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The history of Cambodia during 1950-90 has been one of immense misery and suffering. Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge practically eliminated all educated and technically qualified citizens of the country. It is in this context that the Peoples Republic of Kampuchea invited the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in 1985 to help that strife torn country rehabilitate and rejuvenate its damaged rural economy. I am glad Dr Don Puckridge has chronicled the various phases of the program for converting the food situation in Kampuchea from that of a begging bowl to one of a bread basket. This remarkable change in the agricultural destiny of Kampuchea came about through mutually reinforcing packages of technology, services and public policies. Don Puckridge has movingly described the political, social and scientific processes involved in this transformation. The book is written in a gripping style. The Burning of the Rice is a moving and masterly account of the impact of science steeped in humanism. We owe Don Puckridge a deep sense of gratitude for this labour of love. Prof M S Swaminathan, Chairman, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, India, recipient of the World Food Prize and Past President of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.
In April 1975 Ngak Chhay Heng and his family loaded their car with their personal possessions, pushed it 20 kilometres from Phnom Penh, discarded anything that differentiated them from peasant farmers ... Read more about “The Burning of the Rice”