The main purpose of our exploration is to see the possibility of household garden in Cambodia. Since our country has not produce the need of vegetable per day, it’s a really big deal for the economy,health and habits. We also want to compare the chemical usage with organic and then make an assumption about why they keep using inorganic way.
From going to the trip, we’ve learned about making fertilizer, how to grow each vegetable that we choose, and so many more! In addition, one of the trip that I really reflex on is the trip to S’ang district, Kandal. My expectation and reality are very different!
I didn’t expect “some” farmer to use any organic fertilizer or cow dung, because I’ve heard that sa’ang is a chemical district. I also thought that they would grow something like, fruit type and root type. Interestingly, they actually grow rapid lettuce, including a lot of leafy types! Another thing is that,I was quite surprised to know that farmers don’t really care about the changes of land. They just keep using chemical, hoping that chemical will give enough nutrients to their vegetables. There is a tremendous amount of chemical that is being used during the farming process. Seeds, weeds, stem, leaves, insects,and disease are all required chemicals. Not just that, they even spray the chemical before harvesting! The fact that the rumor about increasing the size of vegetable overnight by using a specific type of chemical is ridiculous. Imagine, people eat vegetables everyday, but everything is made up of chemical compounds. Vitamins are useless to handle those already. Farmer knew that chemical surely harm living organisms, but they keep using it. They have to win the competition of growing vegetables. I mean, they do everything just for their vegetable to grow better than others. One of the farmers said “we eat the vegetables that we grow in front of our house, because it’s organic. The rest that we grow at the farm ( with chemicals), we export it to PP market including local market”. What is the point of having themself safe without thinking about others? There is even a greenhouse that the organization made for them, but they didn’t focus on it. Well, I guess it’s because greenhouse grow slower.
if people keep doing that, we won’t live for long! I’m serious. This exploration have a big impact for social and the future. It’s not too late to start spreading our knowledge to farmer out there who does not know much about organic ways of growing. Imagine, if we can encourage everyone to have household garden in there house, it would be really valuable. Our country will produce enough vegetables for each year, stable economy and healthy citizens bring the best human resources. Wow, pure logic. To fulfill this expectation/dream, we need to start now. I need to start now. I believe, it should be a MUST for other students too!