A Single Mother in Agriculture: Pha’s Story
KAMPONG CHAM PROVINCE, CAMBODIA – Living with her mother and teenage daughter in Trapang Thom Village, 42-year-old Vorn Pha relies on agriculture to support her family.
She owns 1,000 square meters of land and rents another 1,000 square meters from relatives. She produces several types of vegetables, including yard long beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, and leafy vegetables like Chinese cabbage.
She earns a good living, but it was not always that way.
Before she joined the Grow Against the Flow project with East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation in June 2022, Pha grew both vegetables and rice. Like many vegetable farmers in the central lowlands of Cambodia, her biggest challenge was the rainy season. The main issues she faced were insects, diseases, and excessive rainfall, which can wash away soil and damage plants. Her crops struggled. She found it particularly difficult to protect her cucumber plants from insect pests, spending her hard-earned money on several different pesticides without success.
Co-funded by the World Vegetable Center, the Grow Against the Flow project (2020–2024) focused on training farmers in off-season vegetable production techniques, enabling them to grow crops even under difficult climatic conditions. Pha joined the project to learn technical farming skills that could help her make more profit and achieve better yields. She wanted to use new techniques that could save her money, rather than sticking to the traditional farming methods she was familiar with.
During training sessions with the EWS-KT team, she learned how to use plastic or fabric shelters to protect her crops. She gained hands-on experience in land preparation, drip irrigation, seedling nurseries, vegetable grafting, identification and management of insects and diseases, responsible use of pesticides, and much more.
“I am now capable of identifying pests and diseases, which helps me choose the appropriate treatment and save money on crop maintenance,” Pha said. Implementing preventive measures like careful monitoring to catch problems early, tomato grafting to protect against bacterial wilt, and shelters to keep out pests and diseases have reduced crop losses and the need for pesticides.
During her enrollment in the Grow Against the Flow project, Pha harvested three different crops. For her first demonstration crop, with 660 square meters of tomato, she earned a net profit of 3,410,000 riels (US$825), which was a 502% return on investment. Her second crop, 300 square meters of yard long bean, brought a net profit of 539,700 riels (US$130), a 169% return on investment. Finally, on her third crop, with 300 square meters of caisim, she earned a net profit of 683,100 riels (US$165), a 408% return on investment.
She is grateful that the EWS-KT technical field team continues to support her at her farm. When her crops encounter problems, the team comes to check and advises her on the best solution.
With the knowledge and skills she has gained, Pha now has expertise of her own to share. Already, she has taught a few of her neighbors how to cover their crops, use drip irrigation, and manage nursery soil for seedling production.
