Educational Trials to Quantify Agronomic Information in Interdisciplinary Fieldwork in Pursat Province, Cambodia

Abstract

Improving agricultural research and education is highly recommended to control agricultural development and environmental sustainability in Cambodia. Agricultural research mostly focuses on interviews with farmers as a first measure in developing countries, but a lack of quantitative accuracy remains one of the major constraints. In this situation, we conducted educational activities for master’s degree students of the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA) to append agronomic information with popular equipment in interdisciplinary fieldwork in Pursat Province, Cambodia. For the popular equipment, an RGB camera, a reflectometer as well as pH and EC meters were selected. The agronomic information collected by the students supported the results obtained during the interviews. For example, the difference in fertilizer application between the irrigated and nonirrigated areas was confirmed by the soil ammonium concentration evaluated with a reflectometer; the difference in rice growth among water conditions was confirmed by the leaf area percentage evaluated with an RGB camera. Since the majority of the students lacked agricultural and statistical knowledge, the agronomic information quantified by popular equipment provided proper educational materials. The interdisciplinary fieldwork also indicated serious problems in the study area, such as low beneficial crop production and environmental sustainability. To overcome these problems, improving agricultural education is required to foster skillful agricultural professionals, and the quantification of agronomic information is an essential issue.