Mr. Bean goes to the swimming pool

Soybean Yields

Soybean Yields
NCSRP Research Director: "Earlier Planting can Increase Soybean Yields"

With the price of soybean seed skyrocketing, soybean growers are looking for "the sweet spot" - the ideal combination of planting date and seeding rate. The research and education director of the North Central Soybean Research Program offers suggestions to help growers maximize soybean yield and profit potential in 2009.
If you do find yourself planting early in cold, wet and poorly drained soils, or if there's a history of soybean seedling diseases in your fields, consider a fungicide seed treatment to protect your stand

Urbandale, Iowa (PRWEB) February 25, 2009 -- Optimal soybean planting dates vary from year to year with the weather. "In general, however, research is showing us that planting earlier can help increase yield - provided your seedbed is in good shape," says Dr. David Wright, Director of Research for the North Central Soybean Research Program (NCSRP).

Growers are planting soybeans between one and three weeks earlier than they did a decade ago. Checkoff-funded research shows that planting earlier can help increase soybean yield, if the seedbed is in good shape.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

remains the most important sector of the Cambodian economy in terms of its share of the gross domestic product (GDP), and it employs the vast majority of the workforce. Rice is Cambodia’s major crop, its principal food, and, in times of peace, its most important export commodity. Rice is grown on most of the country’s total cultivated land area. The principal rice regions surround the Mekong and the Tonle Sap, with particularly intensive cultivation in Bătdâmbâng, Kâmpóng Cham, Takêv, and Prey Vêng provinces.

Cambodia traditionally has produced only one rice crop per year because it has lacked the extensive irrigation system needed for double-cropping. Under traditional patterns of agriculture, planting normally begins in July or August, and the harvest period extends from November to January. Where there is little irrigation, the amount of rainfall determines the size and quality of the crop.

The government of Democratic Kampuchea made great efforts to build irrigation systems throughout the country. The results occasionally were notable, and in a few parts of the country farmers were able to grow two or, more rarely, three crops of rice per year. In some cases the irrigation works were poorly conceived and hastily built, and they soon collapsed. Most of those that survived were abandoned after 1979. Another significant problem is that millions of land mines remain in Cambodian fields from the years of warfare; this has severely restricted the amount of land available for cultivation.

In addition to rice, other food products include cassava, corn (maize), sugarcane, soybeans, and coconuts. The principal fruit crops, all of which are consumed locally, include bananas, oranges, and mangoes, and are supplemented by a variety of other tropical fruits, including breadfruits, mangosteens, and papayas.
Cattle, particularly water buffalo, are used principally as draft animals in the rice paddies and fields. Hog production has also played a large role in agriculture. Efforts to replenish the number of livestock—depleted by years of war—have been hampered by uncertain social conditions and the prevalence of animal diseases.

About three-fourths of Cambodia was forested in 1970, but by the early 21st century that portion had decreased to roughly half, with Cambodia carrying one of the highest deforestation rates in the world. The provinces bordering Thailand and Vietnam continue to be logged by large companies to whom the government has granted concessions, as well as by smaller entrepreneurs, many of whom do not obtain official permits. Illegal logging is a persistent and serious problem despite efforts to curb it.

Fisheries are important in the domestic economy. Fish in its various forms—fresh, dried, smoked, and salted—constitutes the most important source of protein in the Cambodian diet, and subsistence fishing is part of every farmer’s activity. The annual freshwater catch includes perch, carp, lungfish, and smelt. For larger-scale fishing, the government sells two-year leases to harvest segments of the Tonle Sap and inland rivers. Revenues from these sales have been significant at times, but the program has been fraught with corruption. Overfishing and environmental degradation around Tonle Sap have decreased the fish supply and driven up prices, and the sustainability of freshwater fisheries has become a matter of public concern.

Cooking rice is a valuable skill that you'll use many times over a lifetime of eating. This Instructable will show you how to cook both white and brown rice. It's not a strict "recipe" like existing web pages out there. It's the theory behind cooking rice, so that you can become your own expert at cooking rice.

Make a Farm teaches children about where our food comes from. Using a PC printer and "Make a Farm" free software, kids can make their own model farm. Younger children will learn about farm animals, what they eat, where they live, and what they produce. Older students can learn how a farm is organized, and some of the economic factors that govern farming. Kids also learn to visualize how two dimensional shapes become three dimensional shapes.

