AKP Phnom Penh, March 9, 2012 –Pepper is one of the important industrial cash-crops regarding its reasonably-high value and marketability for both export and local consumption.Kampot province is a geographical location best for pepper cultivation in Cambodia; however, at present, pepper farming have been spreading to other provinces, and particularly in Kampong Cham province, where more farmers are now interested in expanding the cultivation.
Kampong Cham province has now seen more and more remarkable progress in pepper growing as its market price is considerably high, said Mr. Ou Savuth, deputy head of Agro-industry Office of the Provincial Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
The areas planted with pepper in the province have now amounted to 750 hectares with expected increase year after year, and Dar commune alone of Memut district has the total areas of 656 hectares, he said, adding that geographical conditions and red soil in Kampong Cham are suitable not only for various crop cultivation, but also pepper growing.
Pepper farming in Dar district has begun since 1992 when migrant farmers from Kampot came to settle there and embarked on their life with pepper planting using original seeds from their native province, said Yin Sopha, Executive Director of Pepper Farming Development Community, noting that more than 1,300 families of pepper farmers in Dar District have now grouped into a Pepper Production Community.
Pepper produces peppercorns after two years of growing, and the older pepper plants, the more yields they will turn out. The average harvest is from six to eight tons of dry peppers from each hectare, and saleable at US$6.50 per kilo.
Apart from supplying to local market consumptions, the rests are exported to mainly Vietnam and Thailand, Yin Sopha further said, affirming that quality of pepper in Kampong Cham is not less good than that of Kampot.
Article in Khmer by CHHAY Muth
Article in English by Ravuth M.
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