The people who wrote the story of organic rice in the land of fire

QUANG TRI Organic rice production is like a revolution. Many 'enlightened' farmers have abandoned old farming practices, entering a new chapter in agricultural production.

"Two rice" Vinh Lam and the story of asking to grow organic rice

Going to the South to escape the life of farming with dirty hands and feet, doing all kinds of jobs to make a living, but in the end, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan in Tien My 2 village, Vinh Lam commune (Vinh Linh district, Quang Tri) returned to the fields to start a business. Many people thought he would "leave farming". But no, with 8 hectares of rice land, after 5 years of starting a business, he has in his hands a property that many people dream of.

"Two rice" Vinh Lam Nguyen Van Tuan and his wife share the story of growing organic rice. Photo: Vo Dung.

In 2018, when the organic rice growing movement in Quang Tri began to emerge, Mr. Tuan and his wife drove to Dong Ha City to meet Mr. Ho Xuan Hieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Quang Tri Trading Corporation (Sepon Group) to ask for a partnership in organic rice production, ST25 rice variety. After surveying the quality of the growing area, Sepon Group decided to cooperate with Mr. Tuan to test-plant 0.5 hectares of safe rice for 2 crop seasons. This is also the process of improving, detoxifying, and adding nutrients to the soil before entering the organic rice production process. By 2019, Mr. Tuan and his wife were officially qualified to produce organic rice on an area of ​​0.5 hectares.

Safe rice production is already good, but when he officially started producing organic rice, Mr. Tuan felt that farming had never been so easy. The owner of the field only had to plow the land and prepare the ground. The steps such as transplanting, fertilizing, spraying biological products to prevent pests, harvesting, etc. were all done by machine. Sepon Group's employees took care of most of these steps, including rice weeding. The company also used a rolling machine to collect organic straw right at the field.

Many foreign experts have visited the organic rice fields of Quang Tri farmers in association with Sepon Group. Photo: Vo Dung.

“Growing organic rice ST25 requires sparse planting, which reduces pests and diseases. The planting, care, and harvesting stages are all mechanized, so farmers are very relaxed. Instead of having to dry the rice, farmers sell fresh rice right in the field to Sepon Group at a contract price of 12,000 VND/kg,” Tuan shared.

The yield of ST25 rice in Quang Tri fields only fluctuates between 6 and 6.4 tons/ha (fresh rice), and the growing period is long. But in return, with the selling price at the field of 12 million VND/ton of fresh rice, farmers earn a steady net profit of 30 million VND/ha/crop. Meanwhile, all stages of planting, caring, and harvesting are mechanized, and farmers almost no longer have to work with muddy hands and feet like traditional rice cultivation.

In fact, with an area of ​​8 hectares of safe and organic rice, Mr. Tuan's family earns a net profit of more than 200 million VND/year. With a high income from rice farming, Mr. Tuan can buy luxury cars, tractors, harvesters, unmanned pesticide spraying aircraft, etc.

The fields that make up the Quang Tri organic rice brand. Photo: Vo Dung.

Starting from the 2023-2024 winter-spring crop, the entire 8 hectares of rice land of Mr. Tuan and his wife will enter organic rice production. What makes the couple happiest is not only that they have proven that farmers can get rich from their fields. Through organic rice production, the environment is guaranteed, and profits go hand in hand with benefits. That is the driving force that helps "two rice" Vinh Lam pioneer in mobilizing people to participate in organic rice cultivation.

“Organic rice production produces products that are safe for consumers, can be sold at high and stable prices, and farmers will become rich if they accumulate land. Producers will have a leisurely life and avoid future disease risks. Recently, I have mobilized 14 households to cooperate with Sepon Group to grow organic rice on a total area of ​​9 hectares. Starting from next year's crop, Tien My 2 village alone will have 17 hectares of ST25 organic rice cooperating with Sepon Group,” said Mr. Tuan excitedly.

Fertilizing rice, the field owner almost got… ticketed

Organic rice production is a revolution. Farmers have to temporarily forget about productivity to focus on producing according to very strict standards. That is really difficult to change for farmers who work hard all year round.

Farmers have never been so relaxed when joining Sepon Group to grow organic rice. Photo: Vo Dung.