Materials needed:

Use of a PC computer and printer
Tape or glue
Crayons, markers or colored pencils
"Make a Farm" free educational software program to patterns of farm buildings on your PC printer:

Strongly recommended:

Butcher paper, construction paper or heavy paper for "ground"
2 paper clips
index cards (for animals)

Download and install "Make a Farm", the program for the patterns. The download instructions are on the download page. Print out the patterns for barn1, barn2, silo, silo cap, farmhouse, shed, chicken coop and fence. The farmhouse, barn, chicken coop and the shed need a roof printed out (or you can cut them out of construction paper.) Make as many sheds and buildings as you want.
You can print on ordinary computer paper, or on thicker paper if desired. (you will probably want to use paper heavier than most computer paper if a number of children are doing the project.) Check your printers instructions before printing on heavy paper--some do and some don’t. You can also take your printouts to a copy shop and copy onto heavier paper, or enlarge them.
It is best to color the buildings before cutting them out. When coloring, you should turn the building around so that you are coloring each side "right way up". You can decorate and add things to the buildings, especially the farm house (curtains, a doorknob, a cat in the window, houseplants, and flowers and bushes). Barns are traditionally red, sometimes with white trim. Most of the other buildings are typically white or wood colored, but you don’t have to be limited by that. Maybe your chicken would like bright designs on their coop.
Cut out the patterns on the heaviest black outline, cutting around the tabs where they occur. You can cut the doors on one side and across the top, so that they open. Notice the door for the chickens on the chicken house--on it, cut the two sides (vertically), as it swings from the top.
Fold the house on all the lines, including the tab lines. When you hold the buildings with the colored side toward you, all folds are away from you (blank sides of the paper together), and at 90 degree angles when you are finished. Fold everything, then glue or tape the tabs on the inner (flat) roof to the sides of the house. Then fasten the back of the house to the sides. The sides will stick up to hold the roof. The tabs on the side piece can be used to hold the roof in place (or cut off, if you prefer). The top of the barn fits onto the bottom of the barn, with a narrow strip on the front and back of the bottom piece to hold it on. The top piece can be secured with glue or tape if you like. If you want the doors to open, be sure to cut the doors before you assemble the barn. Younger children may need help assembling the buildings.
The silo and silo cap are different from the other buildings. The silo is rolled into a tube and fastened with tape or glue. (If you are using tape, you will need to put a piece on the outside). The silo cap is folded (as if you were trying to put the circle back together) so that the tab is under the opposite edge, and glued or taped. The silo goes next to the barn (either side); you may want to use glue or tape rolled into a circle and pressed flat to join the silo to the barn. If you use glue on the silo and silo cap, you may need to fasten it temporarily with a paper clip while the glue dries.
Use butcher paper or pieces of construction to make the fields and yards for the farm. If you use construction paper, use brown and green to represent fields in various stages of growth. Brown might be plowed fields, while green represents crops already coming up. Tape or glue together as many pieces as you want to make a farm the size you want (3 pieces x 2 pieces works well).
You will need enough fence to fence in your cows and horses. Decide what fences you want for your fields.
Decide what you want to grow on your farm. You might want to include:

Grains:

wheat
corn
rye
barley
oats,
rice

Vegetables:

broccoli
cabbage
lettuce
peppers (green, red, yellow)
tomatoes
carrots
beets
potatoes
sweet potatoes
squash
cucumber
yams
pumpkins
peas
beans

Fruit:

berries
apple
cherry
plum
peaches
nectarine
orange--yes, in California
lemon
grapes

Other:

alfalfa
hay
cotton
soy beans
an herb garden
flowers, (too many to mention)

Of course you can grow flower all over the farm. Some vineyards grow a rose at the end of each row of grapes.
Go over what is food for people and what is food for animals. Of course, animals often eat other parts of plants which have a food crop for people.
What does your farm family eat, and what do you plan to sell? You have to grow more if you plan to sell some of it. You also need to grow food for your livestock.
Plan which animals you want to have on your farm, and then arrange a place for each kind of animal. The silo is used to store winter food for the horses and cows. The food has to be stored so that air cannot get to it, in order to keep it wholesome for them to eat.

Chickens--chicken coop and chicken yard
Ducks--pond
Geese--
Turkeys--
Cows--barn at night
Horses--barn at night
Pigs--pig sty
Do you want anything unusual, such as llamas? Ostriches? Emus?

