Conservation agriculture with drip irrigation in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Vegetable production is a women’s domain in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Women decide what and when to plant, what maintenance activities to do and when to harvest and how much to market and retain for family consumption. Vegetables in Siem Reap comes from neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Thailand. Increasing Siem Reap farmers capacity to produce vegetables will make them compete successfully in the local market. By using conservation agriculture -- minimum soil disturbance, continuous mulch and diverse species -- which minimizes soil evaporation, reduces soil temperature, arrests soil erosion, and increases soil fertility from legume mulch farmers will conserve their soil resource and make their farming more productive and sustainable. The addition of low cost drip irrigation will make Siem Reap women farmers produce well during the dry season (November to April). Even during the rainy season, irrigation is sometimes needed due to having sandy soils that dries up quickly in between rainfall occurrences.CA with drip will lessen labor burden of women farmers in intensive vegetable production. When fully established, the cover crops or mulch in CA will prevent weed growth and lessen evaporation thus needing less water than exposed soils. Drip irrigation will make farmers control water given to plants minimizing water loss, diseases, and weeds. Also, sensitive crops such as cucumbers will not be prone to being hit by the sprinklers avoiding them from being aborted.