A Young Cambodian Orchid Farm

A kind of beautiful flower plants, like the grasses and the palms, which they resemble in some ways to the typical flower and usually appear in nearly every villages in Phnom Penh or the standard hotel unevenly is the orchid. In Cambodia today orchid is one of the most expensive flower, because most of them are import from foreign countries, however the weather is suitable for their growing easily. Orchid is one of the most beautiful flower in the garden around Phnom Penh, unfortunately most of them were imported from neighboring countries, epecially from Thailand, Singapore, and Taiwan, except some that is growing in a few farms in Phnom Penh.Pen Khon, owner of Orchid Farm who starts sowing, crossbreeding and planting in his own farm said now orchid plant is one of the popular flower among the Cambodian richers, but we have not more than 10 farms. “Hundred orchid plant have been sold every month, but 90 percent of them have been import, therefore I am ambitious to establish my farm up”, he said. Orchid Farm is not a big one yet, that why it can not support the orchid market in Cambodia enought. This farm locates in Chea Sophara Development Village on nearly 1ha. Most of the orchid there is just the young orchids. Pen Khon said, “I want to support the market 100 percent, but I need time. Now I can say that I can support the market just 5 percent only, because of the technique I need to learn more. I just know how to breed, plant and sow them, but I do not know how to crossbreed yet”. “I can support the market just 100 pot per month, and they are ranke from $1.45 to $ 40 per pot depend on the kind of orchid. This what I can do now. Orchid is the flower for the rich man now,but in the nearly future I will make the poor can afford”, he said.Ms Lay Pech, a flower seller in Central Market said “there are at least 10 orchid pot are sold every week and each pot is not cheaper than 2 $ easily, while some kind of plant is 1 $, but is very difficult to sell”. She said, she can sell orchid plant so expensive, but she can not earn good profit from them, because they are the import product. She hope that if she can plant them by themselves or by Cambodian farmer they will get more profit and she can sell them more cheaper, but many people can afford.Among ten kind of the guarden flowers such as nerium alba, nerium cleander, tagetes erecta, hibiscus roasa sinensis, rose, cestrum nocturnum, bougainvillea spectabilis, mirabilis jalapa, and allamanda cathaca, are not expensive as the same as orchid plant, she said.   “Most of Cambodian people love orchid, but they can not afford, because it so expensive. I never see people get out the motocycle to buy my orchid. I just see they get off car”, she said with smille.  Pen Khon is not the plant expert, he is a journalists, but he love orchid. He know something about the orchid is from his reading some orchid book in English, Thai, and Chinese.According to him, there are thousand of orchid families. He said in reference to some document over the world there are 25,000 species. Some sources give 30,000 species, but the exact number is unknown since classification differs greatly in the academic world and in his farm there are only a few kind yet. Most of them are kurlya, and dendro orchid. “However, my orchid farm is a small one and have a few kind of orchids, but this is my optimistic, because it grow up by my own hand”, he saidOrchid is one of the most of expensive and favorable flower families over the world. It is  the largest and most diverse of the flower plant in the world. In Cambodia  it is so expensive and many Cambodian people can not afford that why Mr. Pen Khon have a vision to establish his own farm up. “ Now I am just starting, but if the future I would be success, I hope that the orchid plant price would be more cheaper and most of people who love natural garden would afford.”, he said.