BRM Agro Co., Ltd., Cambodia's largest vertically integrated rice farm and rice mill, has confirmed the installation and operation of its new modern seed processing plant at the company's Santuk District, Kampong Thom rice mill complex. 

The new seed processing line weighs, measures and separates quality rice seed before scanning with a sophisticated colour sorting machine capable of seeing through rice husks to ensure farmers will receive high-yielding and quality seed for the next season's crop.

BRM Agro’s Deputy CEO Patrick Davenport discussed the company's operations, adding "BRM Agro is one of the only rice mills with a substantial rice land bank and works closely with over 2,000 smallholder farmers within the area of the mill in a fairly unique manner. The company finances the seed, fertiliser and pesticides required and assists the farmers with a smallholder support team which visits each farmer on a weekly basis.

By controlling the rice inputs, we can better control the output of quality and can offer a level of traceability which in the past has been difficult for buyers in Europe and beyond to obtain and something they require for imports. This innovation and modernisation means it has fueled our rapid growth and profitability."

Davenport commented that the seed advanced to the smallholder farmers that BRM Agro works with, helps its farmers obtain yields of 5 metric tonnes (MT) per hectare which is much higher than the Cambodian average of 2.8 MT per hectare.

In the past, Cambodian farmers have complained about poor quality seeds entering the Kingdom from traders such as Vietnam. Davenport explained that if the seed is old or of lower quality, harvest yields will often be very low, hence less profitable and putting strain on the farmers and their families. 

BRM Agro has been and continues to work closely with the Cambodia Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and hopes to expand its seed processing business into a fully-fledged division offering quality seeds which are grown and processed in Cambodia for Cambodian farmers at a significant discount to the cost of current imported seeds