At a meeting with 1,400 people in attendance in Ro-ang commune of Kampong Cham province’s Kampong Siem district on April 30, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Veng Sakhon advised them to work on recovering their family’s economic prospects by resuming all types of agriculture in order to ensure sustainable food security.

He said the meeting, held after a more than two-year Covid-19 hiatus and attended by over 1,400 members, showed that socio-economic activities and especially family gatherings had begun to return to the normality of the pre-Covid-19 crisis.

He added that the government had used every means available to provide support and assistance through the expenditure of national resources and also by obtaining assistance from other nations to get Covid-19 vaccines for the people, eventually leading to the reopening of the country and resumption of economic activity.

Sakhon told them to take care of and maintain good health by living clean, drinking clean water and eating hygienic food and to join in the implementation the safe village-commune policy. He also encouraged the younger generation to go to school regularly.

“Please begin to recover our family economies in all forms to ensure sustainable food security. Not only that, children should be encouraged to attend school regularly once again for their future,” he said.

Tbong Khmum agriculture department director Heng Piseth said on May 1 that officials had advised people to prepare land for farming because the 2022 dry season came sooner than last year but the rainfall is forecasted to be favourable. Most people in Tbong Khmum province plant corn, cassava and rice when the rainy season arrives, he noted.

“We do not forget to advise people to plant them correctly to avoid and reduce unnecessary costs, especially the use of pesticides and fertilisers. If they do not follow the techniques and instead rely on pesticides and fertilisers, it will causes the loss of a lot of resources,” he said.

The provincial agriculture department said food security in Tbong Khmum province was expected to be good for the remainder of the year because the residents of the province are growing vegetables, rice and corn while raising animals.