Main Article Content
Abstract
After years of mono-cropping and farmland expansion, Cambodia faces soil degradation, deforestation, and biodiversity loss. Conservation Agriculture (CA) could improve the Cambodian situation. Among the CA approaches, permanent soil organic cover, like cover crops, decreases soil erosion, suppresses pests and diseases, and increases yields. Currently, in Cambodia, CA practices are mainly implemented in cash crops, such as soybean, corn and cassava, leaving marginal-income crops, such as fruit trees, behind. More research about CA in fruit tree production in Cambodia is needed. This study investigates cover crops’ opportunities and constraints in mango and longan orchards and farmers’ knowledge and attitude towards this practice. Mango and longan are a source of subsistence income in the country and, therefore, do generally receive less focus. Qualitative and quantitative data collection was conducted in 2022 in Battambang province. Thirty-nine semi-structured household interviews were led in nine villages of Rattanak Mondoul and Banan districts, with CA-, CT- (conventional) and CT (CA*)- (previous CA, now CT) farmers. Two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were led in the Sangha and Borun villages of Rattanak Mondoul districts. Key informant interviews and a literature review were used to gather data. The results showed that most farmers do not know the definition of CA. CA- and CT (CA*)-farmers are satisfied with applying cover crops and recommend CT farmers to grow them. CT farmers are willing to start growing cover crops in their orchards. The main reasons for farmers to start growing cover crops are weed presence, low soil fertility and high erosion in the orchards. Farmers have noticed an improvement in their orchards and fruit yield since they started growing cover crops. Farmers believe more training and technical support about CA and covering crops are needed. This might also attract more farmers to these approaches, increasing the adoption of CA techniques, improving Cambodian agriculture and reducing soil degradation, deforestation and biodiversity loss.
Keywords
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Copyright (c) 2024 Sofia Marcon, Alessandra Giuliani, Florent Tivet, Setha Rath, Rosa Roeurn, Pesith Phoeng, Veng Sar

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References
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References
Arnfield, A. (2022). Köppen climate classification. Britannica.Com. https://www.britannica.com/science/Koppen-climate-classification
Barman, A., Saha, P., Patel, S., & Bera, A. (2022). Crop Diversification an Effective Strategy for Sustainable Agriculture Development. In V. Meena, M. Choudhary, R. Yadav, & S. Meena (Eds.), Sustainable Crop Production (p. 208). IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102635
Boulakia, S., Kong, R., & Eberle, M. (2013). Sustainable Farming to Sustain Cambodia’s Future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZRAfkP52iM
Climate ADAPT. (2019). Conservation agriculture. Climate-Adapt.Eea.Europa.Eu. https://climate-adapt.eea.europa.eu/en/metadata/adaptation-options/conservation-agriculture/#
Climate Change Knowledge Portal. (no date). Cambodia Climatology. https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/cambodia/climate-data-historical
CountryReports. (no date b). Cambodia Geography. CountryReports. https://www.countryreports.org/country/Cambodia/geography.htm
Creamer, N., Bennet, M., & Stinner, B. (1997). Evaluation of Cover Crop Mixtures for Use in Vegetable Production Systems. HortScience, 32(5), 866–870.
Evans, S. (2022). A Design Response for Sustainability: In the Time of Covid19. In G. Bruyns & H. Wei (Eds.), [ ] With Design: Reinventing Design Modes (pp. 960–972). Springer Nature Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-4472-7_62
Fageria, N., Baligar, V., & Bailey, B. (2005). Role of Cover Crops in Improving Soil and Row Crop Productivity. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 36(19–20), 2733–2757. https://doi.org/10.1080/00103620500303939
Ferreira Dias, A., Giongo, V., da Silva Barros, V., Müller Carneiro, J., & Brito de Figueirêdo, M. (2020). An agile approach for evaluating the environmental-economic performance of cropping systems at experimental stage: The case of Brazilian mango. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 25(8), 1588–1604. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-020-01772-2
Giacalone, G., Peano, C., Isocrono, D., & Sottile, F. (2021). Are Cover Crops Affecting the Quality and Sustainability of Fruit Production? Agriculture, 11(12), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11121201
Hin, P. (2019). Contract farming will boost mango processing capacity. The Phnom Penh Post. https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/contract-farming-will-boost-mango-processing-capacity
Hom, P. (2022). Longan exports to China expected in September. The Phnom Penh Post. https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/longan-exports-china-expected-september
Kienzle, J., & Njenga, B. (2016). Conservation Agriculture. FAO, 2.
