Director of Thinh Phat Cooperative

Bold decision

“Quang Son land is suitable for growing vegetables, tubers and fruits. Since the establishment of the cooperative in 2019, people have grown white radish and cabbage but the output is unstable. Therefore, the cooperative members and I decided to choose to grow cabbage and find an outlet for the product,” Ms. Toan recalled the early days of starting a business with cabbage.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Toan, Director of Thinh Phat Cooperative, Quang Son Commune, Dak Glong District, brings cabbage to the locality to help improve the economy for members.

Talking about the fate at the moment when the Cooperative decided to bring cabbage to Quang Son commune to plant on a large scale in mid-2022, Ms. Toan said that on one occasion, officials from the Dak Nong Provincial Agricultural Extension Center came to work with the Cooperative with the purpose of bringing what plants and animals to Quang Son commune to achieve economic efficiency.

The cooperative introduced that there were 3 households growing cabbage and the plants were very large but they were very concerned about the output. Seeing that, the agricultural extension officer introduced and connected the cooperative with CJ Foods Vietnam Company in Long An to export cabbage to Korea.

"From then on, the cooperative members and I decided to bring cabbage to grow on Quang Son land," Ms. Toan recalled.

With strong technical support, fertilizers, etc., the cooperative started producing VietGAP cabbage. In June 2022, the cooperative cooperated with CJ Foods Vietnam Company to plant 18 hectares of cabbage.

All things are difficult at first, and the cabbage revealed its limitations. During the growing process, the cooperative members followed the techniques so the cabbage grew very well, but at the decisive moment of harvest, its weaknesses were revealed.

Cabbage produced with VietGAP standards in Quang Son has been exported to Korea.

“At the end of August 2022, the first cabbage gardens were 40-45 days old. I surveyed and found them beautiful and advised members to harvest. But at that time, many people insisted on waiting until they reached 65 days before cutting. Then, on the 55th day, the leaves of these cabbage gardens began to turn yellow, and when cut, the inside was rotten. This cabbage garden was completely ruined,” Ms. Toan recalled.

Harvest sweet fruit

With her experience, the Director of the Cooperative again found a solution and helped members reap the sweet fruits. She discussed with members and thoroughly instructed that gardens planted from 45 to 50 days must be harvested.

Thinh Phat Cooperative's cabbage is rated as good quality by partners.

From scientific knowledge, she explained that Quang Son is a new land so it has good nutrition, cabbage grows quickly and must be harvested earlier.

In other areas, the soil is contaminated with bacteria and toxins due to excessive pesticide residue, so cabbage takes longer to harvest.

The cooperative has brought high income to members growing VietGAP cabbage. On average, 1 hectare of cabbage yields 30 tons/crop, and households with good care can yield 60 tons. In the past 3 years, after deducting costs of about 120-140 million VND, cabbage growers have made a profit of about 200 million VND/ha/year.

Ms. Toan shared her experience that in the rainy season, the average cabbage grown in Quang Son can be harvested at over 1kg/plant. In the rainy season, the company imports plants weighing 500 grams or more, and in the dry season, plants weighing 700 grams or more.

On 1 hectare of land, the cooperative grows two consecutive crops of cabbage, then rotates to grow radishes, carrots, etc. The cooperative notes that it is not necessary to grow the same type and variety on 10 hectares at the same time.

Because if too much is planted at the same time, it will not be harvested in time, leading to the cabbage being damaged. These experiences were discovered by the cooperative from the first crop.

Dak Glong District Government evaluates VietGAP cabbage production of Thinh Phat Cooperative as contributing to helping farmers change their production mindset.

Currently, the cooperative has 20 households growing 20 hectares of cabbage. The cooperative signed a product consumption contract with CJ Foods Vietnam Company at a stable price at the garden of 7,000 VND/kg.

Each month, the cooperative supplies 50 - 100 tons of VietGAP cabbage to the company. In addition to signing contracts on product output, the cooperative cooperates with agents and companies if people need to buy fertilizer at a cheaper price.

Thinh Phat Agricultural - Medicinal Materials - Service - Trade Cooperative was honored to receive a certificate of merit and commendation from the People's Committee of Dak Nong province as a typical advanced cooperative for the period 2021-2023.

Source: https://baodaknong.vn/giam-doc-htx-thinh-phat-nguoi-nang-tam-cai-thao-dak-nong-230709.html