Quality and benefits of good agricultural practice method on choy sum cultivation in northern Cambodia

Abstract

Choy sum (Brassica chinensis var. parachinensis) is one of the important green leafy vegetable crops widely produced and consumed in Cambodia. Most of the farmers practically use chemical inputs to increase their choy sum’s yield, yet negatively affecting consumers’ health. Accordingly, assuring food safety and higher yield of choy sum are essential for sustainable economic growth and development in Cambodia. In this study, we aimed to investigate the quality and benefits of choy sum cultivation using good agricultural practice (GAP) over the organic farming systems in northern Cambodia; where growth rate, yield and economic efficiency of choy sum crop were assessed. Completely randomized design was employed on three treatments (non-treated control, organic method, and GAP), while classical statistical tests were used to examine the difference of quality and benefits between the treatments. As a result, cultivation technique-GAP method provided a better growth rate, yield, and economic profitability than other treatments. Thus, GAP method’s application is recommended for choy sum crop production and other potential green leafy crops. These findings provided more concrete evidence on financial benefits and quality of production of the GAP method on leafy plant growth (choy sum). Therefore, agricultural extension using GAP method would be a good technique to promote agricultural value chain, while improving food safety and livelihoods of Cambodian farmers.