Cambodian rice expert produces ‘more with less’

WHEN he introduced his novel rice production method to Cambodian farmers more than a decade ago, Yang Saing Koma had to battle sceptics who laughed at his idea. How could less irrigation and shallower planting result in higher yield? But Koma, founder of the Cambo­dian centre for Study and Development in Agriculture (Cedac), only had to tap one brave farmer to get his programme going. Today, his System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is an official rice production method endorsed by the Cambodian government, credited for doubling the country’s total rice output in the last decade…

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/9/2/asia/11950264&sec=asia