In the journey of the agricultural economy of Hai Lang district over the past half decade, there has been a significant contribution from cooperatives. This is proven in practice, when Hai Lang district, from a low-lying area with many difficulties in agricultural production, has now become a "rice granary", a key agricultural production area of Quang Tri province with an annual rice output accounting for nearly half of the total rice output of the whole province. More than 80,000 tons of rice produced by the district each year has contributed to ensuring food security, while gradually building the brand "Hai Lang Clean Rice" of high quality, which is well received by the market.
Lesson 1: Changing production thinking for farmers
After converting according to the 2012 Law on Cooperatives, cooperatives in Hai Lang district have focused on changing the production mindset of farmers. From the traditional way of producing and consuming agricultural products in the style of "selling what you have", some cooperatives in the district have linked up with businesses to apply organic agricultural production processes, in a safe direction; negotiate and sign contracts for businesses to invest in production in a chain linked to consumption... From there, helping cooperative members understand the needs of consumers, produce agricultural products according to market requirements, bringing higher economic value.
"The same field"
From afar, the fields of Van Quy Production and General Service Cooperative (abbreviated as Van Quy Cooperative), Hai Phong commune on the first days of the year of At Ty, stretch out like a lush green carpet. This image makes it difficult for many people to imagine that this is the “flood center” of the district, where agricultural production is often affected by natural disasters.
Organic rice field of Van Quy Cooperative - Photo: LT
Mr. Nguyen Duc Toan, Director of Van Quy Cooperative, said that in addition to applying mechanization in plowing and harvesting, the biggest difference is that the Cooperative has mobilized members to go to the fields at the same time, cultivating only one or two rice varieties in a field. Specifically, in this field, it is the BDR57 rice variety. In particular, in the summer-autumn crop of 2024, to shorten the growing time and harvest rice to avoid early floods at the end of the crop causing damage, the Cooperative has arranged 130/135 hectares of this rice variety, accounting for 96.3% of the total rice area of the Cooperative.
“At first, many members were hesitant, but thanks to good propaganda and mobilization work and practical effectiveness, they trusted and boldly participated. The difference between this model and traditional rice production and the application of the “3 reductions, 3 increases” process helps farmers reduce the amount of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides, increasing productivity, output, and efficiency. Thereby, increasing the value per unit area, increasing income for members,” said Mr. Toan.
Since 2019, Luong Dien Agricultural Service Cooperative, Hai Son Commune has started applying the "One-variety field" model. Cooperative Director Le Van Phuoc said that the entire cooperative has 169 hectares of rice divided into 4 areas, producing 4 types of varieties including DD2, Khang Dan, TBR97, BDR57 (each type of variety is about 40 - 50 hectares). These are rice varieties that the cooperative has surveyed from previous crops and shown to have high yields, suitable for local soil.
The “One-variety field” model is a uniform crop calendar according to the production area, easy irrigation regulation, easy care, and pest management. At the same time, this is also a model that helps farmers shift from small, fragmented production to large-scale, highly efficient, concentrated commodity production. “The most beneficial thing is to harvest rice in a rolling manner, one harvest day is enough to have a quantity of fresh rice in the field to supply to businesses and traders, so it is very convenient,” said Mr. Phuoc.
It can be said that “Single-variety fields” is a form of production reorganization based on the association between farmers and enterprises, gathering small farmers, forming a large common area, creating conditions for mechanization of agricultural production, applying new techniques and technologies, and solving stable output for farmers. With the orientation in agricultural production in Hai Lang is to implement the policy of land consolidation, land accumulation, building large fields to produce high-quality rice, specialty rice, and organic rice.
The "Single-variety field" model creates many advantages in the harvesting stage - Photo: LT
Currently, the district continues to promote organic rice production with about 410 hectares, VietGAP rice and linking production and consumption of rice with enterprises on 467.1 hectares. In fact, when cultivating on the "Single-variety field", people have advantages from the stages of care, regulating irrigation water to applying intensive farming measures as well as harvesting, especially mechanizing production stages, reducing labor and costs. Mr. Dao Van Tram, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hai Lang district, said: Cooperatives and people have synchronously applied advanced technical measures to production in the "Single-variety field".
This model brings many benefits such as reducing the production cost of 1 hectare by about 800 thousand VND, while the productivity is high, the quality of the rice is delicious, favored by the market, the profit for the producer increases by 20% - 25%. More importantly, it increases the community spirit, the member households when participating in the "One-variety field" have connections, support each other and are responsible in all stages. The cooperatives have timely supplied input materials, applied synchronous farming techniques, reduced the cost of land preparation, watering, sowing, harvesting, promoted mechanization, and protected the environment. The products after harvest are linked to the market, increasing competitiveness compared to before.
