Civil society organizations: farmer
Location: Lao PDR
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Bounhome, Bounhome Farm Owner
Bounhome Mixay started his farm since when he was 10 years old with her parents. His parents have been doing organic farming. Currently, Bounhome still doing organic gardening; he has been trained on organic farming by Huam Jai Asasamak Association (HJA). Bounhome starts planting vegetables in early July to February of each year he grows vegetables near his home. Since he joined Engaging Rural Lao Youths to Promote Community – based Organic Vegetable Farming to Mitigate Impacts of Agrochemicals Project. he mostly grows leafy and heads vegetables.
As a beneficiary, he has received much support including technical training, marketing network and agricultural inputs from HJA and SGP – GEF fund. He notices that organic vegetable production has a huge impact on his family. It reduces product cost, brings good health to support his family.
Bounhome gardening did not perform well, because the area he used to the garden was steep, while the March – June period had no water to be used since his garden was dependent on rainwater and the crop production depends heavily on organic fertilizers from his animals. However, his farm contains a wide range of crop species including vegetables, herbs, and fruit trees which complies well with the agroecological principles. Overall, in order to improve the agro-ecological sustainability in his farm, Bounhome needs to be more independent of the essential farm inputs.
Many farmers in the same area they also use chemicals to produce agricultural commodities. He also joins in many promotion events to raise local awareness of organic consumption including hosting local visits and teaching youths in the communities who want to learn about organic agriculture and compost fertilizer.