Project News

On September 6, 2011, the Project of Capacity Building for Quality Standards Control of Agricultural Materials (Chemical Fertilizers and Pesticides) (QCAM Project), arranged a laboratory tour for 40 third and fourth year students of the Faculty of Agronomy at the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA). The purpose was to provide an opportunity to learn about laboratory activities in two laboratories of chemical fertilizers and pesticides of the General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF).

The Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at RUA first requested that the QCAM Project support the visit after participating in the Project Seminar "For Better Pesticide Management" in Phnom Penh on December 15, 2010. The Dean believed that experiencing the laboratory activities first-hand would be a valuable opportunity for his students　to become better acquainted with the laboratory activities. The QCAM Project then discussed this proposal and agreed to support it.

On the day of the laboratory tour, the students were given a brief introduction on the QCAM Project. They then visited the two laboratories for chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and observed the laboratory activities with a project counterpart (CP) staff guide. The students were very curious about the laboratory equipment. They listened intently to explanations about the laboratory activities by the CP staff, since there is little laboratory equipment in the RUA. It was also a pleasure to see the CP staff confidently explaining the laboratory equipment and activities to the students. Both Ms. Ma. Esperanza DG. Uy, who is an expert on formulation analysis of pesticides, and Ms. Edna Lynn C. Floresca, an expert on the analysis of chemical fertilizers, also appeared very satisfied to see the good CP staff demonstrations, since they have been training the CP staff and know progress of their analytical skills since the first on-the-job training session in August, 2009.

Dr. Kazuhiko Yagi, Chief Advisor of the QCAM Project explaining the QCAM Project to students of the RUA.

Students of the RUA who participated in the laboratory tour.

After their visit at the laboratories, there was a Question and Answer session for the students. They asked the CP staff and two technical experts several questions based on the laboratory tour. For instance, in response to a question by one student on why the formulation analysis of pesticides is necessary, Ms. Uy answered that it is because the analytical activity is needed to make sure that the declared active ingredients of the pesticide products correspond to what is indicated on the labels. Another student asked whether there is any other way to check toxic levels of pesticide products other than by the analytical work. One CP staff explained that they can refer to a color band on the label to see how toxic a pesticide product is using the Guide Book for Pest Management produced by the QCAM Project.

(Left and Right): CP staff showing analytical work on chemical fertilizers to the students.

In spite of worries about adequate preparation for the laboratory tour it was successfully implemented thanks to great efforts by the CP staff and full support by the experts. We hope that such activities will continue to be implemented regularly for young Cambodian people, so that they have more awareness of the MAFF activities, and may even join the laboratory staff as colleagues in the near future.

CP staff (Right) and Ms. Uy (Second right) explaining the laboratory equipment on pesticide analysis.

CP staff explaining the Guide Book for Pest Management.

Written by Toshinori Hamaguchi, JICA Expert