柬埔寨人对有机食品的需求增加

AS IT IS 2015-10-13 Cambodians Demand More Organic Food 柬埔寨人对有机食品的需求增加

Experts are urging Cambodian farmers to diversify¹ their crops.

Most farmers in Cambodia grow rice. Many also may grow cassava and maize². But very few farmers in the country grow other vegetables.

And more Cambodians are demanding organic produce.

Sem Chantha is an organic vegetable farmer in Cambodia’s Kampong Speu province. Her vegetables are pesticide-free. Depending on the season, she grows spinach³, cauliflower, lettuce⁴ or collard greens on her six-hectare plot of land.

She says farmers earn money growing vegetables instead of rice. She also says locally grown vegetables taste much better than imported vegetables.

“Vegetables can be sold for a higher price than rice and it takes only one and a half months to yield, then it is ready to harvest, while paddy rice takes six months to yield,” Sem Chantha said.

A recent study from the World Bank shows strong growth in Cambodia’s agriculture industry. This has helped reduce the number of people in poverty from seven million in 2007 to three million in 2012.

Part of this growth has come from increased land cultivation⁵ for rice farming. But growth has slowed in the past two years. The World Bank says farmers need to increase their yield and grow more kinds of crops, such as vegetables.

The bank says vegetables earn average returns of $1,575 per hectare for small farmers. This compares to $544 per hectare of cassava and only $307 per hectare of rice.

Difficulties remain

Chan Sophal is the director of the Center for Policy Studies for Cambodia Development. He says it will be difficult for farmers to change crops. Many of them may lack the skills, technology and investment money to grow vegetables.

Most vegetables sold in Cambodia are imported from Vietnam and Thailand. The local competition means that there are no quick gains for Cambodian farmers.

“You don’t have the time for learning and trials; the poor can’t do that," Chan Sophal said. "If they lose a crop, they lose a lot, they will be in debt.”

However, Mr. Sophal says that support from the government and private investment could help improve the situation. That support would also help farmers get more of the training they need.

“We can hopefully increase our production to the level where prices are brought down, so products like vegetables that are good for people’s health are more affordable⁶,” he said.

Organic produce

The Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture (CEDAC) supports Cambodian farmers with training. The center also provides growers with a connection to the market. It has eight organic food stores in Phnom Penh as well as farmers’ markets held in rural areas.

The center's president Yang Saing Koma says Cambodia is seeing more demand for organic vegetables. The demand is greater than local farmers can supply.

Mr. Koma says that it would take about 10,000 trained farmers to meet market demand. He says the government would have also have to help with promotion⁷ of organic vegetables.

“Through that, we can send out 200 experts nationwide to assist and facilitate⁸ farmers in vegetable farming, forming farmer communities and linking farms to the market,” Koma said. “If this can be achieved, it will benefit the national economy.”

This would help keep the hundreds of millions of dollars spent each year on vegetable imports in Cambodia. He said it would also create work for local people.

Farmer Voun Chem switched from growing rice to organic vegetables eight years ago. He says he believes Cambodian consumers are choosing organic vegetables more and more, even though they are more costly⁹.

Words in This Story

diversify - v. to change (something) so that it has more different kinds of people or things

organic - adj. grown or made without the use of artificial chemicals

pesticide-free - adj. not grown with chemicals used to kill animals or insects that damage plants or crops

yield - n. the amount of something that is produced by a plant, farm, etc.

affordable - adj. easy to pay for; cheap.

promotion - n. the act of helping something happen, develop, or increase

1 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

2 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

3 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

4 lettuce   

n.莴苣；生菜

参考例句：

• Get some lettuce and tomatoes so I can make a salad.买些莴苣和西红柿，我好做色拉。
• The lettuce is crisp and cold.莴苣松脆爽口。

5 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

6 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

7 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

8 facilitate   

vt.使容易（便利）推进，促进

参考例句：

• Modern inventions facilitate housework.许多现代发明便利了家务劳动。
• The new airport will facilitate the development of tourism.新机场将促进旅游业的发展。

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。