Note-From-The-Fields
Mrs. Kourn Pov and Her Home Garden
By Thaev In, MJP Agriculture Officer
15 July 2010
Mrs. Kourn Pov aged 51, from Cha Ong Krao in Bueng Run village of Samlout commune, met with MJP’s Agriculture Officer, Mr. Thaev while she was selling her pickled cucumbers. She gladly told a story about her home garden and how the small plot of land behind her house turned into a small cash cow. Below is a quote from her conversation with Thaev.
“I attended MJP’s Home Garden training in late 2008 and was provided with vegetable seeds and some farming tools. In early 2009, I started growing the vegetables in my small plot of 15mx20m in my backyard. In early 2010, I began to grow a variety of vegetables including long beans, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and morning glories. One month later, in February 2010, I started selling the vegetables from this very garden. Today, I can earn 0.50 USD per kilo from fresh cucumbers ( 5 Kilos of fresh cucumber daily), 2500 Riels per kilo from the long beans, 300 Riels to 500 Riels from morning glories, and 500 Riels from a small bag of pickled cucumber (up to 15000 Riels from my pickled cucumber alone). My average daily profit is now 25000 Riels a day. With my profit, I can support my children at primary school and consume more fresh vegetables daily.