IJERD – International Journal of Environmental and Rural Development (2013) 4-1

Research article
erd

E-Learning Solution on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP)for Students of Higher Learning in Cambodia (FocusVegetables)
ARUNA RAJENDRAM*
Malaysian Institute of Information Technology, University Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Email: arunarajendram@miit.unikl.edu.mySHANMUGA VIVEKANADA NADARAJAN
Malaysian Institute of Information Technology, University Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

DAHLAN ABDUL GHANI
Malaysian Institute of Information Technology, University Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

LOR LYTOUR
Graduate School, Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Received 21 December 2012

Accepted 27 March 2013(*Corresponding Author)

Abstract Food security is one of the critical development issues faced by several
developing countries. One avenue of yielding quality crops is by ensuring that good
agricultural practices are followed throughout the entire farming cycle. This research
focuses on educating students of higher learning on good agricultural practices associatedwith growing vegetables. Research target are students who are currently pursuing tertiary
education in the field of agronomy and agroindustry, as it is expected that upon graduation,
they will represent the frontlines of various agricultural concerns. As such, students form
the basis for sustainable education as they can replicate knowledge gained and impact
farmers on good agricultural practices through proper education, as well as enforcement.
For the purpose of this research, students from Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia
are identified as participants. The electronic learning method (e-Learning) is deployed to
expose students to new mechanisms of teaching and learning, as well as to encourage
students to be more active in independent studying. As teaching material, interactive
multimedia videos canvassing the general farming guidelines, production and post harvest
practices pertaining to the cultivation of vegetables are produced and distributed tostudents through workshops. A web portal is also developed to form an online communityof students and promote interaction through forums, live chats, news updates and social
networking platforms.
Keywords good agricultural practices, e-learning, sustainable education, safe vegetables

INTRODUCTION
Food security remains as one of the critical development areas faced by many developing countries
all over the world. Food security   is  said   to   be   a   country’s   capacity   to   provide  and   ensure   people  have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietaryneeds and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Reduced and inadequate food supply
versus  increasing  demand  from  a  growing  population  is  the  simple  imbalanced  equation  to  today’s  global issue of food shortage, with developing countries worst hit in spite of agriculture
contributing a rather significant percentage to their respective GDPs.
While there are many undergoing efforts and research to improve agricultural produce,
effective educational efforts at grass root levels is necessary to ensure the success of these
improvement efforts. One of the measures to improve food security is by adhering to goodⒸ ISERD

