Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Dith Tina encourages Kratie provincial governor Va Thorn to cooperate with the necessary partners to establish a market and wholesale facilities to purchase vegetables from farmers to promote agriculture in the province. He also pushed for the farmers to be charged affixed rate of 480 riel ($0.12) per kilowatt hour for electricity.
Tina was meeting with over 20 households on May 25 to inspect their vegetable business in Thmor Kre Leu village of Chitr Borei district's Thmor Krae commune.
He said the provincial governor should cooperate with the provincial agriculture department – especially its technical officers and relevant partners – to collate the statistics of farmers who grow organic vegetables in mesh greenhouses to determine their yields, in order to make it easier to sell them in the domestic market.
“The minister encouraged the governor to establish vegetable markets and wholesale locations by studying production chains and the pricing and economic efficiency of vegetable growers. They should cooperate with wholesalers in order to improve the agriculture sector of the province,” said the ministry in a May 26 video.
Tina recommended that the General Directorate of Agriculture study mesh greenhouses, irrigation systems and set standards for farmers to follow, including the use of solar pumps for irrigation. He also encouraged the provincial authorities to charge farmers 480 riel per kilowatt hour to reduce their coats and increase their profitability.
The ministry said Thorn had promised the farmers of Thmor Kre Leu village that they would be charged 480 riel per kilowatt hour. He also asked the farmers to provide provincial authorities with detailed statistics of their production capacities.
“Thorn will instruct agricultural officials to establish a vegetable market and wholesale locations in the near future. The governor also advised the farmers to focus on high-quality organic crops, as they could command higher prices than the Vietnamese imports they were currently competing with,” it said.
