the kingdom of cambodia, renowned for the iconic world heritage site the located on the

indochina peninsula. of the nation's population of 15 million, approximately 80% still live in rural areas. one man has been educating local communities about effective rice cultivation for the past 20 years. this is yang saing koma.

koma was born in 1966 in a rural area of southern cambodia. when he was small, the country thrived as a major produce and exporter of rice in the region. good harvest brought the hard working people of cambodia peace and abundanabundance. however in 1970, a military coup backed by the united states overthrew the existing government leading the country into a long period of turmoil. over the next 20 years civil war and unrest continued. the once rich country was left in ruins.

in the early 1990s, the age of conflict came to an end. after hearing of a new method that significantly increases rice harvest, koma decided to dedicate himself to revolutionizing agriculture in his country. the technique known as the system of rice intensification or sri, involves planting saplings at regular intervals. it also encourages the use of natural compost over expensive pesticides, it's extremely cost efficient. 20 years after the initial introduction of sri over 2,000

farmers use the method. with larger harvest, rural people enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. we follow one man's efforts as he works together with farming communities to restore prosperity to cambodia's rural villages. phenom penh, the capital of cambodia. on the out skirts of the city is the headquarters of the cambodian center for study in agriculture.

this ngo was established in 1997 by koma with overseas assistance. it currently has 80 staff and 11 branches around cambodia. the staff visit villages where they provide advice on cultivation methods and other techniques as well as consulting local farmers on a variety of issues. today he's visiting a village. harvesting has just finished and he's taking advantage of the off season to hold an sri workshop for a local farming community.

there are 14 attendees today. koma sums up the basics of sri before the planting season starts in may at the beginning of the rainy season.

he's participate ng the workshop for the first time. in 2009, he left for south korea to earn more money but living away from his family proved too much for him and he returned home after five years. >> last year i inherited some land from my parents and began

using the sri method. i couldn't produce as much as i expected and my profits was poor. i was invited my one of my neighbors to come along to this workshop. i'm here because i want to make a better rice field and produce better quality rice. >> he only learned about sri from what fellow farmers have told him. a of the workshop, koma accompanies him to his field. koma goes to examine what's been going wrong.

koma digs up the stalks left behind after the harvest.

koma explains the difference in rice growth is due to the unevenness of the field. he advises him to level the ground before he plants his next crop. >> i keep on giving examples and try to explain to them carefully to deepen their understanding. after the rice is harvested, we

discuss how to make further improvements. if they've done what i've suggested without achieving good results, i check to see if they followed my instructions correctly. i encourage them to find solutions for themselves. >> koma was born in 1966 in farming village close to the vietnam border. his father was an elementary schoolteacher and his mother a housewife. koma was the fifth of seven children. his family moved to phenh when he was four. >> my father was an schoolteacher but he loved farming. back then there was space where you could grow vegetables.

my father also encouraged me to look after our chickens. >> in 1975, they seized control. the regime relocated all city dwellers to rural areas forcing them to work in the fields. many were killed, many starved. out of estimated 1.7 million victims, koma's father was one of them. still in elementary school, he was torn from his family and sent to a children's labor camp. koma's family was not reunited until 1979 after the vietnamese army ousted the rouge driving them back to an area close to the thai border.

after returning to elementary school at the age of 13, koma studied hard graduating high school in 1984. at the time it was controlled by a regime backed by veets nam. koma was awarded a scholarship to study communist theory this east germany. soon after he arrived soviet leader put his policy into action. this led to criticism of socialism in the ussr and other eastern block countries. there were called for democracy in east germany too. >> communist society was

becoming burdened with various economic problems. i began to feel that communist society had reached its limit. it was only a matter of time before changes would start to effect cambodia too. >> koma decided to switch to studying agriculture. >> my father always encouraged me to take a keen interest in agriculture. however, at the time, farmers in cambodia were very poor. also, they had no motivation and little knowledge of agricultural methods. to improve their situation, i

wanted to help them and contribute to the development of my country. >> koma stayed on even after the collapse of the berlin wall. he graduated with a phd in agriculture in 1995. he returned to cambodia the same year and in 1997, he established the ngo, cedac, in order to support cambodian farmers. in the early days, koma encouraged farmers to reduce their use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers urging them to grow other vegetables in addition to rice. it was around this time that koma learned about a new method of rice cultivation that was to become the main focus of his

