Official partnership between Olmix and Nileda to develop agriculture in Cambodia

Olmix received the visit from one of its major distributors in South-East Asia: the Cambodian-based company Nileda. The purpose of this visit was to formalize the collaboration in a partnership agreement. Thanks to this commitment, Nileda will benefit from daily technical monitoring of target crops such as durian, cashew nuts, cassava and rice, as well as marketing support and assistance with sustainable agriculture projects.

During their week in Europe, Nileda had the opportunity to visit the industrial sites of the Olmix: first in Langar in the UK, then at the company’s headquarters in the west of France, not far from the Brittany coasts, to discover the manufacturing process of Olmix Plant Care solutions.

On this occasion, Nileda received a special training in seaweed harvesting from Maria Matard-Mann expert from the Roscoff Biological Station and in Olmix technologies and solutions from technical and agronomic managers. This training was followed by a workshop led by the R&D department to cross-fertilize participants’ knowledge and practices and reflect on future joint developments on the Cambodian market.

The first business relationship between Nileda and Olmix began in 2017 with Melfert, an organic fertilizer which support growers to improve soil structure and optimize chemical fertilizers inputs. Then from 2022, the two companies worked closely together to launch a new range of biosolutions including Seamel BLOOM, a foliar biostimulant based on red algae extracts, which helps to improve plant development and resistance to environmental stresses, and Amix SILK, a specialized foliar fertilizer with OPENLEAF^® complexation technology inside.

A year later, building on the success of the first solutions, and the interest shown by users in these innovative solutions, four new algae-based biostimulants were added to the range:

• Seamel ZEN, focus on photosynthesis and stress control,

• Carboplex, focus on fruit setting stage,

• Proplex, focus on vegetative development stage,

• C-Weed AA, focus on seed treatment and abiotic stress control.

"At Nileda, we quickly grasped the importance of turning to innovative, high value-added solutions to meet the needs of an agricultural sector in transition, increasingly subject to climate change and requiring higher standards″ explains Mr. KANG Vannak, founder and Managing Director of NILEDA.

″That’s why we have high ambitions with Olmix biosolutions. But Nileda has not only a profit objective,″ continues the executive, ″We have also a social vision of helping Cambodian farmers transform their traditional low-yield farming practices into technical, modern agriculture using the right inputs to improve productivity, and crop quality.″

According to Catherine Lamboley, Olmix Plant Care Business Unit director: ″We firmly believe that the adaptation of agriculture to climate change, which is already underway, must involve the use of new bio-sourced solutions, with a low carbon footprint, capable of stimulating the natural functions of soils and plants for higher resistance in the face of increasingly brutal climate variations. This is the mission of the Olmix group, as well as supporting our partners such as Nileda in the evolution of farming practices for a more sustainable agriculture in a context of profound change.″ 

Beside the distribution of Olmix innovative solutions, the Olmix Plant Care teams in South-East Asia and Nileda, in collaboration with partners from Vietnam and Thailand, regularly organize technical meetings with growers. The aim is to share practices and knowledge, and forge links between distributors and growers with the active participation of agronomists and crop protection specialists.

This collaboration will be showcased during Brittany Week from October 16 to 20, 2023 in Cambodia, through a Technical Forum co-organized by the two companies. The event will welcome around a hundred participants, including presidents of grower association for key crops such as cassava and cashew nuts, members of the Ministry of Agriculture and the country’s main NGOs, officials from the French Brittany region and key players in the agricultural sector: distributors, retailers and producers. The program will include presentations on the future challenges facing agriculture and the issues that are at the heart of farmers’ concerns. 

ABOUT NILEDA

Nileda was founded in 2013 by Mr. KANG Vannak, and experiences a steady growth, by sourcing and providing high quality agricultural inputs, including agrochemical, fertilizers, and seeds but also technical and entrepreneurial expertise became a main and leading actor of Cambodia agricultural landscape. Nileda imports from more than 10 countries worldwide and operates in 24 Cambodian provinces distributing to wholesalers, dealers, retailers, and large plantation. Nileda has formed two operating subsidiaries, Cambo Agri Crop Solution, which focuses on rice and cash crops; and Agro Farmacy, emphasizing cashews, fruit trees (e.g., durian, mango, longan, citrus) and casava. For all these reasons, Nileda has established itself as one of the leading players in agricultural development in Cambodia.