Replicating organic agricultural production

Organic production is a development direction of many localities to build safe and sustainable agriculture. Sharing the same trend, many organic agricultural production models have been gradually formed in the province. This helps create products with high economic value, less negative impact on the environment, contributing to increasing farmers' income.

Replicating organic agricultural production The organic vegetable growing model at Phu Loc Agricultural Service Cooperative, Phu Loc Commune (Hau Loc) brings high economic efficiency.

Grasping the trend and demand for clean products of consumers, Phu Loc Agricultural Service Cooperative, Phu Loc Commune (Hau Loc) has invested more than 1 billion VND to install a greenhouse system, planting racks, and automatic irrigation. With an area of 3.5 hectares of land for growing vegetables such as cabbage, lettuce, celery and chili, the Cooperative has applied the "5 no" standard (no chemical fertilizers, no chemicals, no pesticides, no herbicides, no stimulants). The Cooperative has instructed farmers to compost their own batches of organic fertilizer to serve the cultivation of vegetables. On average, about every 3 months, members of the Cooperative compost organic fertilizer for the cultivated land. This not only reduces the amount of waste from chemical fertilizers and pesticides that have a negative impact on the environment, but also helps members of the Cooperative save on agricultural material costs and gradually increase the proportion of self-produced organic fertilizer.

Director of the Cooperative Hoang Van Toan said: Self-produced organic fertilizers often have the advantage of low cost, easy-to-find and locally available materials such as grass, cow manure or trichoderma preparations... which help loosen the soil and provide enough nutrients for plants and vegetables to grow well. Agricultural products fertilized with organic fertilizers will be supplied to supermarkets and safe food stores in the province at a selling price about 15-20% higher than traditional farming. On average, for each crop of vegetables and chili, the Cooperative harvests 4 tons of products/ha, earning a revenue of 65 million VND. All products are contracted by the Cooperative to be consumed by 3 enterprises: Duc Cuong Company Limited (Hai Duong), Dong Giao Food Export Joint Stock Company (Ninh Binh) and Long Phuong Nam Company Limited (Hau Loc).

From the effectiveness of the association as well as the experience and techniques in growing and producing organic products, the income value on the cultivated land area of Phu Loc commune has reached about 300 million VND/ha/year up to this point. Chairman of Phu Loc commune People's Committee Bui Hai Hung said: In the coming time, the commune will continue to promote farmers to understand the methods of organic agricultural production as well as its effects on the environment and crops. Thereby helping people change from thinking to doing, replicating many more organic agricultural models that bring high value, towards a circular and sustainable agricultural production.

Implementing Decision No. 885/QD-TTg dated June 23, 2020 of the Prime Minister on approving the project on organic agricultural development for the period 2020-2030, a number of organic agricultural production models have been formed in the province, such as the Yen Dinh organic grapefruit model; Thach Thanh organic orange model; organic rice model in Yen Dinh and Nong Cong districts; rice-fish model in Ha Trung district... However, in reality, the scale of organic agricultural production models in the province is still small and fragmented. Because organic agricultural production requires investment of time and costs twice as much as traditional methods, and prices are not competitive with conventional products, many farmers are still hesitant.

In order to gradually develop and replicate more organic agricultural production models, Thanh Hoa's agricultural sector has been developing agricultural development plans according to organic standards to suit the situation of each locality. At the same time, it guides people, cooperatives, and production enterprises to understand the organic agricultural production process, especially for the province's key products. Striving from now to 2025, Thanh Hoa will have nearly 200 hectares of organic agricultural production, gradually changing the production method and providing safe, quality agricultural products to consumers.

Article and photos: Chi Pham

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