Production according to business orders
This winter-spring crop, Van Quy Cooperative is cooperating with Thai Binh Seed Company and the Provincial Agricultural Seed Center to produce rice seeds.
The cooperative was ordered by the company to produce TBR95 rice variety on an area of 60 hectares. This variety is provided by the company, and the cooperative is responsible for supplying agricultural materials to its members. According to the company's order contract, cooperative members must sow the seeds on January 5; strictly follow the 3 fertilization stages: basal fertilization, tillering stimulation and fertilization according to the schedule given by the company.
Hai Lang district currently has 53 agricultural cooperatives and 1 cooperative union. The quality of cooperative operations is increasingly improving, promoting the role of "midwife" in agricultural production, contributing to the construction of new rural areas. The average total revenue from services of a cooperative is over 2 billion VND, with a profit of over 180 million VND. Under the leadership of cooperatives, farmers in the area have made many innovations in organizing production and accessing markets... |
“During the implementation process, the company regularly sends technical staff to coordinate with the cooperative to visit the fields, monitor the situation of pests and diseases, and provide technical guidance on rice care for members. The company commits to purchasing fresh rice in the fields at a rate of 58-60 quintals/ha (however, the actual yield of the cooperative is from 75-80 quintals/ha, the surplus can be used by cooperative members or sold to the company). Regarding the price, the contract between the cooperative and the company clearly states that there will be a negotiation 10 days before the rice harvest to determine the price according to the market,” Mr. Toan informed.
This model has created a closed cycle in production, harvesting and consumption of agricultural products. Thanks to that, members of the cooperative have access to modern rice production techniques and are assured of product output. With its agility and flexibility in production management, Van Quy is one of five cooperatives in the province and the only agricultural cooperative in Hai Lang district selected to implement the New Cooperative Project for the period 2021-2025.
The 2021-2022 summer-autumn crop is the first year that Kim Long Agricultural Service Cooperative, Hai Que Commune, has cooperated with Quang Tri Trading Corporation to produce 17.5 hectares of organic rice. Under the cooperation of the Cooperative, 100 member households are supported by the company with technical steps to produce organic rice.
VietGap rice field of Luong Dien Cooperative - Photo: LT
Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc, Director of Kim Long Agricultural Service Cooperative, shared that the process of producing organic rice is much different from the traditional way of growing rice. With the ST25 rice production order that the company placed, members of the cooperative must strictly not use chemical fertilizers, chemicals, herbicides, pesticides... Instead, the company will use machines to spray natural biological products such as fish protein, fermented stem water, eggshell calcium, ginger, garlic, fermented chili... to provide nutrition and prevent pests for rice plants.
“The most obvious benefit is that instead of using human labor, the fields are now supported by modern science and technology, from sowing seedlings in trays, transplanting rice by machine, using drones to spray pesticides, harvesting machines with straw rollers... all done by machines, farmers only have to spend time weeding. During the rice growth process, the company's technical staff are often present in the fields, instructing farmers to keep production diaries and how to care for the rice.
Before harvesting, company staff go to the fields to assess and test the rice grains to ensure that they meet the organic standards before harvesting, thus creating a good habit of strictly following the technical procedures set forth by the company. In return, after deducting costs, farmers earn a profit of 30 million VND/ha from organic rice production, 10-15 million VND/ha higher than conventional commercial rice production.
Starting a pilot project to convert small timber forests to large timber forests in 2015 on an area of 10 hectares, Phu Hung Cooperative, Hai Phu Commune now has 176 hectares of forest that meets FSC criteria. Planting forests with international certification has become the brand of this cooperative. In recent years, the cooperative has taken full advantage of local advantages in planting forests, each year the cooperative exploits 15 - 20 hectares of large timber forests, with an output of 3,000 - 4,000 tons.
In 2024 alone, the cooperative will exploit 17 hectares of forest, collecting 2,443 tons of FSC-certified sawn timber with a selling price of more than 2 billion VND (the increased value from selling FSC timber is about 270 million VND compared to the market). “The advantage of large timber forests is that when harvested, they will be sold to factories processing wood bars, veneers, and flooring, so not only will the timber output increase but the value will also increase.
Specifically, large timber forests yield 2-4 times more than small timber forests. The cooperative is closely cooperating with Quang Phu Pine Resin Company, Binh Tri Thien Pine Resin Company, Nghe An Container Company, Thua Thien Hue Forest Products Company, Thanh Hoa Import-Export Wood Company, Cam Lo Energy Pellet Factory... to bring products to the market at the best price, helping members and households to increase their income," said Mr. Nguyen The, Director of Phu Hung Cooperative.
Lam Thanh
Lesson 2: Support policies are needed to enhance the role of cooperatives.
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/hop-tac-xa-be-do-de-nong-nghiep-hai-lang-phat-trien-191969.htm
Comment (0)