Corn on the Cambodian cob suits Korean farmer

Lee Woo-chang examines corns grown at his farm in Cambodia

Lee Woo-chang, 42, set up a farming company called KomerCN in Cambodia back in December 2008 to grow corn. Lee started out small. His initial farm was on 21 hectares (51.89 acres) of land in Wiwalton Village, Kampong Speu Province. However, he wants to expand the farm to 13,000 hectares.

Lee also formed a corn agricultural cooperative with 1,400 Cambodian farmers who are cultivating 7,000 hectares of land. Lee plans to purchase all the corn produced by the cooperative and export it to Korea, which is heavily dependent on corn imports.

According to Lee, it will be one of the first times that Korea has imported corn from a Korean-managed overseas farm.

Lee is in talks with Daesang, a major local food producer, for the Cambodian corn supplies. “If the corn is tested to be safe from toxins or molds, it may happen,” Lee said.

Daesang buys 500,000 tons of corn a year. KomerCN and Daesang are now doing a field study of the farm.

“This is a feat achieved only two and a half years after we entered Cambodia,” Lee said.

CONTINUE READING....