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agricultural practices or commonly known as GAP. GAP involves taking all possible procedures
recommended before, during and after the growing period to ensure that optimum quality andquantity of yield can be produced. The procedures cover a wide spectrum of farming activities,
ranging from soil management, irrigation and fertilization to harvesting as well as packaging andstorage.
There are several benefits of implementing GAP as highlighted by the Caribbean Agricultural
Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):
x The appropriate adoption and monitoring of GAP helps improve the safety and quality offood and other agricultural productsx By improving the quality and quantity of yield, farmers are able to increase their incomeand living conditions. In the long run, poverty levels can be reduced
x It may help reduce the risk of non-compliance with national and international regulations,standards and guidelines, regarding permitted pesticides, maximum levels of contaminants
in food and non-food agricultural products
x Adoption of GAP helps promote sustainable agriculture by preserving the environment (nocontamination of water and soil)
Good agricultural practices is a very wide field and its application differs depending on the type ofcrop. For the purpose of this project, vegetables are selected as the focus area because they areeasily susceptible to diseases which either damage the crop or render it unsafe for consumption. Assuch, complying with GAP for this type of crop is crucial.
Case Study: Cambodia
The Kingdom of Cambodia, is a developing country located at the southern section of Indochina inSoutheast Asia. From its population of 11.5 million people, 84% are working in the agriculture
sector.   Cambodia’s   main   produce   include   rice,   cereal   grains,   vegetables,   fresh   fruits   and   sea  products.
For the purpose of this project, Cambodia has been chosen as the country of study due to its
deep involvement in agriculture activities. Additionally, University Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) andRoyal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh (RUA) have been collaboration partners on various
projects pertaining to Information Technology and student exchange programmes. For thesereasons and familiarity, both universities are collaborating on this project to develop e-Learningmaterials for students of RUA to educate them on GAP.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
Education on GAP has been implemented in developing countries for many years. The traditionalapproach (for developing countries) has been top-down, where agencies involved in formulating
the practices train extension staff, and the latter is deployed to agricultural farms to educate farmers.
Methods of teaching could be verbal, written literature and demonstrations. Literature suggests thatwith this traditional approach of educating farmers from some developing countries such as
Cambodia have some limitations and the results of growing by adhering to GAP procedures takes along time. This may be due to several challenges, such as the ones mentioned as follows.
Poor lteracy levels
In Cambodia, 77% of adults either have no education or only have primary school level education.
In fact, 47% did not even have the opportunity to complete primary education (www.
cambcomm.org.uk). As GAP generally involves specific procedures, measurements andinstructions, one would require written manuals for reference. However, with low literacy levels,
farmers in developing countries such as Cambodia may have difficulty reading and following allpractices outlined.
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Lack of expertise to monitor farmers
Implementing and complying with GAP procedures on a day-to-day basis is not an easy feat as
there  are  many  different  guidelines  to  follow  at  different  stages  of  a  crop’s  growth  cycle.  GAP  is  the result of much scientific research and development activities performed by agricultural experts
to continuously improve the quality and quantity of yield. Nevertheless, actual execution is at farmlevel and in the hands of the farmers. Sufficient specialists from agricultural ministries andagencies trained in GAP must be deployed to provinces and farms to not only educate farmers, butbe available to provide hands-on assistance and monitor the cultivation activities of the farmers.
Difficulty in reaching farmers
Most farms and farmers are wide spread all across Cambodia and physically reaching out andcommunicating with them can be a challenge. In 2010, based on the ASEANGAP, the Ministry ofAgriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Cambodia issued Proclamation No. 099 MAFF on GAP inthe  Production  of  Fresh  Fruit  and  Vegetables.  However,  until  today,  it’s  unclear  how  many  farmers  have heard of this initiative and implemented it. More manpower and effort is required to not only
reach the farmers, but constant follow up is required to ascertain that they follow the GAP
guidelines.
Farmers’  reluctance to change
Very often, farming is a livelihood inherited from one generation to another and over thegenerations, farmers are accustomed to their legacy farming habits which may not be the best
approach  in  today’s  conditions  due  to  changes  in  agricultural  inputs,  climate  and  land  conditions.  
GAP will help farmers deal with these changes and perform farming in a more contemporary way.
However, because these farmers are acclimatized to ancient farming habits, they may not be willingto learn the latest farming methodologies.
Educating students of higher learning on good agricultural practices
Instead of directly coaching farmers at ground level, this project focuses on educating students ofhigher learning on good agricultural practices associated with growing vegetables. The projecttargets students who are currently pursuing tertiary education in the field of agronomy andagroindustry for two reasons. Firstly, upon graduation, these students will be attached to variousagricultural agencies and they can be sent out to the ground level to train and monitor farmers
closely on the implementation of GAP. Secondly, these graduates can be empowered as
enforcement officers. After a period of learning, the Ministry of Agriculture can impose regulations
to compel farmers to adhere to GAP procedures. Subsequently the enforcement officers (who havebeen educated on GAP since tertiary studies) can supervise farms and farmers under theirjurisdiction to ensure GAP-based regulations are followed.
SOLUTION: e-LEARNING FOR AGRICULTURAL STUDENTSAside from contriving an alternative approach to strengthen GAP implementation efforts in
Cambodia that is to expose university students to good agricultural practices, the purpose of thisproject is to expose these students to new mechanisms of teaching and learning via e-Learning andassess their acceptance of such teaching and learning systems.
E-learning is referred to as instructional content or learning experience which is delivered
through electronic technologies. Delivery methods can be as advanced as satellite broadcast orinteractive TV or even more practical such as through the Internet or CD-ROMs. E-learningmodels for higher learning were initially introduced to facilitate distance learning to allowⒸ ISERD160