work. a two-page article europeaningeuropean agricultural journal caught his eye. it was to aid poor farmers in madgascar. the effort involved maximizing the growth potential of rice saplings by planting them individually and finely tuning the volume of water supply. the article also stated that application of this method quadrupled rice yields. >> i saw it and i thought this is it. first, i decided to test it myself. i thought if i could show people the results, i could get them to try. >> koma rented some land and set

about cultivated rice using the sri method. as it involved the use of organic fertilizers over pesticides and chemical fertilizers, there was much work involved. however, the favorable results delighted him. now convinced of sri's potential, koma focused on educating a capable team to help him in his work. once training was complete, staff were dispatched to rural villages to spread the word. in 2000, 28 farmers started uses sri. today, more than 200,000 use the method. the improvements in yield have resulted in some farmers

enjoying a greater income than they could earn from working in the city. he and his wife began uses the sri method in 200 following a recommendation from sedac. at the time, their farm was just .1 hectare in size. thanks to their profits they have gradually been able to increase their holdings. his rice yield per hectare has increased almost threefold thanks to using the sri method.

now he harvests about 20 tons a year. he also grows green beans once the harvesting of the rice crop is complete. they require little water and can grow during the dry season. not only do the beans provide additional income but their stocks and roots become fertilizer for the rice field. >> when i first heard about sri, i was worried about the results i would get. my neighbors were watching me closely. i newspaper i needed to succeed in order to prove the method to them. that's why i made a really big effort. when harvest time came, i had a bigger crop than anyone else in the village. i have to admit even i was

surprised. >> in 2010, six years after implementing the sri method, he was able to build a new house. made from expensive materials, it was one of the first of its kind in the village. and in 2015, he was able to buy a car. he and his wife invited us upstairs to show us something. after more than 30 years of marriage, it was the first time they had posed together for photographs.

today, many farmers gather at his house. they are attending the regular monthly meeting of their farmers cooperative. about 160 farming families live in the village and 68 now use sri. cedac encourages farmers to come together to form cooperatives. the aim is to encourage cooperation to further the prosperity in rural communities.

he shows us one of the benefits of the farmers cooperative. this road runs through the center of the village. last year members of the cooperative pooled funds to have the road improved. it's frequently used to access the main local road. the road would often become saturated and a journey that would normally take 15 minutes by motorcycle would end upta taking nearly an hour. uneven sections were covered up with soil and pressed. >> we all want to continue to work together in the future to build the various things that we are going to need to run our village in the best way

possible. things are still far from perfect and there's much left to do, so we must keep on trying. we also want to improve the water canals in the ponds in addition to the roads. >> koma arrives at the village. it's his first time to meet the villagers in a long time.

the farmers here today are those who have had particular success using sri. koma speaks for more than one hour.

>> we are uneducated, but mr. koma never looks down on us or shows discrimination towards us. we are very grateful to him. >> before i met mr. koma, i would never have thought of trying out new methods. i always farmed in the traditional way. since meeting him, i can think in a more creative and progressive way. >> when i compare my life to what it was ten years ago, everything has changed completely. it's all thanks to cedac. now, i have more land and therefore bigger harvest. i am enjoying my work.

♪ >> this is a rice mill. to cope with rising demands, cedac and farmers coop derative raise funds to create several new rice mills. here the newest rice polishing machine was introduced last year for organic rice. they must also be inspected annually and certified by an organization in germany. by increasing the amount of exports to europe, the u.s. and other countries, koma hopes to further enrich the income of the farmers. >> i want cambodia to become an

advanced nation. in particular, i want us to become a country that leavds th world in achieving great success in producing rice through the sri method. i also want the farmers to enjoy more prosperous lives, and i hope that agriculture becomes an attractive occupation that more young cambodians will want to participate in. >> 20 years of civil war and unrest in cambodia devastated the country's agricultural regions. inspired by his father's respect and love for agriculture, koma believes its his mission to revitalize rural areas. his tireless dedication to his work may bring about a new golden age of agriculture for

cambodia.

a very warm welcome to nhk "newsline" broadcasting to viewers around the globe. it's 10:00 a.m. in tokyo. i'm catherine kobayashi. our top story, the u.n. security council has held an emergency meeting over what it calls north korea's increasingly destabilizing behavior. they discussed pyongyang's latest launch of ballistic missiles and agreed to ensure a steady implementation of sanctions and take fresh action. japan, the u.s. and south korea called for the emergency meeting. council members met wednesday in new york. japan's u.n. ambassador explained the impact on his country as pyongyang says the launch was conducted by a military unit training to strike american military bases in japan.