“Normally, in this area, dry rice yield reaches 6 - 6.4 tons/ha. But when growing ST25 organic rice, fresh rice yield only reaches that much. That makes many farmers worried. Along with fragmented fields, farmers' thinking has not kept up with market demand, these are two of the reasons why organic rice production is difficult” – Mr. Tuan continued the story.

But when we have committed to writing the story of organic rice, community spirit is extremely important. Organic rice production has no room for deception because input materials and output products are carefully inspected before reaching consumers.

“A household producing safe rice in association with Sepon Group was on its way to fertilize the field with compost when the monitoring team stopped it and asked it to return, otherwise a report would be made. With such strict regulations on safe rice, everyone understands how important it is to follow the cultivation process when producing organic rice,” Tuan said with a smile.

Strict care process creates organic rice products to meet export demand. Photo: Vo Dung.

The farmer (who asked to remain anonymous) was impatient when he saw a field where the rice was eaten by buffaloes and cows, so he mixed some chemical fertilizer under the rotten manure to fertilize the rice. When he got close to the field, other farmers discovered the incident and reported it to the monitoring team. As a result, this farmer had to bring the fertilizer and nitrogen back home.

“The monitoring team is allocated 100,000 VND/ton of fresh rice to monitor the rice care process. If detected, we will remind them, if they repeat the violation, we will make a record of the violation and request Sepon Group to terminate the contract. In addition, households are very afraid that the quality of rice in this area will be affected, so they cross-monitor each other. That ensures that organic rice is grown in accordance with Sepon Group's process" - Mr. Nguyen Hai Tien, Director of Tien My Agricultural Service Cooperative (Vinh Lam commune) - a member of the monitoring team said.

Mr. Tuan said that producing organic rice and safe rice with Sepon Group is not only strict in the care process but also very strict in the use of machinery. When pests are detected, the field owner is responsible for reporting to Sepon Group to send drones to spray biological pesticides.

Almost all stages from planting to caring for organic rice are mechanized. Photo: Vo Dung.

Mr. Tuan is just one of hundreds of households in 20 cooperatives in Quang Tri province that have cooperated with Sepon Group to produce organic rice in recent years. However, to “enlighten” farmers to grow organic rice, few people know that Sepon Group has spent a lot of effort in recent years. The story of producing and creating the Quang Tri organic rice brand is not something that can be done in a day or two.

After many years of cooperation with the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations to conduct surveys, Sepon Group found that out of over 20,000 hectares of rice production in Quang Tri province, 5,000 hectares are eligible for VietGAP-safe rice production. Of these, 3,000 hectares are eligible for organic rice production, concentrated in some districts such as Trieu Phong, Hai Lang, Gio Linh, Cam Lo, etc.

However, to produce organic rice, this area must go through 2 safe rice production seasons, along with the process of improving, detoxifying, and adding natural nutrients to the soil. The water source in organic rice production must be one-way water, after use it will be discharged, not reused.

It also took years for Sepon Group's technical staff to successfully trap and breed native microorganisms to produce organic fertilizer for crops.

Sepon Group aims to build a chain of Sepon organic rice stores nationwide. Photo: Vo Dung.

From 2022 to now, Sepon Group has cooperated with 700 farming households in 4 districts of Hai Lang, Trieu Phong, Cam Lo, Vinh Linh to grow 410 hectares of safe rice and organic rice with a total output of 24,000 tons of fresh rice/year. The VietGAP safe rice brand, Sepon rice organic rice has been present in many Sepon supermarket systems in 12 provinces and cities across the country and is qualified to export to Europe. But for Mr. Ho Xuan Hieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sepon Group, that is a story of the future.

“We leave 10% of the rice for farmers to use. According to the plan, 40% will be sold in the domestic market, 50% will be exported. But that is a story of the future. Sepon organic rice must first be used by Vietnamese people,” Mr. Hieu said excitedly.

Mr. Ho Xuan Hieu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sepon Group, said that the unit has just opened a Sepon organic rice shop in Dong Ha City, using 100% ST25 organic rice and VietGAP standard food. Coming to the Sepon organic rice shop, diners will experience, consult, and survey health indicators of the body such as % fat, water; bone mass; current biological age... for each specific person.

Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/nhung-nguoi-viet-nen-cau-chuyen-lua-huu-co-vung-dat-lua-d365063.html