Last month, I traveled to Kratie and on my way back to Phnom Penh, passed through Kampong Cham province, I stopped for about 15 minutes to buy pine apples, the fruit I like eating after lunch or dinner. People could find delicious pine apples in Kampong Cham, Cambodia. From day to day, people who passed the national road 6A of Kampong Cham buy pine apples to share with their relatives. I think you, your relatives and friends may like it as well. You may like domestic products rather than imported pine apples.

Kampong Cham is favorable in plantation like rubber, cashew, pine apples, etc. Kampong Cham would be a suitable place to increase agricultural productivity, however, there is no report of any specialization of Cambodian farmers for exports.

I have talked with my economist friend regarding this today. He mentioned that studying about Cambodia’s competitiveness would help Cambodia to divert from extensive to intensive agriculture. Because the study would advice the areas for farming productivity and farmers would try their best to produce more with high value, perfection, sanitation, and other means which ensure competitiveness. But the first and important factor that support this development is to lay down infrastructure such as roads, and irrigation.

Roads condition is now better and is still priority for Cambodia in the next five years. And thus irrigation must be high priority as well if rural development is to achieved with reduction of poverty.