A CAMBODIAN rural development group has leased more than 150 hectares of farmland in Kampong Speu province to meet a growing consumer demand for organic produce.

Bun Penhpheak organic marketing manger for the Cambodian Center for Study and Development in Agriculture said the consumer appetite for vegetables grown without chemical fertilisers or pesticides was increasing every day, but production currently fell short of demand.

“This signals a consumer trend. It also motivates farmers who practice non-chemical or non-pesticide methods in farming,” he said.  Pech Van, CEDAC’s chief of organic food gardening in Trapaing Prey village, in Kampong Speu’s Phnom Srouch district, said the new farm would provide crops such as cucumber, winter melon and tomato.