The chickens go in the chicken coop at night. When do they go during the day? You can arrange a chicken yard for them. Do you have ducks or geese? Where do they stay? You might want to think about where on your farm you want your house. Is it close to the edge of your farm, near a road? Where do you want your barn? Is the barn close to the house? Where are the chickens? The cows? The pigs? Other animals? Do you have a dog or a cat? Where do they sleep?
What purpose does each animal serve? Why do people keep them?

Horses--pull things, or to ride they live in the barn
Pigs--pork
Cows--milk and meat
Chickens--eggs, meat
Turkeys, ducks, geese--eggs and meat
Sheep--wool, meat
Goats--milk, meat

Go over what each kind of food each animal eats, and how you will grow it for them. The chickens, turkeys and ducks eat corn that has been cracked for them, and also bugs they find. Cows and horses eat corn, hay, alfalfa and other plant material. Pigs eat household scraps. Sheep eat mostly grass and hay. Goats will eat brush, tree leaves and most any other kind of plant material.
You can draw the different animals, or use stickers, or cut pictures out of magazines. You may want to draw pictures of the things you grow on your farm on the butcher paper. You will probably want a path or road out to each of your fields also. You can move buildings around until you have exactly the kind of farm you want.
Older children can be led to think about the geography and climate of farms: They sell food to people mostly in cities. Are farms in cities? If it takes three days to get to the city from the farm can you have a dairy farm? How fresh are your fruits and vegetables? Where are the farms that raise your food? Where are the farms closest to you? Fifty years ago, were there farms where you live? What kinds of farm products can be raised where you live? Are there differences between plants you can grow in a garden, and plants it is practical to grow commercially?
Make a Farm can also tie in with discussion of history--the settlement of the West and especially the Midwestern United States, the Homestead Act, etc. Make a Farm shows a family farm, and a discussion of the replacement of small farms with larger farms run by companies, and the economic impacts of this situation could also be discussed.
For younger students, ask what you ate yesterday, and then talk about where and how it was grown.
Ask if it is better to be raised on a farm or in a city? Have the kids tell you what they think.

Agriculture

An estimated 85 per cent of 14 million Cambodians live in rural areas and depend upon agricultural cultivation as their primary means of subsistence or livelihood. Intervention to improve agricultural performance will greatly benefit a large number of people who are among those most affected by poverty.

The Cambodian agriculture & agro-industry sector has developed significantly in recent years and has great potential for investment, employment creation and as a source for economic growth. For instance, rice production has increased by more than 50 per cent since 2005. However, the sector is starting from a low base and suffers from fragmented and weak supply chains, low productivity and underdeveloped infrastructure. Support structures that will enable increased yield, quality and access to markets are also deficient.

The agriculture sector in Cambodia remains underdeveloped due to a lack of investment and reliance on old cultivation techniques and low quality seeds.

In response to the aforementioned constraints, as a Co-Chair of the Agriculture & Agro-industry Working Group, I would like to report the concerns of the private sector regarding the following issues:

Priority Agricultural Products
Most farmers are not informed about the demand for agricultural products in the world or domestic markets. They usually plant the same crops year after year. Now that there is a food crisis, they can obtain better prices for their crops if they plant the right ones, with good quality seeds, in accordance with international standards.

Unfortunately, recently we have seen that prices of agricultural products have decreased unimaginably in the international market. For example, one ton of top-grade rubber used to fetch over $3,000, but now the price is only $1,500; the palm oil price has decreased from $1,200 per ton to only $400 now; the price for tapioca flour has dropped from $530 per ton to only $220. The private sector understands that the Ministry of Commerce has selected 19 priority products for export, but farmers are unaware of this strategy.

The private sector thinks that the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) should encourage the use of land for the development of agriculture and disseminate information on opportunities for farmers in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce. In addition, the private sector suggests that MAFF provide guidance to farmers on which crops to plant, market demand and commodity prices. Then MAFF should source the right seeds and grains to provide to farmers and train them on techniques to obtain better yields.

Contract Farming
Small producers and farmers clearly face the danger of market failure and production problems. This is because these farmers cannot supply the market with sufficient products at an appropriate price. There is no guaranteed price for their products, in particular after harvest, which is a major challenge that small farmers and producers must overcome in the long run. In order to deal with this problem, contract farming can serve as a means to develop the market and to bring about technology transfer, which would benefit both producers and supporting companies.

