Farmers apply mechanization by using drones to spray pesticides. Photo: Contributor
In the 823-hectare sugarcane growing area in Quang Son commune (Ninh Son), many farmers have researched and learned to improve sugarcane care equipment, thereby significantly reducing labor costs. Mr. Nguyen Hong has been involved in sugarcane cultivation for more than 20 years. Thanks to the focus on applying science and technology to production, sugarcane productivity has been high, providing stable income. He is one of the local households leading in planting sugarcane in double rows with the specification of two double rows 1.5-1.6 m apart, with a distance of 0.4 m between each double row, facilitating the use of small plows in the middle of the row to plow and mound the soil instead of using the pulling power of buffaloes and cows as before. According to Mr. Hong, the implementation of mechanization has helped farmers reduce many costs in sugarcane production, take the initiative in plowing and caring time, and not depend on increasingly scarce labor.
Not only Mr. Hong, many households in Ninh Son district have also applied the model of "Mechanization in sugarcane production" on a large scale. Participating in the model, households use small multi-purpose plows, suitable for many production stages, helping to mechanize most stages in the sugarcane care process, such as: Filling the soil after planting new sugarcane cuttings, plowing the soil to fertilize and weed, filling the soil after fertilizing... Implementing the model, households are guided by staff on techniques to manage and operate the plows to ensure efficiency.
Currently, many scientific and technological advances have been applied to sugarcane production. In the 2023-2024 sugarcane crop year, Bien Hoa - Phan Rang Sugar Joint Stock Company has boldly invested in a pilot model of "Spraying foliar fertilizer combined with stem borer insecticide for sugarcane using drones" in Ninh Son district, focusing on the communes of Lam Son, Quang Son and My Son. Using drones to spray pesticides saves a lot of effort and costs. Specifically, each hectare of sugarcane sprayed with pesticides manually requires at least 4-5 people working in a day, with a cost of about 1.2-1.5 million VND in labor; meanwhile, spraying pesticides by airplane only takes about 15 minutes, costing 420,000 VND. In addition, using drones to spray pesticides will reduce the amount of pesticides by about 30%, because the drones spray in the form of mist and the pressure of the propeller helps the pesticides adhere evenly to the surface of the sugarcane leaves. Mr. Nguyen Hao in Tam Ngan village, Lam Son commune, said: In the 2023-2024 sugarcane crop, I planted 19 hectares. If I sprayed pesticides and foliar fertilizers manually, it would cost a lot of labor, about 30 million VND. This year, using a spraying plane is very effective, my 19 hectares of sugarcane were sprayed in just one day, reducing 2/3 of the labor cost.
Mr. Le Vinh Thang, Deputy Head of Raw Materials Department of Bien Hoa - Phan Rang Sugar Joint Stock Company, said: The company has completed the first phase of spraying 149 hectares of sugarcane, and in September, the company will continue to spray the second phase with an expected area of 200 hectares in Ninh Son and Bac Ai districts. Using drones to spray pesticides on sugarcane brings high economic efficiency. The company hopes that the relevant agencies and localities will create favorable conditions and support the company to replicate this model to increase economic efficiency for sugarcane growers.
Sugarcane is one of the main crops of Ninh Son district. However, in recent years, the ups and downs of sugarcane have caused the sugarcane growing area to decrease. Promoting the application of science and technology in production will help the sugarcane raw material area recover and develop sustainably.
Mr. Tung
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