Developing sugarcane raw material areas in a sustainable direction

Sugarcane is one of the main crops in the eastern and southeastern districts and towns of the province. These are also the two main raw material areas of An Khe Sugar Factory (under Quang Ngai Sugar Joint Stock Company) and the Sugar Factory of AgriS Gia Lai Agricultural Joint Stock Company (Ayun Pa town).

In recent years, with the support of businesses in building a sustainable sugarcane production chain, many farmers have "lived well" thanks to sugarcane.

In the 2024-2025 crop year, due to the impact of drought, sugarcane productivity in some areas where irrigation water sources are not available will decrease. In return, the purchase price at factories is stable and higher than the previous crop, so sugarcane growers still make a profit. Compared to other major crops in the East and Southeast of the province, sugarcane brings the most stable income.

Farmers in Kbang district harvest sugarcane. Photo: Nguyen Diep

Mr. Nguyen Minh Son's family (Kim Nang village, Ia Mron commune, Ia Pa district) has 10 hectares of sugarcane that are being harvested. Due to drought occurring during the period when sugarcane grows most strongly, the yield has decreased by about 10-20% compared to the previous crop.

However, with the investment policies from the beginning of the season of AgriS Gia Lai Agricultural Joint Stock Company as well as the purchase price this season increasing by 50-70 thousand VND/ton compared to the previous season, his family still has a stable source of income.

“The prolonged drought has reduced sugarcane yield compared to the previous crop, but in return, the factory buys at a higher price. With 10 hectares of sugarcane, after deducting investment costs, my family earned a profit of more than 300 million VND,” said Mr. Son.

Similarly, for the past 3 years, Ms. Trinh Thi Na's family (Doan Ket village, Ia Hiao commune, Phu Thien district) has had a stable income of 500-600 million VND/year from 12 hectares of sugarcane.

Ms. Na excitedly said: “In addition to receiving support from the factory with fertilizers, sludge, deep plowing to improve the soil, and providing disease-free seeds, my family also invested in an irrigation system for the entire sugarcane area. Thanks to that, the sugarcane yield every year reaches 80-90 tons/ha.

The purchase price is also always stable at over 1.1 million VND/ton of 10CCS sugarcane. After deducting investment costs, my family pockets about 50 million VND/ha, higher than other crops such as cassava and corn.

Sugarcane growers in the eastern districts and towns of the province also shared the same excitement when the price of raw sugarcane was purchased by An Khe Sugar Factory at 1.1 million VND/ton and they were partially supported with transportation costs from the fields to the factory.

Mr. Tran Van Hoa - Party Cell Secretary and Head of Village 10 (Yang Trung Commune, Kong Chro District) informed: In recent years, sugarcane has brought stable income to the people. An Khe Sugar Factory has had many investment policies as well as purchasing raw sugarcane at stable prices and higher each year than the previous year. Thanks to that, people's lives are increasingly stable.

Sugarcane is one of the main crops in the eastern and southeastern districts and towns of the province. Photo: Duy Le

“Typically, this crop, sugarcane yield decreased by about 5 tons/ha compared to the previous crop due to drought. However, in return, the factory’s purchase price is about 50 thousand VND/ton higher than the previous crop.

My family's sugarcane yield alone is about 70 tons/ha, down 4 tons/ha. After deducting investment costs, I earn an average profit of 40 million VND/ha, much more stable than growing cassava and corn," said Mr. Hoa.

According to Mr. Tran Van Dau - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kong Chro district: In the 2024-2025 crop year, the whole district has about 10,500 hectares of raw sugarcane. This year, sugarcane ripens early. Up to this point, people have harvested about 80% of the raw sugarcane area supplying An Khe Sugar Factory.

Due to unfavorable weather, the average sugarcane yield is 75 tons/ha, down 4-5 tons/ha compared to the 2023-2024 crop year. However, thanks to the stable purchase price of An Khe Sugar Factory at over 1.1 million VND/ton of 10CCS sugarcane, people have a profit of 35-40 million VND/ha. Currently, people have registered to convert low-yield cassava areas to sugarcane to improve economic efficiency.

Mr. Tran Minh Phuong - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ia Pa district informed: In the 2024-2025 crop year, prolonged drought has significantly affected the development of sugarcane.

