Field Study 2: Sothy's Pepper farm

 

1. INTRODUCTION

The CamEd International Business Club conducted a field study at the Sothy's Pepper farm in the province of KEP on October 23, 2022. With a total of 33 participants over the course of the two shifts, this field study was led by two team leaders, Ms. Chhiv Dane and Ms. Hak Yousa, with assistance from the management team of CIBC. One of the most well-known pepper farms in Cambodia, Sothy's produces and grows pepper with high quality and without threatening the health of its consumers. The farm was in KEP, Cambodia, and its three hectares of land were covered with fruit trees, including papaya, mango, durian, and pepper, all of which were grown without the use of pesticides.

2. PURPOSE

The goals of this tour include getting a close-up look at Sothy's pepper farm in person, learning about the history of pepper in the KEP Province, having discovered how Cambodian pepper is produced, and recognizing the various types of pepper that have managed to help Cambodian pepper become the most well-known pepper in the world. This also makes the members learn new things and also get to know how famous the pepper is in Cambodia  and also the quality of the product which makes everyone amaze by it and also how Cambodian farmers work hard to get this kind of good results.

3. VISION

In order to grow organic pepper and other crops using environmentally friendly techniques, Sothy's Pepper Farm makes its own pesticides and fertilizers to control insects that hurt the pepper plants out of the leaves and seeds of a few nearby plants. Their economic goal is to produce 80 percent of the total for trade in Cambodia and 20percent of the  total for export. Compared to other farms in KEP, this farm trades more with Cambodia. His products are very much healthy and very popular for the foreigners and also for Cambodian .

4. BACKGROUND

This 3 hectares farm had been operated for 14 years, and had a total of 850 pepper trees, around 300 mango trees, 20 rambutan trees, and another 20 durian trees. Kampot pepper has a history that dates back to more than 100 years ago and originated from Southern India. In the past, Kampot pepper was used as a sacred medicine that cures cancer, and is usually given to pregnant women after delivering babies. In 130 C.E, China introduced the black pepper, known as Negro pepper, to Cambodia. This plant can only be grown in places with tropical climates such as Asia, North America, and Africa. It is a self-pollinating plant which is planted in the rainy season, and picked between January and April during the dry season when it is between 10% and 30% ripe. What makes Kampot pepper popular, high quality, and greatly aromatic is because it is 100% chemical free and grown in Kampot Province, a location near the sea with the soil rich in ore, and has an ideal temperature for spices such as pepper. 

5.  PEPPER FARM

They have two varieties of their famed farm-produced product: black pepper and red pepper. They use lemongrass and other plants grown to ward off insects in their organic farming. The greatest option for growing all the crops in the farm is to amend the soil with cow manure and old-style Khmer farming. They only harvest mature peppers, which are between 10percentage points and 20percentage points in percentage, 2-3 times per year, in February, March, and May after cultivating, drying, and processing peppers. The two varieties of peppers can then be combined to produce a wide variety of peppers for the market.

6. TYPE OF PEPPER

Red pepper, green pepper, black pepper, white pepper, red pepper pickle, green pepper pickle (can store for a year or two years), and black pepper pickle. All of these peppers rose to prominence as the most well-known peppers, with increased exports to Europe and widespread use as food additives.