IRRI
facilitates productive partnerships between farmer cooperatives and rice seller
in Cambodia
Tue Aug 13 2019
The International
Rice Research Institute (IRRI) continues its strong support for the Cambodian
government’s efforts to bolster their country’s rice sector.
Last week,
IRRI and the Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
(PDAFF) helped facilitate the contract signing of 16 rice agricultural
cooperatives with AMRU Rice Company, one of the country’s fast-growing rice
brands.
A total of
twenty contracts were signed by AMRU President Oknha Song Saron and the farmer
representatives of the cooperatives. Four were for the supply of quality seeds,
and the rest were for paddy rice production and purchase.
Initiated
through “Accelerating the adoption of stress tolerant rice varieties for
smallholder farmers in Cambodia, Phase II” (ASTVII), an IRRI Cambodia project
funded by USAID, rice farmers who are members of the cooperatives from the
provinces of Kampong Thom and Siem Reap entered into contract farming
agreements with AMRU.
Witnesses to
the contract signing included officials from PDAFF, the General Directorate of
Agriculture, USAID official Sam Ouern Ke, and IRRI country representative
Buyung Hadi. The event was covered by local media and BTV Cambodia.
PDAFF
officials acknowledged the importance of the partnership agreement and gave
their full support, mentioning that their ministry may develop policies to
bring regulation for contract farming or PPP agreements. IRRI’s Buyung Hadi
stressed the importance of trust built between parties and the advantage for
farmer cooperatives to produce in bulk, allowing them to demand better prices
for their products. Sam Ke of USAID said that farmers should try their best to
maintain quality seeds and produce, and talked about the ASTVII project that
supports smallholder farmers.
AMRU
President Oknha Song Saron emphasized the need to continue doing smart
agriculture, and to promote and use new varieties developed for climate
adaptation such as Phka Rumdoul and Phka Mealdei. He talked about how the AMK
Microfinance Institute plans to finance up to USD60,000 per cooperative in
order to promote continued growth and prosperity within the country’s rice
value chain.
Source: http://news.irri.org/2019/08/irri-facilitates-productive.html