2011 Volume 2 Issue 2 Pages 66-71
The Tonle Sap Lake and its periphery exhibit many diversified land use patterns, including fishing areas, grass fields, agricultural land and forest land. Since there have been dramatic changes in these patterns, this research was conducted to identify the dynamics of agricultural land use from 2005-2010 and to investigate the farmers’ socio-economic status in the Baray and Kampong Leaeng districts of Kampong Thom and Kampong Chhnang provinces, respectively. To achieve the objectives, Spatial Analysis on Aerial Photos in 2005 and 2010, Direct Observation, Semi-structured Interviews and Structured Interviews were used. The results showed that the total agricultural land use in Zone 2 of Baray district increased from 23% in 2005 to 30% in 2010, while agricultural land in Zone 2 of Kampong Leaeng district increased from 46% in 2005 to 67% in 2010. 82.39% of total households in Baray district are farmers, while 86.19% of total households in Kampong Leaeng district are farmers, with an average of 5 members per household who rely on rice, subsidiary and industrial crops cultivations. Farming households owned an average of 2.11 ha of rice land and 0.26 ha of cropland in Baray, while in Kampong Leaeng they owned an average of 1.41 ha of rice land and 0.67 ha of cropland. On average, a household in Baray earned $1,452/year from farming and spent on $1,690/year daily living and agricultural production, while in Kampong Leaeng a household earned $1,568/year and spent $1,840/year. In conclusion, the dynamics of agricultural land use in Baray and Kampong Leaeng districts have reduced the flooded forest areas on the Tonle Sap Lake’s periphery. Although farmers have tried to increase their income by extending their productive areas, their income was still found to be lower than expenses. These farmers need to access more job opportunities to support themselves and their families.
