NAM DINH Producing in a safe, organic direction under the guidance of Japanese experts, Giao Ha Cooperative no longer has to scramble to find buyers.
NAM DINH Producing in a safe, organic direction under the guidance of Japanese experts, Giao Ha Cooperative no longer has to scramble to find buyers.
The drizzly, cold weather of the last days of February did not dampen the joyful, excited atmosphere across the fields of members of Giao Ha Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative (Giao Ha commune, Giao Thuy, Nam Dinh) as they busily harvested cabbage to promptly supply to traders who were shipping to Ho Chi Minh City for consumption.
Safe and organic production helps members of Giao Ha Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative gain double benefits. Photo: Trung Quan.
“Since the shift to safe vegetable production, the cooperative has been bustling every day like a festival. Local people come to learn from experience; traders come one after another to place orders and purchase; cooperative members are exhausted just entertaining guests,” Mr. Phung Van Cuong, Director of the cooperative, happily shared.
According to Mr. Cuong, Giao Ha people have a tradition of vegetable production. However, the habit of farming based on experience and abusing chemical inputs in the past has made it difficult to sell the products and their value is not high.
However, since 2023, everything has completely changed when the cooperative has access to the Project to enhance the value chain of safe crops in the northern provinces of Vietnam funded by the Japanese Government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the National Agricultural Extension Center is the focal point for implementing the project.
Households participating in the project are guided and trained in safe vegetable production techniques using Japanese technology such as treating soil with solar energy, utilizing by-products to produce organic fertilizers, and managing the entire production process. In particular, experts also provide new knowledge on branding, marketing, and market linkage for safe products.
At first, when approaching new knowledge, everyone was bewildered and hesitant because they were freely struggling in a way that everyone did their own thing, so they had to change to a synchronous and quality framework. All chemical inputs (fertilizers, pesticides) were replaced by organic fertilizers (industrial organic fertilizers and self-produced fertilizers), biological pesticides; each activity on the field was carefully and detailedly recorded in the production diary...
Leaders of the National Agricultural Extension Center and JICA inspect the production of safe vegetables at Giao Ha Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative. Photo: Trung Quan.
With the close support and companionship of Japanese experts as well as agricultural extension officers from central to local levels, safe and organic vegetable production techniques were quickly and skillfully applied by the people and brought into play their effectiveness. The products of the cooperative are beautiful in design and superior in quality compared to conventionally produced products around, so traders from near and far compete to place orders with stable and high selling prices.
From the success of the first batch of safe, organic vegetables, the cooperative members continuously expanded the area. Up to now, the cooperative's production area certified to meet the conditions for safe production has increased to 6.5 hectares, annually supplying the market with more than 800 tons of various vegetables and tubers.
To get a better understanding of the method of producing safe and organic vegetables, we visited the production area of Mr. Pham Van Huan's family, one of the pioneers in converting from traditional farming to applying new methods.
Arriving at the vegetable field, Mr. Huan and the trader had just reached an agreement to purchase all the second batch of cabbage at 5,000 VND/plant. Using a knife to randomly cut a cabbage, we were convinced when we saw the firm cabbage, lush green on the outside, white on the inside, with an average weight of 3kg/head or more.
According to Mr. Pham Van Huan, producing safe vegetables will save a lot of costs, labor and protect the environment. Photo: Trung Quan.
Mr. Huan analyzed that when applying the safe vegetable production process, the soil becomes loose, less pests and diseases, plants grow and develop quickly, and the plants are durable. The production process uses input materials at the right time and dosage, so it saves a lot of costs and labor. On an area of 1 hectare, each crop can grow about 22,000 - 25,000 cabbage plants, with a stable selling price from the beginning of the season until now fluctuating from 4,000 - 5,000 VND/plant, the family earns more than 100 million VND/crop (on average, 3 crops are grown each year).
“The most obvious benefit of safe farming is that the production area environment is cleaner. The health of the direct workers is improved. The products produced meet food safety standards, so there is no need to run around looking for buyers like before. In addition, the lack of chemical supplies helps families easily develop vegetable growing combined with fish farming to increase income. Agricultural production with a profit of more than 200 million VND per year after deducting expenses is very happy,” Mr. Huan said excitedly.
Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/bap-cai-trong-theo-kieu-nhat-ban-nong-dan-khong-phai-lo-dau-ra-d423400.html
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