This week, we interviewed AgriBusiness Committee Chairman and CEO at Phu Rieng Kratie Ampivath Caoutchouc Co. Ltd Eugene Kraamwinkel. Mr. Kraamwinkel has been involved in the AgriBusiness Committee since 2018 and currently manages a 6,851 hectare plantation in Kratie where he cultivates cashews, rubber, and forestry products.

EuroCham: Since we last spoke, there’s been a change of leadership in the government. Have you seen progress on the agricultural front with the new leadership?

Eugene: I’ve been really impressed to see changes, sometimes small changes. It’s always this thing when there’s a new government, people will ask, are there going to be changes? What’s going to change, what’s the direction? I must tell you truly what I’ve seen with the new government is there’s definitely a drive to change things, especially for agriculture. The new minister of agriculture made a huge amount of changes, even before the elections. Since the elections, he has kept on pushing for big changes.

One of the things that I’ve been thinking about is putting more harbors in the Mekong River so you can have smoother logistics operations to and from Kratie and different towns coming down the river down towards Phnom Penh, in the context of the new Funan Techo Canal. The Deputy Prime Minister [H.E. Mr. Sun Chanthol, Deputy Prime Minister and First Vice-Chairman of the CDC] has said plans are in the works and he showed us a map at our recent courtesy meeting. You can’t believe the number of harbors being planned in phases for river logistics and this is going to go a long way in solving logistics issues in Cambodia. Combined with the amount of new roads being planned, it’s just telling me that the government is looking at this holistically and they are actually driving towards economic change.

Agriculture may present the quickest way for a government to keep the economic ball rolling in a difficult economic situation, which we are currently in. There’s been a downturn in economics in Cambodia since Covid and it never really returned to what it was before. Tourism, construction, and manufacturing is down, but there’s a steady climb in agriculture.

While some sectors lag behind, the government can pump money into agriculture and larger construction projects. The Funan Techo just broke ground, for example, and that’s pumping money into the economy while pushing domestic production up. There’s also large road projects and shopping centres that will signal to the private sector that money is coming into the market and there’s opportunity. The government has a big drive to make sure to turn it around.
 

That does sound like there are serious plans to boost agriculture while continuing to create other opportunities as well through a variety of projects.

Eugene: Yes, and you should see the technological changes happening not just in agriculture, but governmental processes too are changing at a rapid pace. Since the last time we spoke, the government has employed an electronic system for human resources. The biggest part now is interlinking the systems between ministries. What we learned from our meeting with the CDC is that the plan is to allow companies to register with one entity once, and their information will be disseminated throughout the different ministries, linking everything together and reducing the level of work it takes to properly register with the government.

Some say they may not see many changes yet in the government, but for people who work in a business environment and you deal with these proceses everyday, you definitely notice the change. The government is pushing hard to reach the targers laid out in the Pentagonal Strategy, and it’s had positive impact.

On the agricultural side, how are things faring?

Eugene: We’ve recently been hamstrung by the effects of El Niño [rising sea temperatures causing shifting winds that affect the global climate… one side effect is less cloud formation]. The MAFF actually anticipated this, with a press release in January. They are aware of this change and are constantly looking for ways to get ahead of the problem.

In the day-to-day operations, we’re seeing increased temperatures that cause poor crop production. This year was also particularly bad for the rubber plantations because it was so dry and we lost many trees. We also had bad fires this year that we never had before and our cashew crops suffered, as cashews require a specific temperature for producing seed. For us, we are combatting this by laying organic material underneath the trees, which helps keep moisture in the soil.

A bigger solution is using ground cover and intercropping to ensure the health of the soil. We need to make sure grass is growing on the soil, and by strategically planting trees, we can create a shading effect which helps keep moisture in the soil as well.

Do you see this kind of effort to protect the soil happening on other farms too?

Eugene: There are definitely improvements in this area. In some areas heavy tilling machines have been replaced by no-till machines, meaning the plant is just directly inserted into the soil instead of disrupting the surface layer. Everyone is starting to use cover crops too, which helps balance the soil and provide shade.

I recently visited some farms in Kampong Thom and noticed that they are also using waste materials to build the soil back up, thois works very well. A big factor here is the depth of the top layer of soil and its holding capacity. In Kampong Thom, they have about one metre, while in Kratie, we’re working with only 30 to 40cm.

Could mass irrigation help as well?

Eugene: It could help, but it’s almost impossible and really expensive, especially considering the volume of water what’s available from the rivers during the dry season. Even if you gain irrigation, it doesn’t solve the issue of the temperature, and our focus now is getting the soil temps down. One idea worth considering is communities investing in one large pump for their fields, instead of many single pumps. This way, the paddies could naturally overflow into each other, helping everyone in the community.

On this note, as MAFF has recently stated in our meeting, there is a push to create smart cooperatives, where farmers form small business units. The government could assist with setting these up, offer training and expertise, access to government information, and even provide extension workers. In the end, silos could be built to store product and more profitable markets sought.

As you know, an Agri-food Industrial Park (AIP) is now in the planning stages –  ” AIP”  will serve to offer logistics, processing capacity, common utilities and facilities like testing laboratories and R&D, a one-stop shop for business and trade facilitation and more. What do you think of the viability of a project like this?

Eugene: It’s an exceptional idea and something that should’ve happened a long time ago. One of the points that we discussed in the AgriBusiness Committee last year, was the need for a massive showroom to see what is available in Cambodia and also outside the country. We never really got there because of the inputs required.

I’m so happy that Australia, through CAPRED, is coming forward to make not just a temporary showcase, but a permanent institution where final products can be produced and exports can become a reality. I think it’s really important to have a one-stop agricultural shop where you can get any agricultural equipment you can think of. I would suggest linking with salespeople in Cambodia for all of the big manufacturers to tell them, we’ve got a space for you, whether it’s for companies selling trucking equipment, water pumps, chainsaws, or fertilizer.

Currently, it’s very expensive to find a product, test it, and then negotiate a price to receive the volume you need. The new park could work to solve this.

Lastly, you’ve been involved in the AgriBusiness Committee since 2018, and as we come up on another election cycle, could you reflect on your time as chairman?

Eugene: The term that I did with Rajiv [Pradhan] was incredible. We thought the same way, it’s all about sustainability in agriculture and making sure it’s beneficial for all members in the committee. The exposure  I received was immense participating in the committee as a chairperson. Rajiv is an exceptional person to work with, his knowledge on agriculture is above average and he has a really good drive for sustainability. Using our breakfast talks on the sector as an example, we had a plan for the full two years of what we wanted to achieve, and I do think we hit our goal, which was to make sure our efforts actually provided a valuable service to the members of the committee.