Into the garden with farmers practicing regenerative coffee farming

From the hands-on training and basic lessons from the staff, many farmers now own lush, fruit-laden coffee gardens, contributing to the realization of the Government's policy of building sustainable agriculture and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In early October, Ms. Tran Thi Lien (47 years old, residing in village 9, Ea Tieu commune, Cu Kuin district, Dak Lak) went to her "model coffee plantation" to monitor soil moisture and fruit production to have appropriate care.

Coffee farmers make big profits

Ms. Lien said that her family has been growing coffee in Cu Kuin district for nearly 30 years. However, in the past, farming was quite difficult and dependent on the weather.

“For the past 10 years, technical staff from Nestlé Vietnam have been working with farmers to implement a “new style” of farming. Farmers have changed their habits and earned more profits,” Ms. Lien recalled.

Ms. Tran Thi Lien (47 years old, residing in village 9, Ea Tieu commune, Cu Kuin district, Dak Lak) said that applying regenerative coffee cultivation has many benefits - PHOTO: NK

According to her, instead of clearing the grass under the coffee trees, people now consider it a carpet to protect the moisture for the trees. In addition, people are also instructed on appropriate intercropping methods, for every 3 rows of coffee, they will plant 1 row of pepper to increase income.

“The pepper pole is a cassia tree that will help create shade and block the wind. It also supports the pepper plant so it does not harm either the pepper or the coffee plant. On the same area of ​​land, if before people only earned 200-250 million VND per hectare, now it can be up to 400-500 million VND,” said Ms. Lien.

Similarly, Mr. Duong Thanh Sam (residing in village 10, Ea Tieu commune), said he is the group leader of more than 100 households participating in the NESCAFÉ Plan.

In addition to new knowledge on proper intercropping, agricultural engineers from the NESCAFÉ Plan also guide farmers on how to stop the shoots and prune coffee branches so that light can reach the tree evenly, bringing the best results. Not only that, all branches and leaves pruned from coffee trees and cassia trees that were previously collected and burned with the idea of ​​​​cleaning the garden are now left and composted at the base to nourish the trees.

Program staff also showed people a simple way to measure the amount of water and moisture in the soil. Accordingly, people buried a hollowed-out milk tube in the middle of the coffee layer to monitor the amount of water in the soil and to calculate the appropriate amount of irrigation water.

“In addition, before, people would water the plants whenever there was strong sunshine for a few days. After being trained, when it was sunny, they would turn the water bottle upside down under the coffee tree. After 1 night, if they saw tiny drops of water in the bottle, it meant that the soil was moist and there was no need to water more to avoid waste,” Mr. Sam explained.

Mr. Duong Thanh Sam (residing in village 10, Ea Tieu commune) is the group leader of more than 100 households participating in the NESCAFÉ Plan Program - PHOTO: NK

Reduce investment, increase productivity

Having worked with people for many years in training programs, Mr. Pham Phu Ngoc, NESCAFÉ Plan Program Manager, said it was a long journey.

According to Mr. Ngoc, in addition to supporting farmers with seeds and techniques, the NESCAFÉ Plan also guides farmers through the entire farming process according to 4C standards with 28 criteria.

Mr. Ngoc added that thanks to the application of regenerative farming methods, NESCAFÉ Plan has helped farmers reduce 40% - 60% of water consumption in irrigation and 20% of chemical fertilizers, by producing compost made from coffee husks and grounds...

Nestle staff instruct people to place cans and water bottles to monitor "soil health" - PHOTO: TR.T

Speaking more about this program, Mr. Nguyen Hac Hien, Head of the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of Dak Lak province, said that the NESCAFÉ Plan's coffee cultivation program towards regeneration helps the environment become more sustainable. The program helps people realize that increasing productivity in production but needing to protect the environment in the long term.

More than 355,000 technical training sessions on sustainable coffee farming

NESCAFÉ Plan is a global initiative launched by Nestlé Group since 2010 in more than 10 countries, which are key coffee growing regions of the world.

In Vietnam, NESCAFÉ Plan started in 2011 in the Central Highlands region to promote regenerative agriculture, aiming at sustainable development of the coffee industry as well as improving the lives and livelihoods of coffee farmers.

To date, the program has supported the replanting of more than 74,000 hectares of aging coffee through the distribution of high-yielding, pest-resistant seedlings.

The program has conducted more than 355,000 training sessions on sustainable coffee farming for farming households, helping to increase income from 30-100% for farming households.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vao-vuon-cung-nong-dan-thuc-hanh-canh-tac-ca-phe-theo-huong-tai-sinh-2024111117444897.htm