Growing cucumbers on double-rice land, farmers in Dien Chau district earn 140 million VND/ha

Clip: Xuan Hoang

Arriving at the cucumber field of Van Tap village, Minh Chau commune, Dien Chau district on the morning of October 6, we witnessed the scene of farmers busily harvesting and transporting cucumbers to the purchasing point. Trucks of traders from all over came to the fields to buy all the cucumbers for the farmers.

The joy of farmers in Van Tap village, Minh Chau commune when entering the winter cucumber harvest season. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Ms. Vo Thi Le - a farmer said that her family grows 3 sao of winter cucumbers on land with 2 rice crops. After 45 days of care, the harvest will begin in early October. At the beginning of the season, traders bought the crop for 6,500 VND/kg, but now it is 6,000 VND/kg.

"Implementing the local winter crop production policy, right after the summer-autumn rice harvest, families in the hamlet started growing cucumbers. When the harvest season comes, cucumbers are picked twice a day, with a yield of over 1.3 tons/sao, earning nearly 8 million VND" - Ms. Vo Thi Le said.

As soon as cucumbers are harvested, people bring them to import. Photo: Xuan Hoang

While transporting cucumbers to traders, Ms. Vo Thi Thuan confided: My family grows 2.5 sao of cucumbers. These harvest days, although hard, the selling price is not too high, but I am happy because I have work and earn 500,000 - 600,000 VND per day.

"For farmers, having traders buy their agricultural products right at the field eases the worry of selling them. Although the selling price is not high, at 6,000 VND/kg, the income is many times higher than growing rice," said Ms. Thuan.

According to traders, because the market is picky about large cucumbers, they must be very careful during the purchasing process. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Le Khac Khoa - a cucumber buyer in Hoang Mai town said that in recent days, he has been buying 2 - 3 tons of cucumbers here every day. All cucumbers are transported to Hanoi for consumption on the same day.

"I didn't expect that people here could grow so many cucumbers. In general, the cucumbers here are beautiful and of guaranteed quality. However, farmers need to harvest regularly every day to avoid the cucumbers from becoming old and large, because the market is picky about large cucumbers," said Mr. Le Khac Khoa.

Around 7am every day, cucumber purchasing points in the fields of Van Tap village are bustling with buying and selling. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Mr. Nguyen Van Nhuan - a trader from Do Luong district who comes to buy cucumbers said that every day he buys about 1 ton, transporting it to mountainous districts for consumption. At around 6 am every day, he is present in the fields to buy cucumbers for the people.

According to Mr. Ho Trong Nga - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Minh Chau commune, this is the first year that Van Tap village has grown winter cucumbers on 2-rice land. To grow cucumbers, the initial investment, in addition to seeds, fertilizers..., is to buy nets and poles to make trellises. Therefore, the first crop requires an investment of about 3 million VND/sao, and the following crops will reduce costs, because the poles and nets can be used for 3 crops of cucumbers.

This winter crop, Van Tap village, Minh Chau commune, Dien Chau district planted 27 hectares of cucumbers on land with two rice crops. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Cucumbers are harvested after 45-50 days of planting, with a minimum yield of 25 tons/ha. With the current field price of 6,000 VND/kg, farmers earn over 140 million VND. Thus, with 27 hectares of winter cucumbers in Van Tap village, farmers earn about 3.5 billion VND. Cucumbers are harvested within 2-3 weeks, so by the end of October, farmers here will have finished the winter crop, with some families earning tens of millions of VND.

Mr. Tran Hoai An - Director of Dien Chau District Agricultural Service Center said: This winter crop, the whole Dien Chau district planted about 50 hectares of cucumbers. However, with a scale of 27 hectares in Van Tap hamlet, Minh Chau commune, the most concentrated planting area is 27 hectares, the rest is planted in Dien Loc, Dien Hoang communes... Currently, farmers in Minh Chau commune are harvesting winter cucumbers, the earliest crop in the district./.

Source: https://baonghean.vn/trong-dua-chuot-tren-dat-2-lua-nong-dan-huyen-dien-chau-thu-140-trieu-dongha-post277815.html