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individuals in remote areas to gain access to higher education. However, in present times, eLearning has been manipulated to inject variety in teaching as well as to expose students toindependent studying.
According to Abdon, Ninomiya and Raab, e-Learning is increasingly being adopted indeveloped countries, however, it is still relatively unknown and unused as an educational approachin developing countries. e-Learning is emerging as the next explosion in teaching and learning forsome of these reasons:x Portability – students are not confined to the classroom to learn, instead by just owning a
PC or a laptop, they can learn anytime, anywhere or even while on-the-go.
x Improves comprehension – e-Learning content can be developed with rich videos, graphics
and  audio  elements  and  this  improves  a  student’s  ability  to  understand.  
x Consistent – An unavoidable weakness of humans is inconsistency. With e-Learning,
content is standardized and regardless the number of students, everyone receives the same
information in the same manner.
x Flexibility – Students are able to learn at their own pace and not at the pace of the fastest orslowest learner in class. They can spend more time on topics they are weak in or even skip
topics which are known or not required.
Components and methodology
The e-Learning solution developed will comprise of two components – web portal and multimedia
interactive CD. Figure 1 gives the framework summary of this solution. As this project focuses onGAP pertaining to the cultivation of vegetables, the entire e-Learning solution will cover thefollowing categories and modules.
Web portal
The web portal is being developed using Joomla Content Management System (CMS), a free andopen source CMS for publishing various content. Joomla is written in PHP and supports MySQL
database. Joomla is selected as it has a variety of web templates available for selection. Various
content, from text, photos, music, video and documents can be conveniently placed within thetemplate and managed. Another advantage of using Joomla is that it requires almost no technicalskill or knowledge to manage. Once the project is complete, it can be handed over to web
administrators of RUA and they will easily be able to administer and update the website regularly.
The web portal will be developed based on the rapid application development (R.A.D)
methodology,  which  uses  minimum  planning  in  favor  of  quick  prototyping.  With  RAD,  the  portal’s  planning stage is interleaved with the coding process, thus making development faster and easier tochange requirements. The process can also be turned back if changes are required prior to testingand implementation. Feedback from users and testers can be incorporated without changing too
much of the template design. Figure 2 shows the home page of the web portal.
Table 1 Categories and modules
General Guidelines
Planning Practices
Soil Management
Irrigation Practices
Fertilization Practices

Production
Planning the Garden
SowingWatering
Fertilizing
Pest Control
Disease Control
Weeding

HarvestHarvest HandlingContainers
Tools
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Post Harvest
CuringPre-packaging (cleaning,disinfection, artificial waxing)
Packaging
Cooling methods &temperature
Storage
Pest Control & Decay

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Fig. 1 Framework for e-Learning Solution on Good Agricultural Practices

Fig. 2 Screen shots of the Web Portal Homepage (left) and one of the videos from theinteractive CB (right)
Multimedia interactive CD
The multimedia interactive CD will hold individual videos/animations for each module covered
under  GAP.  From  the  home  screen,  students  will  be  able  to  select  which  module’s  video/animation  they  wish  to  view  (for  example  ‘Fertilizing’  under  ‘Production’).  At  the  end  of  the  video/animation,
they can attempt available questions to test their understanding.
The development of the CD content involves three phases, as outlined below:
1. Pre-production - This phase involves idea generation and brainstorming activities on how
to turn information gathered on GAP into suitable graphical content. This is done throughsketches formulating layout with flowcharts and storyboards.
2. Production - Production involves execution from the pre-production phase with the design
ID of the user interface (UI) using creative designing software and programming.
3. Post-implementation - This stage involves system testing on CD Rapid Prototyping to test
the application/system functions and rectify errors.

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CONCLUSION
This project is currently in development phase and is expected to be implemented in RUA in March
2013. This is the first time an e-Learning solution for GAP is developed for students of higher
learning  in  Cambodia.  As  such,  upon  successful  implementation,  students’  acceptance  levels  will  be  gauged and their feedback will be gathered for further improvement.
One of the drawbacks of this solution is that it is fully developed in English and language canbe a barrier to the students fully understanding the content. At the point of writing this paper, due tolack of funding, we are not able to translate and develop this solution in Khmer, which is theCambodian national language.
REFERENCESIFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute). 2002. Reaching sustainable food security for all by2020. Getting the priorities and responsibilities right. IFPRI, Washington, D.C., USA.
CARDI (Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute). 2010. Good agricultural practices(GAP) / Farm management manual.
Izquierdo, J., Fazzone, M.R. and Duran M. 2007. Guidelines   “Good   agricultural practices for familyagriculture”.  Food  and  Agriculture  Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy.
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). 2003. Development of a good agricultural practice approach.
Concept paper for the FAO Expert Consultation on Good Agricultural Practices, 10-12 November 2003.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy.
Trienekens, J. and Zuurbier, P. 2008. Quality and safety standards in the food industry, developments andchallenges. Wageningen University, Netherlands.
Abdon, B.R., Ninomiya, S. and Raab, R.T. 2007. E-learning in higher education makes its debut inCambodia: The provincial business education project. University of Tsukuba, Japan and Sustainable
Development e-Learning Network, USA.

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