The private sector thinks that MAFF should encourage contract farming between buying companies and farmers in order to ensure appropriate prices for products and technical assistance. In addition, the private sector would like to request that the Royal Government establish a framework and strengthen enforcement of contracts between farmers and large buying companies in order to ensure nationwide effectiveness.

The aforementioned issues were discussed by the Agriculture and Agro-Industry Working Group on 17 November 2007 under the chairmanship of His Excellency Chan Sarun, Minister of Agriculture and myself. Through discussions, the private sector clearly understands that the private sector’s idea has already been implemented by the Royal Government and the Ministry of Agriculture. I, as a Co-Chair of the Agriculture and Agri-Industry Working Group, together with USAID and the International Finance Corporation, in collaboration with His Excellency Chan Sarun, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, have worked together to successfully solve the problem of importing pigs, which affected pig raising by domestic farmers.

These issues are important for private sector development in the Kingdom of Cambodia, for now and in the future.











Reared for take-off...

The first of 600 genetically-advanced breeding pigs were shipped to Cambodia in 2008 as part of a 20-year franchise agreement in a deal clinched by UK-based international pig-breeding company, ACMC Ltd. It is believed to be the first time ever that Cambodia has imported genetics from Britain. The initial order is worth almost $1.5 million.
ACMC’s special Meidam and Volante damlines and Vantage sirelines, plus boars representing all three breeds, were sent to a new unit specially set up on a five-hectare site to house a nucleus herd, in the Prey Nop district of Sihanoukville. This has been established by a new company — M’s Pig ACMC (Cambodia) Ltd — set up by the Mong Reththy Group.
The self-contained breeding unit — involving an investment of $5 million — will eventually supply enough commercial AC1 sows to produce 1.1 million slaughter pigs annually and will provide employment for thousands of people in rural areas. The project will also involve a feed-milling operation with a projected output of 330,000 tonnes a year and a slaughter/processing plant to produce ‘Premium Quality Pork’ for the Cambodian population, projected to grow from 14 million to 16 million by 2015.
Due to the complexity of the order, the stock had to be specially bred to provide the necessary blood-lines.
Cambodia, which currently imports around 2,000 pigs a day from neighbouring countries (principally Thailand) to meet domestic demand, is urgently seeking to increase indigenous output through an education project which aims to improve production methods and health standards together with the use of improved stock.
Interestingly, Cambodia will be importing genes, albeit much modified, originally sourced from the Far East. More than two decades ago the prolific Chinese Meishan was brought into Europe. Over a 20-year period ACMC used these genetics to create a new breed, the Meidam, to boost productivity. The Meidam is selected with 16 functioning teats and produces 15 per cent more milk than conventional European lines, enabling it to rear many more pigs. In Europe the AC1 has been shown to produce up to 30 pigs per sow a year.
By special licence the breeding stock was transhipped through Bangkok airport. The pigs’ arrival, seen by the media as a historical event, was attended by Neak Oknha Mong Reththy, CEO of the Mong Reththy Group, Stephen Curtis, chairman of ACMC, Steve Buckley director of investment from the UK Embassy and H.E. Sry Thamarong, of the Prime Minister of Cambodia’s office.

Overview

Approximately 80 percent of Cambodia’s population lives in rural areas and 71 percent depend primarily on agriculture (largely rice) and livestock for their livelihoods.

Poverty in Cambodia is overwhelmingly rural, with poverty headcounts ranging from a low of 10-15 percent in Phnom Penh to 40-45 percent in the rural areas, reaching 70-80 percent in some areas around the Tonle Basin.The poorest are particularly dependent on access to common property resources - fisheries and forestry - for example, eating and selling fish, eating mushrooms, and selling logs.

Agricultural growth had shown steady improvement (although highly variable) averaging 2 percent annually over the decade prior to 2005, when the sector had unusually high growth of 16 percent. With workers in the sector also growing, sector value added on a per worker level was lower, achieving 19 percent growth over this same period.

However, agricultural production and general rural economic growth remain far below their potential because of low productivity, high vulnerability to weather, constrained access to land, forests, fisheries and markets, and lack of adequate infrastructure (such as roads, water supply, electricity and communications networks).

Given the large rural population and high potential for improvement, the government has highlighted promotion of agricultural development as the primary strategy for achieving higher growth and poverty reduction.

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