Paula Hynes: A visit from Cambodia via UCC
Cambodian delegates visiting the Hynes dairy farm with Dr Noreen Byrne of UCC this week
We are no strangers to having international visitors on our farm and the one thing I love about meeting people from new countries is that it is always a learning experience for us as well, with us also getting to know farming practices from other countries.
This week, amidst the hectic schedule of calving season, we hosted a delegation from Cambodia, which comprised university researchers and Ministry for Agriculture staff.
The visit to Ireland was funded by the Irish Embassy in Vietnam as part of the Cambodia Ireland Education Fund 2024 program with the group focusing on Cooperative development in Cambodia, learning from Ireland.
The partners in the program include ECOLAND research institute at the Royal University of Agriculture in Cambodia, Ministry for Agriculture Forestry and Fishery in Cambodia and the Centre of Co-operative Studies at UCC.
Without a doubt, every agricultural community across the world is challenged at some point, and it was such a pleasure to play a small part in this project. It was also wonderful to see how our Irish embassies are helping and supporting others across the world.
Cambodia with a population of almost 17 million people is a country that has a vast agricultural heritage, so much so that 57% of households are involved in agriculture, the main crop grown is rice and as a matter of policy, the Cambodian government investment and diversification in agriculture.
Lactose intolerance was generally seen as an issue within the population, yet it would seem there are huge opportunities for growth within the country's dairy industry as they import in excess of $60m of dairy produce each year, which accounts for 90% of domestic consumption.
While dairy is on the cusp of a boom in Cambodia, rice is currently deeply surrounded by gloom as farmers have struggled to seek markets for white paddy rice, which is classed as low-value export potential.
Input prices such as fertiliser, pesticides and gasoline are at record highs, so the cost of growing rice is high, yet prices have dipped by over $100/t for rice.
The rice industry faces further challenges as a lot of rice has to be exported in order to be milled, even high export value rice varieties have seen prices plummet, which, in turn, has a huge financial impact on not just the farmer, but also the economy as Cambodia exports roughly 650,000t of rice a year valued before price drops at $491m to 68 countries globally including 26 EU countries.
Like us, Irish farmers, Cambodian farmers are hampered by climate change, high input costs and market fluctuations and they are further hampered by the fact that many cannot read or write, so recordkeeping is not always possible, and some farmers are of the view that planting extra seed per hectare will automatically lead to higher yields as may spreading extra fertiliser, educating these farmers going forward will be key to helping farmers manage input costs.
Mechanization also challenges the farming community. Many small farms cannot afford machinery and therefore rely on contractors, yet contractors are not always willing to travel distances for small harvests, meaning that crops are not harvested when they are ripe. Previously, farmers relied on walking behind gasoline-powered implements; however, the shortage of labour has seen this diminish.
Farmers now contemplate selling up and moving to Thailand in search of work; however, they have not yet abandoned hope that the government can intervene to purchase rice in the hope that markets will rebound.
My one fear with intervention is that with commodities being stockpiled, traders too will know this, which can often lead to the lengthening of a weaker market as that stockpile will eventually have to be placed on the market. It would seem farmers are already at the mercy of traders, so ultimately, there needs to be a shift in mindset so the same issue does not arise in years to come.
Would we have achieved that without the Co-operative structure? Absolutely not, and within our cooperative structure, farmers are constantly being educated and encouraged in knowledge sharing.
The reality is that if you help a farmer, you help a family. Seeing the Irish Embassy and UCC seeking to ultimately help a group of farmers would, in turn, help a community and, possibly, in time, if the Cooperative structure gained momentum, help an economy.
The co-operative structure has so much potential in Cambodia, with farmers pooling their resources they could control how their rice is traded, look at purchasing machinery within the group to lessen costs of sowing and harvesting and perhaps even diversify and see smaller rice farms.
They could also manage a few dairy cows to safeguard against relying on one resource. Those rice farmers already have their own fibre source in the form of rice hay so while Cambodian dairy is predominantly high input, good nutritional advice would support those farmers in achieving good yields from cows and while a single dairy farm with four or five cows may face a challenge, within a Co-operative structure the milk pool will have a lot more scope especially within a country which has a growing hunger for dairy.
Education is key, and while this project is educating a few, it seems Ireland is inspiring them to return home and educate many more going forward
We thoroughly enjoyed showcasing our farm and sharing knowledge with Dr Asikin Yoeu, Dr Samnang Nguon, Sorith You, Dany Mea and Kimsor Oeng from Cambodia, and I feel the knowledge Dr Noreen Byrne and her team at UCC are sharing many well evolve into great things for Cambodian agriculture in years to come.
We might be a small country on global terms, but seeing first-hand how our embassies set up projects around the world and how our Universities share knowledge has given me back the perspective that, indeed, we are a great little country.
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