Bac Ai: Towards sustainable agricultural development

Identifying agricultural development as the key economic sector of the district, right from the beginning of the term, the District Party Committee and the People's Committee of Bac Ai district have issued resolutions and plans to review and reorganize the agricultural sector on the basis of exploiting and maximizing the potential and advantages of land. At the same time, strengthen the direction of specialized departments, offices, and communes to promote propaganda and mobilize people to innovate economic practices; organize and call on a number of enterprises and cooperatives to join forces to form concentrated crop production areas associated with product consumption; bring the proportion of livestock farming to become the main production sector in the local agricultural and forestry structure.

Model of growing melons in greenhouses in Phuoc Tien commune (Bac Ai).

Taking advantage of water resources from 5 irrigation works, with a design capacity of over 302 million m3 and a system of secondary, tertiary and over-level canals with a total length of over 138km; the production plan is strictly implemented, ensuring irrigation water throughout the crop season; thanks to that, the annual planting area in the area is on average over 12,000 hectares, with food output reaching 19,000 tons/year. Based on the province's agricultural restructuring project and based on local conditions, the district focuses on developing and implementing a project to shift the crop structure reasonably, by putting into production crops that use less water, gradually reducing the rice area in hilly areas and at the end of the canal, up to now nearly 2,000 hectares have been converted to dry crops. In particular, many types of trees that have been tested and widely propagated have good adaptability and high economic efficiency, such as: green-skinned grapefruit, durian in Phuoc Binh commune, cashew trees in Phuoc Chinh and Phuoc Dai communes, melons in Phuoc Tien, Phuoc Tan and Phuoc Trung communes, with an area of ​​over 3,650 hectares.

In addition to taking advantage of the large land fund, the district also focuses on effectively integrating policies and capital sources to support businesses, cooperatives, and farms applying high technology in production, creating a new step forward for agricultural production in the area. Mr. Nguyen Trong Hanh, Director of the High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative of the South Central Region, said: Investing in clean agricultural production in Phuoc Tien commune, we always receive the attention and active support of the local government, especially preferential policies on land and traffic infrastructure, which are invested in. This is a favorable condition for the cooperative to produce with 2 hectares of melons and pears in greenhouses, supplying 100-150 tons of clean melons to the market annually and creating stable jobs for many workers in the area. Up to now, high-tech agriculture in Bac Ai district has developed quite rapidly, with 27 models applying water-saving irrigation systems on fruit trees; 3 orchid nursery models; 8 projects for growing melons and producing rice according to VietGAP standards. There are 6 OCOP products/5 entities recognized as meeting 3-star OCOP product standards including: Orphan banana wine, Lonely banana seeds, green-skinned grapefruit, SunFarm melon, Chapi cashews, Phuoc Chinh rice.

Along with cultivation, the livestock industry has seen a clear change, with a total herd of over 92,000 animals. Every year, Bac Ai district also takes advantage of specific support capital sources for ethnic minority areas to provide breeding animals, encourage people to grow grass and crops to proactively source food, contributing to improving family life. In particular, to improve the competitiveness of black pig products in the market, the district has created conditions for Phuoc Dai Agricultural Production Service Cooperative to link with people to build a value chain for black pig farming products with hundreds of pigs, sold in large quantities each year, bringing significant profits to members and participating households. Along with that, maintaining the stability of 41 farms and 17 cooperatives that are raising goats, cows, and chickens, linking with traders to purchase products and livestock for people.

Comrade Ngo Thanh Lam, Vice Chairman of Bac Ai District People's Committee, said: From focusing on leadership and direction of restructuring the agricultural sector, prioritizing the application of high technology, developing clean agriculture, the productivity of some key crops has increased significantly, the quality of products has gradually improved, creating competitiveness in the market. At the same time, many effective production models have been replicated, improving land use efficiency and bringing the industry's production value to VND 821.7 billion, an average growth rate of 8.3%/year, exceeding 49.1% compared to the previous period, helping people gradually stabilize their lives, rapidly reducing the poverty rate.

Hong Lam

Source: https://baoninhthuan.com.vn/news/152587p1c30/bac-ai-huong-den-phat-trien-nong-nghiep-ben-vung.htm