Kong, R., Castella, J., Suos, V., Leng, V., Pat, S., Diepart, J., Sen, R., & Tivet, F. (2021). Investigating farmers’ decision-making in adoption of conservation agriculture in the Northwestern uplands of Cambodia. Land Use Policy, 105, 1–12.
Legoupil, J., Lienhard, P., & Khamhoung, A. (2015). Conservation Agriculture in Southeast Asia. In Conservation Agriculture (Farooq Muhammad and Siddique Kadambot H.M., pp. 285–310). https://agritrop.cirad.fr/584727/
Lehmann, J., da Silva, J., Trujillo, L., & Uguen, K. (2000). Legume Cover Crops and nutrient Cycling in Tropical Fruit Tree Production. Acta Hortic, 531, 65–72.
Roberts, R., Abbas, R., Ayyaz, S., Baker, I., Beyer, R., Brown, E., Duthie, R., Johnson, P., Kristedi, T., Kumar, S., Macintosh, H., Markham, R., Nguyen, V., Oakshott, J., Pagnchak-Roat, M., Palanivel, H., Prowse, W., Sophornthida, L., & Wandschneider, T. (2019). Final report. Small research and development activity. Analysis of mango markets, trade and strategic research issues in the Asia-Pacific. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. https://research.aciar.gov.au/aik-saath/sites/_co-lab.aciar.gov.au.aik-saath/files/2020-09/Final%20report%20agb-2015-015.pdf
Schall, N. (2020). Guidelines for exporting longans from Cambodia to China. GIZ (Deutsch Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit), GDA (General Directorate of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries). https://connecting-asia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Final-Longan-Guidelines-Eng-Version.pdf
Snapp, S., Swinton, S., Labarta, R., Mutch, D., Black, J., Leep, R., Nyiraneza, J., & O’Neil, K. (2005). Evaluating Cover Crops for Benefits, Costs and Performance within Cropping System Niches.
SoCo, (Sustainable agriculture and soil conservation). (2009). Conservation Agriculture. European Communities. https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/projects/SOCO/FactSheets/ENFactSheet-05.pdf
The World Bank. (2015). Cambodian Agriculture in Transition: Opportunities and Risks. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/805091467993504209/pdf/96308-ESW-KH-White-cover-P145838-PUBLIC-Cambodian-Agriculture-in-Transition.pdf
Thou, V. (2021). Thailand expected to open door to Cambodian longan. The Phnom Penh Post. https://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/thailand-expected-open-door-cambodian-longan
Vernet, P.-A., Faysse, N., Suos, V., Oung, N., Son, S., Leng, V., Rendall, T., Lor, L., Reyes, M., Chan, S., Pradhan, R., Vang, S., & Tivet, F. (2020). Investing in a no-till planter in Cambodia: A promising opportunity for certain categories of service providers. 2020(1).
Wei, Z., Zeng, Q., & Tan, W. (2021). Cover Cropping Impacts Soil Microbial Communities and Functions in Mango Orchards. Agriculture, 11(343), 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11040343
Won, S. (2021). Cambodian mango goes to China. Tridge. https://www.tridge.com/stories/cambodian-mango-es-into-china?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=fulfillment&utm_content=general_url_mar10&gclid=CjwKCAjwqauVBhBGEiwAXOepkQIQj245pJl8twh55VMMPpdVlcGwhys5Bp8BCamhvl1Zrdccms1riRoCIEQQAvD_BwE