The joy of good potato harvest and good price

Mam Te field, Bac Ma area, Binh Duong ward (Dong Trieu city) is bustling with the atmosphere of potato harvest at this time. Farmers go to the field early in the morning. Machinery and equipment combined with the hard-working hands and farming skills of Mam Te people make the potato harvest here more successful, the working atmosphere is excited.

Harvesting potatoes in Mam Te field, Bac Ma village, Binh Duong ward, Dong Trieu city. Photo: Binh Nguyen

Mam Te as well as dozens of potato fields in Binh Duong ward this year all grow imported potato varieties from Korea. Through the distribution channel of the Institute of Agricultural Biology, people receive standard seeds, are guided on the cultivation process, along with favorable cultivation conditions in terms of weather, soil, and water, which have helped this potato season in Binh Duong to have a good harvest and good price.

Currently, Dong Trieu City has nearly 200 hectares of potatoes, of which Binh Duong Ward accounts for 145 hectares of cultivation. Initial output reached 17 tons/ha, 2 tons/ha higher than last year. Purchase price reached 8,600 VND/kg, 300 VND/kg higher than last year. Revenue and profit after deducting costs per hectare of potatoes reached 150 million VND and 100 million VND respectively.

Mr. Nguyen Binh Nguyen, Director of Binh Duong Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative, said: This year, the decisive factor for the success of the potato fields is the imported variety with good disease resistance. We have planted 100% of the area with imported varieties with 125 tons for nearly 350 cooperative member households, instead of a few dozen tons like previous crops. Besides, in the past 3 months of the winter crop, the weather was stable, the temperature was relatively low, and there was little rain, so the crops were not exposed to too much rain and too much sun, leading to fungus, cracked tubers or rotten tubers. Currently, the rate of tubers meeting standards for export to the affiliated consumer, Orion Food Company Limited of Korea, is over 90%. Many households in Binh Duong with large cultivation areas have achieved revenue of 300 - 500 million VND.

Orion Food Company Limited, the unit that is affiliated with Atlantic potato purchasing, always has a means of purchasing at the field for the people.

Mr. Nguyen Van Diem, Bac Ma village, Binh Duong commune said: If we continue to grow potatoes like this, with good varieties, favorable weather, and businesses purchasing at the field, our farmers' lives will certainly become more and more prosperous.

While the potato fields in Dong Trieu have entered the harvest season (expected to end on February 16), the potato fields in the eastern region of the province are now starting to be distributed for official harvest. At Na Bac field in Dong Hai commune, Tien Yen district, where the Atlantic potato variety has been experimentally grown for the third year, the women are ready to hoe, sort and transport the potatoes to the gathering place. This year, Na Bac potatoes have achieved a rate of large, round tubers that are not green or cracked at about 80%, with an estimated yield of about 20 tons/ha, and a revenue of about 155 million VND/ha.

Along with Na Bac, the fields of Nhoi village, Dai village, Ha Trang Dong village of Dong Hai commune and many neighboring communes in Tien Yen district have all begun to harvest potatoes. Potato growing in Tien Yen started to take advantage of the land area left fallow for 3 months of the winter crop for cultivation. Unexpectedly, potatoes adapted to the soil, grew well and became a significant source of income for the people.

Ms. Tu Thi Cuc, Dong Hai commune, Tien Yen district said: If in the past we left these potato growing areas fallow, waiting for the spring crop to be cultivated, now we have 3 crops a year, without leaving the land for a single day. The income from potatoes, even though they are only cultivated in 3 winter months, is often higher than the summer-spring crop. That is why our households are very excited and ready to expand production if conditions permit.

Farmers in Na Bac village, Dong Hai commune, Tien Yen district mobilize mechanization to harvest Atlantic potatoes.

It can be said that, along with many other crops, potatoes have become one of the main crops of the winter crop in the whole province. This year's potato crop was successful, contributing to increasing the value of the province's winter crop, increasing income for farmers.

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