 Rice is part of Cambodia's past, present, and future. In Cambodia today, rice remains the main food crop. Eighty-five percent of Cambodians are rice farmers. Like other Asian rice farmers, they experience many challenges, including high post-harvest losses. The International Rice Research Institute, or ERI, has found that from harvest to market, farmers usually lose 30 to 50 percent of their earnings. Conservatively, they are losing around 30 U.S. dollars per ton of rice harvested. Delayed, incomplete, or ineffective drying is the main reason for the deterioration of rice, seed, and grain. Like millions of Asian farmers, Cambodian farmers traditionally dry their grains under the sun, spreading them on roads and other open spaces. This may be a cheap and convenient way for them. But sun-dried grains have poor milling quality and obtain a low price on the market. The sun can also damage rice seed. But the obvious problem that everybody can see is the shattering loss caused by some animals like chickens that go to eat those rice and then take the grain out of the drying head. Another problem is the grain being mixed with stones. If they do it on a dry road, the grain can be contaminated by dirt. And the other problem that the farmers have not been aware of is that their grain gets very hot, especially during good times. It means that if the grain is used as a seed, the seed will not have a very high germination rate. To maintain high grain quality, the International Rice Research Institute and its partners have developed mechanical dryers that are affordable for farmer groups. The flatbed dryer is the simplest and most affordable type of mechanical dryer. It dries wet grains by forcing heated air through the grain bulk. In 2007, IRI and the Irrigated Rice Research Consortium, funded by the Asian Development Bank and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, introduced mechanical drying in Cambodia. The first flatbed dryer was installed in Batambang, the country's leading rice-producing province, in collaboration with the Irrigation Association of the Local Farmers. Kool Savoon, Chief of the Farmers Association, is very happy with the results of the flatbed dryer. Before the ADVERI project came in, just like other farmers in our village, I had no idea about moisture content. I relied only on my gut feeling in determining whether the paddy was dry or not. After learning about moisture content, I noticed that my grains became clean, had no bugs, and had better quality. After milling, sun-dried rice is yellowish and has more broken grains than rice-dried using a mechanical dryer. Since the quality of the grains dried through a mechanical dryer has improved, the price has stepped up from $23 per bag to $25 per bag. We no longer depend on the climate to dry our paddy. We can dry our paddy even during rainy days or at night. A flatbed dryer can produce 10 to 15% more whole rice grains than sun-drying. It produces clean white grains with no stones and dirt, discoloration, or yellowing. It can dry 1 ton of grain for only $10, while sun-drying 1 ton of grain can cost $10 to $15. And, it allows drying of grains at any time of day or night, even in rainy weather. Omsak and Sansarom, farmers in Praving Province, learned about the benefits of the flatbed dryer in Batambang and requested the project to help them install a dryer in their village. In early 2008, two dryers were installed. One was supported by the project while the other was set up by a private company, ABK, in cooperation with the community. I often tell other farmers about the benefits of the flatbed dryers everywhere, in meetings and even in pagodas. I tell them about the advantages that the quality of grain is better than sun-drying, so we get paid more. They can control or monitor the heat. With sun-drying, the heat of the sun can make the grain break or not germinate well. One flatbed dryer can dry 4 to 5 tons of paddy in just 8 hours. Many traders and millers now want me to look at their mill because they want me to set up their own flatbed dryers for rice and other cash crops. A flatbed dryer can be used by farmers, farmers groups, service providers, millers and traders. And, it can be used to dry rice paddy and other grains such as maize, beans and peanuts. Nu Kham Sien, a farmer and chairman of the Pursat Rice Millers Association, also learned about the flatbed dryer from the project and adopted the technology when it was first introduced in 2007. He quickly saw the benefits of the technology and altered it according to his needs. With the help of project leaders Martin Goomerd from IRI and Meias Pisset, Nu Kham Sien built a flatbed dryer and later on designed his own recirculating batch dryer to be able to dry up to 12 tons of grain in about 8 hours. Mechanical dryers are also good for now because in Cambodia, like many other countries, the labor shortage has also become a big problem for this country. So, especially for farmers who produce a big amount of grain, sun drying is not suitable anymore for them. So, mechanical drying can be one of the best solutions. The government also has put a new policy on exporting rice on our own. So, a lot of rice production has been ingrained. So, instead of doing only one crop per year, now farmers try to do many crops per year. For the whole country, there might be 100 to 200 units of dryers being used by Cambodian farmers and millers. This amount is very little when compared to the number of farmers in the whole country. Using flatbed dryers, Cambodian farmers can produce better quality rice and improve their livelihoods and make Cambodia a stable exporter of rice.