Project News

The Project of Capacity Building for Quality Standard Control of Agricultural Materials (Chemical Fertilizers and Pesticides) – QCAM Project – organized its final project seminar at Hotel Cambodiana in Phnom Penh on 14 December, 2011. The main objectives of the seminar were to share and discuss the project outcomes, issues and measures related to the proper management of fertilizers and pesticides. The aim was to do this with the main stakeholders – not only with the staff of the Department of Agricultural Legislation (DAL) and the General Directorate of Agriculture (GDA) in Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), but also with other relevant stakeholders in the management of agricultural materials, such as the other relevant ministries, development organizations and private companies dealing with the agricultural materials. In total, 144 participants participated in the seminar.

In opening the seminar, Mr. Yasujiro Suzuki, Chief Representative of the JICA Cambodia Office introduced the main achievements of the QCAM Project, while encouraging the participants to take advantage of this seminar to strengthen cooperation in order to better manage agricultural materials.

In his opening remarks, H.E. San Vanty, Under Secretary of State of the MAFF and Director of the QCAM Project, expressed his great appreciation for JICA's support through the QCAM Project for the technical advancement on capacity building of his staff related to the analysis and management of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

H.E. San Vanty (Center), H.E. So Khan Rithykun (Left), Director General of the GDA and Mr. Yasujiro Suzuki (Right), Chief Representative, JICA Cambodia.

Dr. Kazuhiko Yagi explaining the overview of the QCAM Project.

After the opening ceremony, major project activities were presented by the members of the QCAM Project. Dr. Keiji Tanaka, an expert on registration and management of pesticides, presented "Revision of the Pesticide List and Pesticide Management in Cambodia." In his report, Dr. Tanaka introduced his recommendations on the registration and management of pesticides for the MAFF, while sharing information on the Japanese registration system of pesticides and other laboratory experiments. The participants, including H.E. San Vanty, listened intently in order to make the most of the information. The many questions and discussions raised by the participants indicated the high level of interest in the seminar.

In particular, many technical questions were raised on the draft law on the management of pesticides and fertilizers, as well as on the registration procedures by private companies, which have decided to form an association, named Cambodia Agricultural Materials Traders Association (CAMTA). One participant commented that the MAFF should regularly broadcast the TV programs of the QCAM Project to raise the awareness of Cambodian people on proper selection and use of pesticides because the programs are very effective. H.E. San Vanty replied that the MAFF would make an effort to do so.

(Left and Right): Dr. Keiji Tanaka, Expert on registration and management of pesticides.

Mr. Ouk Syphan, Director of the DAL, introducing the draft law on the management of pesticides and fertilizers.

Participants in the seminar.

Finally, H.E. San Vanty closed the seminar by saying that he would like to request that all the stakeholders cooperate closely with the MAFF for the proper management of agricultural materials, while the MAFF will continue to do its utmost on this challenging task (Note: The National Assembly agreed to promulgate the law on the management of pesticides and fertilizers on 22 December, 2011.).

Although the QCAM Project is coming to an end in March 2012, we sincerely hope that following this seminar, the MAFF will start to establish good collaborative relationships for the management of agricultural materials with all the stakeholders. Further, we look forward to the MAFF properly managing agricultural materials in a timely fashion so that all farmers can properly select and use the agricultural input materials to enrich their agricultural production and livelihoods in this country.

Written by Toshinori Hamaguchi, Technical Expert