Growing Diversity - Asia
TITLE OF EXPERIENCE: Much more than rice: Rice field biodiversity and food security in Southeastern Cambodia
AUTHOR: Numa Shams, Tuy Samram, Dennis Gutierrez, Mum Phanny and Ngang Sameoun
COUNTRY AND REGION: Cambodia
ECOLOGICAL ZONE:
ABSTRACT
In an attempt to study the conservation and management of fish varieties and aquatic plants in the rice fields of Cambodia, a nine-month study was conducted by the Catholic Relief Service with farmers of the Chrok Motes Commune, Svay Teap district, Svay Rieng Province on catches of fish and other aquatic products. The objective of the study was to assess types and quantity of wild fish available and aquatic plants vis a vis time of the year. Farmers were presented a research design for feedback and participated in the selection of the study villages. Twelve farmers recorded their daily catch while technicians gathered the data weekly.
The catch was dependent on proximity of the farmer to bodies of water, including swamps, natural depressions, and others aside from their rice fields. The peak production months coincide with the duration of the rainy season. The aquatic plants collected from the 3 villages ranged from 12-16 kg/mo. September and October were the best months for collecting aquatic plants while March and April were the least productive months. The greater availability of these aquatic plants during these months was important to the villagers because vegetables become more costly.
Farmers in the Chrok Motes commune usually collect fish and aquatic products from the rice field (including canal, lake, swamps, etc.), trap fish in the rice field and in the homestead. From these sources, 21 types of fish were collected by the villagers. Large fish species constituted 89% of the catch (weight basis) and included snake head, walking catfish and climbing. Small fish constitutes 7% while aquatic plants accounted for the remaining 4% of the total yield. The majority of the aquatic plants were collected from the homestead (69%) while the rest of the plants were collected from the ricefields. The aquatic plants collected in the rice fields were comprised of 20 varieties.
A large portion of the total fish catch (78%) is generally sold in the market while the rest were consumed (18%) or processed (4%). Although fish is produced also from pond culture, the fish is for subsistence.
Productivity of wild fish depends on the duration of the rainy season. The catch of wild fish is dependent on pursuit of small scale aquaculture by farmer. In times of low availability of natural fish, interest in aquaculture increases.
Villages situated closely to fish habitats shall play a major role in management of natural aquatic resources. It was recommended that initiatives on conservation involve farmers living in these pivotal villages.
CONTACT
Numa Shams, Tuy Samram, Dennis Gutierrez, Mum Phanny and Ngang Sameoun, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Cambodia Program, #26 Street 125, Quarter Boeung Pralit, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, Tel. No. (855-23) 211 165, Fax No. (855-23) 216 960, Email: crsag@bigpond.com.kh, numa@bigpond.com.kh, samram@bigpond.com.kh