Specifically, drought caused the average sugarcane yield in the district to decrease by 6-7 tons/ha compared to the previous crop. However, the purchasing price in the raw material area of ​​the factory was stable and increased compared to the previous crop, so sugarcane growers still had an income of about 40 million VND/ha.

Towards sustainable raw material areas

In order to build a sustainable sugarcane material area, in recent years, AgriS Gia Lai Agricultural Joint Stock Company has had many investment policies, accompanying the people.

Specifically, in addition to the non-profit investment of 50 million VND/ha for new planting and 30 million VND/ha of sugarcane, the Company also supports people in implementing solutions such as deep plowing, providing sludge, biological products to improve the soil, and introducing disease-free varieties into production...

Thanks to that, the Company's raw material area has gradually increased over the years, productivity, output, and economic efficiency per unit area have also increased significantly, helping farmers in the area "live well" thanks to sugarcane.

Vehicles transporting sugarcane to An Khe Sugar Factory. Photo: QT

Ms. Tran Thi Le - Deputy Director of AgriS Gia Lai Agricultural Joint Stock Company - said: In the 2024-2025 sugarcane crop, the Company's raw material area will reach 14,500 hectares, an increase of 1,000 hectares compared to the previous crop; the factory capacity will also be increased from 7,000 tons/day to 8,000 tons/day.

To facilitate farmers to reinvest and take care of the next sugarcane crop, the Company has organized the harvesting of raw sugarcane earlier than the previous pressing season, shortening the Lunar New Year holiday to ensure the sugarcane harvesting plan for farmers.

To date, the Company has harvested about 70% of the sugarcane area in the raw material area. It is expected that the Company will finish the pressing season before the rainy season to ensure time for farmers to plow and take care of the next crop of sugarcane.

“Next season, we plan to expand the raw material area to about 16,000 hectares to meet the factory's pressing capacity. With the goal of developing the raw material area in a sustainable manner, the Company continues to implement in-depth investment policies to improve productivity and quality of sugarcane as well as increase economic efficiency for the people.

In particular, focusing on applying mechanization in the stages of soil improvement, fertilization, weeding, and harvesting; applying advanced, water-saving irrigation technology in production" - Ms. Le shared.

Sugarcane is bringing stable income to people in districts and towns in the East and Southeast of Gia Lai province. Photo: Quang Tan

Similarly, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Phuoc - Deputy Director of An Khe Sugar Factory - said: The factory always maintains and develops a stable sugarcane material area of ​​about 30,000 hectares. In recent years, implementing the production chain, the factory has invested in equipping machinery and equipment for planting, caring for and harvesting sugarcane for people in the raw material area.

In addition, the Factory also researches to replace old varieties with new varieties with high productivity and quality for people. At the same time, it increases the use of specific fertilizers, suitable for the soil of each area, helping sugarcane grow well.

“Thanks to that, sugarcane productivity increased from 50 tons/ha to 80 tons/ha, even over 100 tons/ha. In addition, large sugarcane fields harvested by machines reduced costs for people by 50-70 thousand VND/ton. Thereby, people increased their income from 15-20 million VND/ha before to 40-50 million VND/ha as it is now,” Mr. Phuoc informed.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Doan Ngoc Co - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment - said: Gia Lai has the largest sugarcane area in the country with over 40,000 hectares, providing raw materials for 2 sugar factories in the province. In recent years, sugar factories have focused on linking with sugarcane farmers according to Decree No. 98/2018/ND-CP of the Government on policies to encourage the development of cooperation and linkage in the production and consumption of agricultural products.

In particular, sugar factories have introduced mechanization into production from planting, care, harvesting, and processing. In addition, sugarcane varieties with high productivity and quality have been selected to replace those infected with white leaf disease. Not only that, people have also proactively applied advanced irrigation technology, saving water for sugarcane, contributing to increasing productivity to 80-100 tons/ha.

Mr. Doan Ngoc Co - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment: "For sustainable development of sugarcane, the province will review and evaluate favorable areas to orient people to intensive production and stabilize raw material areas. Unsuitable areas will be converted to other crops with higher economic value.

In addition, restructure the province's sugar industry towards sustainability by reducing the area unsuitable for sugarcane. Promote the application of advanced irrigation technology, save water, attach sugarcane raw material areas to sugar factories to invest in to increase value and economic efficiency, increase income for people"

Source: https://gialai.gov.vn/tin-tuc/phat-trien-vung-nguyen-lieu-mia-theo-huong-ben-vung.81758.aspx