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Here is what we are building in Bakong. We call it Sustainable Farming.
1) The Hydroponics Greenhouse is 10m x 20m
We have 9 beds.
Each bed has 8 rows of plastic pipe.
Each row has 45 holes for planting.
So 9 beds x 8 rows x 45 holes = 3,240 plants we can grow in the Greenhouse. Each harvest takes about 30 days. That will vary depending on the crop. Right now we are growing Bok Choy, Spinach and Curly Cabbage.
The HG is still in development. We are tweaking it all the time to get the best results. No chemicals. So total installed cost is not available yet. But it is not cheap.
2) The Net Garden is built and tilled. It is 28m x 28m. We will be growing crops in the ground. No chemicals. Our PM is making her own fertilizer from cow dung and compost from food scraps.
3) The Aqua Pond 8m x 28m will go in after the GH and NG are operating satisfactorily. We will sell the fish and use the poop in the fertilizer.
I am not publishing prices until we are satisfied with the 2 segments: HG and NG. Then we will have true costs, and we will know our yield: ROI.
The ultimate objective is to replicate one and/or more segments of the program in villages around the country, funding to come from LMRF, raised from individual donations, foundations, and ag schools around the world. We’ll replicate at cost.
We are developing this on an MoU with the Royal University of Agriculture. 2 PhDs in agronomy are helping us build this. What we are doing in Bakong has never been done in Cambodia before.
Never figured I’d be learning a new program at my age. But it’s fun.
by Olive & Lake 