East-West Seed has held launching ceremony in Cambodia on 17 August 2017, where it stressed on boosting the productivity and sustainability of the vegetable sector by providing quality seeds and training to the farmers in the country
According to the company, more than 100 guests and stakeholders from government, NGO partners, businesses, key distributors and farmers participated in the event.
Commenting on the ceremony, Rithea Heng, country representative of East-West Seed in Cambodia, said, “We want to increase the Cambodian farmers’ understanding and appreciation of quality seeds and promote best practices that will increase their yield and income.”
“Our business activities are focused on distributing vegetable seeds through a network of distributors in key vegetable-growing areas in Cambodia. We also engage in knowledge transfer because having good quality seeds is not enough to make vegetable farming profitable. Good agronomic practices are essential to maximise the genetic potential of the varieties we introduce in the market,” he added.
In May 2017, East-West Seed participated in the World Economic Forum - Grow Asia held in Phnom Penh. The long-term plans include increasing farmer profitability by 20 per cent by 2020 and integrating smallholder farmers into the value chain to get a fair price for their produce.
East-West Seed began operations in Cambodia in 2005. In 2009, it expanded to knowledge transfer activities in cooperation with GIZ and PDA in Siem Riep, aimed at training farmers on improved farming practices that result to higher productivity.
In 2016, the company established a fully owned subsidiary in Cambodia.
Currently, East-West Seed is the only multinational seed company with full operations in Cambodia.
