PHNOM PENH: The Minister of Agriculture sent the Director General of Agriculture, Ngin Chhay, to Battambang province to find out about the problems farmers there are facing, so that the Ministry can help form solutions.

Director General Ngin Chhay’s visit took place on Sunday, 23 October, in Anlong Run commune, Thmor Kol district, Battambang province.

Residents informed him of red snails feeding on rice crops, flooding, and some technical farming inadequacies as some of the problems they face regularly.

Rice farmer, Song Chanleang, said that in recent years, his crops have been less productive floods have also repeatedly damaged his rice fields.

He asked the government to consider a new drainage system because there is already an irrigation system in Anlong Run commune that flows out of the Kamping Puoy Ser dam, which sometimes causes flooding in the rice fields.

He said that these problems have negatively impacted his crops.

In regard to the request for a water release system, the Director General of Agriculture from the the Ministry of Agriculture, Ngin Chhay, stated that he would urge officials from his Department and in the community to contact the Department of Water Resources to organize a restoration of this drainage system.

He also advised farmers to reduce the use of fertilizer that does not suit the rice crops, and the use of pesticides that can affect animals in the field. He urged farmers to think about the benefits of reducing agricultural fertilizer, as using too much is costly, and if farmers compare what they harvest and make with how much they pay for the fertilizer, it is apparent that they do not make much profit.

It should be noted that this inspection was conducted by Director General Ngin Chhay in Battambang province because Prime Minister Hun Sen also distributed rice seeds to the farmers there (about 11,528 families) who were affected by the floods.

Recent floods in Battambang province caused by heavy rain have affected 14 districts and a total of 29,384 families, of which a total of 1,051 families were evacuated. A total of 29,384 houses have been affected by flooding, while 32 houses, 76 schools, six health centers, 19 pagodas, and four public administration buildings were damaged as well.