Growing taro brings in about 250 million/ha profit.

Mr. Vu Chi Binh - Group 1, Phu Thai village, Ham Tri commune, Ham Thuan Bac district shared: Waxy taro from planting to harvesting is 6 months. Each year, there are 2 crops, one main crop in the dry season and one off-season crop in the rainy season.

Usually, in the dry season, potatoes are less susceptible to disease than in the rainy season. Growing potatoes in the rainy season requires making raised beds to help the soil drain well, limiting waterlogging when it rains for many days. The households growing taro in group 1, Phu Thai village, Ham Tri commune, Ham Thuan Bac district are mainly people from the North who migrated to settle down and cultivate. They also selected waxy taro varieties from the North. They have a lot of experience and apply good potato cultivation techniques. The land for growing potatoes is plowed, loosened and fertilized with organic microbial fertilizers or composted manure, combined with lime to treat harmful pathogens, prevent tuber rot and root rot, so the potatoes grow well, achieving a yield of 2-3 tons/sao. Along with the past years, the purchase price of taro is also stable at around 15,000 VND/kg; farmers earn from 30-45 million VND/sao; After deducting production costs of about 7 million VND/sao, the profit is from 23 - 38 million VND/sao.

In recent years, the output of 4 hectares of taro grown by 7 households in Phu Thai village has been mainly sold to traders at wholesale markets in Binh Thuan province. In order to reduce the pressure on output when harvesting taro, 7 households here have applied the method of spreading production, instead of producing 4 hectares/7 households at the same time; since then, the taro output when harvested has always been consumed by the market relatively stably. Mr. Vu Chi Binh - Group 1, Phu Thai village, Ham Tri commune, Ham Thuan Bac district shared more.

When harvesting potatoes, farmers choose the best potatoes to use as seeds for the next crop. This is the advantage of the seed stage. Regarding pests and diseases, taro plants only get yellow leaf disease and soft rot in the rainy season; they rarely get sick in the dry season; to overcome these two diseases, in addition to doing a good job of soil preparation, farmers in Group 1 of Phu Thai village, Ham Tri commune mainly use biological drugs to prevent and control them, ensuring food safety and hygiene. At present, in Ham Thuan Bac district, there is no short-term crop that can earn a profit of 250 million VND/ha like taro, which 7 farming households in Group 1, Phu Thai village, Ham Tri commune are growing. Therefore, farmers in Ham Thuan Bac district need to pay attention to, research, and develop this crop, contributing to improving production efficiency on a production area and increasing income.

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