rice which I have just harvested and dried them to be only for eating and not for selling because I own a small rice field. I am not very good at plowing, so my father-in-law always helps me, but for throwing seeds, pulling, planting, and harvesting we all help each other.
Mrs. Sambo is one of my clients who lives in PorRong village, Mesang commune. She has a few gardens. I give advice on vegetables and rice and I helped her plant her SRI. I am coming again to help her with the harvest.
(Read the story of Tum Sambo, one of Oeun Vanna's clients)
March 8
There are 400 wax gourds growing and some eggplants along the fence. And here sweet melons are growing well because I water them every day while the weather is very hot, but it’s started to be cloudy some days and to shower rain which gives the sign that the wet season is coming soon.
While watering vegetables, my wife helps me remove the tube so that it’s easier and faster. In the evening we take it and the machine back home. After that, my wife starts to sell vegetables by riding a bike to each household and the small stores nearby our house.
There’s a problem with my mustard cabbages which are being damaged by Kra Phloeng, which means that the vegetables became red and shrunk. I must spray some organic pesticides I have made in order to get rid of this to help the vegetables grow again.
I usually take these Chinese mustards to the stores around my house in the evening or to the household in the village and in the morning I take them to Porkonleng market. It’s now cheaper, 700 riel per kg.
Today a customer came to my garden and needed a few kg of Chinese mustard. Here we have just harvested from the garden field then brought it home to weigh it. It costs 1,000 riels to individual customers but at the market or the stores we sell to only 700-800 riel per kg. It’s cheap, isn’t it?
Up until now I have sold cucumber grown in my demo garden at home for about 170 kg, which costs between 1,000-1,500 riels per kg.
These jars here contain organic pesticide made by my husband, Vanna, that are used for spraying to protect from some kinds of insects or pests.
This pond doesn’t belong to me; it’s my neighbor’s, Mr Phors. He had it dug so that it can store more water then we can use for the whole season. I also use it for my vegetable garden.
Now I don’t grow any vegetables because there isn’t any water left in the pond, and I don’t have a pump machine. So, next season, when I can save up for it, I will get a pond dug just beside my house.
My house is old and ruined so I must fix it when I am free from growing vegetables. Because I don’t make any profit from the vegetables, I have to use all the money I earned previously.
There are a lot of wax gourds (klork) in Mr Phors’s garden. He still has some kinds growing because he’s got a pump machine. For me and some other farmers, growing depends upon the water reserved in the pond, and when it’s drought we have to stop.
June
That’s right! Long beans! Since it’s flooded, every two or three days I am able to pick up around two kg and I will be able to harvest only another one or two kg again before turning the soil into a paddy rice field.
These are the 331 type cucumber seeds with which I have experienced a bit longer time for the yield. At first, I thought they were spoiled but later on I found that a lot of flowers and most of them are developing now. Although, there are some male flowers blooming.
At last, I feel better and expect to make some profit before removing it to start a paddy rice again.
Oh, my god! Cows must have come in and destroyed my net and trailer again.
Eh, it’s because the fence is not strong enough to prevent those cattle from coming in while I am not home. I shall be here a lot, but no! I cannot stay here all the time.
I have just started paddy rice again. Soon after harvesting cucumbers and long green beans, I will turn the soil into a rice field.
In the wet season, all of us will have to grow rice including me. For vegetables, I will grow them in my home demo garden. It will be a good time to sell FDP briquettes again.
Oh, ho! I am making a fishing tool and I will use it for the whole rainy season so that I will be able to catch some fish for our daily food. If I could catch more than I am able to sell or keep as reserved food I will dry the fish.
Our nephews sometimes visit us and their grandparents who lives next to us. Tomorrow I am going to take them back and, at the same time, I am going to look for clients to promote FDP briquettes.
Last year, one of my clients visited my father-in-law and saw FDP, so, after hearing about the quality and good use of it, he ordered three bags.
One of my new clients said he may need ten bags of FDP, but he first wants to try four kg to find out whether it is good or not.
Mr Phlek grows 1,000 eggplants and in one month and half he is able to earn a profit of 1,000,000 riel.
My name is Phlek and I usually grow eggplants and keep some for the next grow. Most of the time, I grow eggplants but I also rotate the vegetables so that sometimes I grow wax melon.
September 17, 2010
I’m not very busy with my clients’ vegetable garden or seeds because, as you know, this is the rainy season, so the farmers and I must spend our time with the rice.
However, NPK – FDP fertilizer (Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium – using Deep Placement method) is a part of my product to be sold during this time and I have to go to the training once a week. I think I will be able to sell more because my client Sambo’s demo rice field now looks healthier than the others around.
I heard that some farmers, Mrs. Tum Hum, Mrs. Hem Gnoy and some others for example, are amazed to see her field and they want to try the methods.
Our baby daughter is now sleeping, so my wife helps to clear off the weeds in the garden and to bring it for our cows. Also, she helps sell seeds, fertilizer, and vegetables while I am off to visit clients.
I will get out tomato plants and start preparing a new growing bed for long green beans in few days.
Eh! There’s a bit of a problem with my vegetable garden as there are some trees (palm trees) that can spoil my plants when there is rainfall, because during and after the rain, water remaining on their leaves drops down harshly on the new bulbs.
Look! My demo long green beans are now ready with the drip irrigation system and with Fertiliser Deep Placement.
I water them once a day because the plants are young and they get enough rain water, but they will need more water when they grow up. There are eight rows of vegetable beds with 548 plants, which means they need around 10 liters of water a day, so a 640-liter reserved drip water can be used for ten days.
Farmers should use the drip irrigation system as they save time and labor work.
