Like almost all other countries in Asia, the Cambodian people’s main food is rice. Cambodian peasants have planted rice ever since the time of the Angkor Empire. At the present time they still implement their traditional techniques.

Cambodia has a geographical advantage and is extremely blessed with good water resources. The people in the countryside still plant their rice seasonally. The most common time they would plant is the wet or monsoon season. In the dry season, the only farmers who can plant their rice paddy fields are those near water.

Research by the IRI (International Rice Institute) claims that the traditional rice that Cambodian people plant every year comprises around 4000 varieties, of which most of the varieties are late rice that take about 9 months from planting to harvesting.

Most of the farmers start planting at the beginning of the monsoon season, when the first or second rain falls on the land. They start by plowing their land with their traditional ploughs pulled by cattle they raised themselves. Most of the cattle they raise are cows and water buffalos; this varies by region. If their land is high land, they would use cows to plow. If the land is flooded, they would use water buffalos, and this technique still works magnificently.

The rice seed that will be used needs to be soaked in water for 24 hours before germination. There are two methods of planting: the first and oldest way is to scatter the seed by hand into the rice field, and the second way is to germinate the seed in a well prepared piece of land.

Rice Seedlings in Svay Rieng Provice

After the seed grows into seedlings, farmers would pull it out and bring it to their field to plant. After planting, the farmers still have many hardships to surmount in order to obtain a good harvest. If the rainfall is good, then their only worries during the growing stage are pests and insects or illnesses. If that season does not have enough rainfall then their biggest worry will arise because the crucial ingredient for successful rice plantation is water: how do they water their field?

When the rice stalks grow into the final stage, the farmer needs to control crabs that cut the rice stalks and at this time they also need to fertilize their rice field.

In another week or two, the rice grains will become yellow or even a golden color. It boosts our farmers’ hearts so much when they see this color. They still carefully guard their field against mice and birds. Then on a good sunny day, they will come to the paddy field with their family and friends, each and every one of them having a sickle hanging around their neck, singing a happy song while they work hard to harvest, thinking about the good yield they got this year that will secure their family’s food for the next year.