The first organic vegetable garden in Hai Phong '5 no'

HAI PHONG The organic vegetable growing model at Dai Dong High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative has high productivity, can be cultivated continuously in many crops, and the product price is 3 times higher than the market price.

Opportunity from "frequently going to the market"

Although "born late" with an area of ​​only 1.2 hectares, Dai Dong High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative (Kien Thuy District, Hai Phong City) has been invested in thoroughly and planned clearly in every space and location. Currently, this is the first organic vegetable growing model in Hai Phong City.

The vegetable growing model of Dai Dong High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative is a rare model recognized as meeting organic standards in Hai Phong. Photo: Dinh Muoi.

Mr. La Ha Thang - Director of the Cooperative shared that his chance to enter agricultural production came from helping his wife go to the supermarket every morning to buy food for the family.

Many times I witnessed with my own eyes the stalls selling clean vegetables, organic vegetables are always in high demand even though the price is much higher than other types of vegetables, moreover when eating they taste delicious so the idea of ​​a safe vegetable growing area was born.

“My wife is busy taking the children to school, so I often help her go to the market in the morning. Through those times, I realized that the demand for clean vegetables and fruits from consumers is really high, so I have been thinking about buying land to build a farm specializing in organic vegetables,” Thang confided.

He has a great desire and passion, but because he does not come from an agricultural background and does not have much knowledge, the process of coming to the organic vegetable production model encountered many difficulties and hardships.

Initially, Mr. Thang looked to buy agricultural land in some localities, then started to carry out the procedures to implement it but was unsuccessful because he did not understand the processes of building a vegetable production model, and the localities were also "suspicious" because he had no experience or achievements in agricultural production.

It only takes 24 - 26 days for organic vegetables to be ready for harvest. Photo: Dinh Muoi.

“Because of my passion and desire for people to use quality organic fruits and vegetables in larger quantities at more reasonable prices, I gave up my business to pursue my dream, but at that time I didn’t know much, so when I proposed to the local authorities, they immediately rejected me,” Mr. Thang recalled.

In 2023, through his connections, Mr. Thang rented a piece of agricultural land in Dai Dong commune for only 250 VND/sao per year. With the support and facilitation of the local government and people of Dai Dong commune, Dai Dong High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative was officially established with an initial production area of ​​1.2 hectares.

Starting to build the facilities, Mr. Thang continued to encounter difficulties due to lack of experience and because everything was "copied" from other farms, so many items had to be repaired and redone many times, especially the water pumping system.

There were times when he almost “ate and slept” in the field and all his friends and acquaintances were asked to help. After 9 months of struggling, working and studying at the same time, the organic vegetable growing area was formed with 32 plots, each plot is 250m2 wide, with an automatic watering system, and surveillance cameras…

“The total construction cost was nearly 3 billion VND. For 9 months, I was present at the farm almost every day, directly designing and instructing the workers. Almost all the work was carried out by me and my friends, only the greenhouse had to be rented,” Thang shared.

Cooperative technical staff check vegetable cultivation diary. Photo: Dinh Muoi.

To ensure the production process meets safe conditions according to organic agricultural standards, the cooperative has invested in building sturdy greenhouses and membrane houses to create an isolated environment, preventing pests from entering the growing area.

Particularly for greenhouses and membrane houses, construction must be carried out according to strict standards such as: The site must be cleaned, flat, divided into dimensions in advance and contractors with sufficient capacity and reputation must be selected for construction.

'5 no' model

Entering operation, to have truly safe and quality products for consumers, the Cooperative sets the criteria of "5 no" as a guideline for production activities: No use of herbicides, no use of pesticides, no use of nitrogen fertilizers, no genetically modified varieties, no use of growth stimulants.

Mr. Pham Anh Tuan - technical officer of the cooperative said that the vegetable varieties are carefully selected by the cooperative, non-GMO, circulated, have announced quality standards, have clear records and invoices provided by reputable companies. The fertilizer the cooperative is using is Norwegian salmon nitrogen organic fertilizer to ensure the best soil improvement, with enough nutrients for plants within 25 - 30 days.

Mr. Pham Anh Tuan - technical officer of the cooperative checks the growth of vegetables. Photo: Dinh Muoi.

In the production process, according to the set criteria, the cooperative always "says no" to pesticides, instead using microbial preparations such as ginger, garlic, chili, essential oils, etc. For long-term crops, lime water and special lime will be used to prevent diseases. When there are leaf-eating insects, manual catching methods are used.

The irrigation system of the cooperative is controlled by software via phone. The water source is taken from the main canal of Da Do River, then filtered in 2 layers, first filtering the sediment, then using a daily water filter to filter, when the water quality meets the standards, it is used to irrigate vegetables and fruits.

Because they are grown in greenhouses, combined with proactive humidity and irrigation water sources, the growing time of vegetables is shortened.

“People who grow vegetables in the field need more than a month to harvest, but we only need 24-26 days. On the other hand, people can only grow a maximum of 2 crops per year, but we can grow more than 10 crops on the same area,” said Mr. Tuan.

Organic fertilizer is not only good for vegetables but also has the effect of improving the soil. Photo: Dinh Muoi.

According to Mr. Pham Anh Tuan, growing organic vegetables in greenhouses will help optimize time and productivity. When harvesting, the vegetables will be fresh and crispy, with very little fiber in the leaves. Mr. Tuan said that before, when he was a technical staff for outdoor cabbage growers following the VietGAP model, during the main season, the highest yield per hectare of cultivation was only about 18 - 20 tons. However, when growing cabbage following the organic model in greenhouses, he was able to optimize the yield, reaching about 25 tons/ha.

Great customer potential

Currently, Dai Dong High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative is growing mainly vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, Chinese cabbage, Chinese broccoli, amaranth, lettuce, cucumber, Korean melon, cantaloupe, etc. Of which, Chinese cabbage, Chinese cabbage, Chinese broccoli, Chinese broccoli, amaranth, lettuce, cucumber have been harvested and received positive feedback and appreciation from the people.

Technically, the cooperative has achieved the desired level of vegetable productivity, only the market is still difficult. According to preliminary calculations, each square meter of cabbage after 1 month will yield 2.5 kg, sold to the market at 50 thousand VND/kg, after deducting costs, will earn about 100 thousand VND/batch.

In the beginning, in addition to giving away the products to customers, the staff of the cooperative had to bring vegetables to market everywhere to introduce them to customers. However, the amount of vegetables sold still did not reach the expected level.

Vegetables are carefully packaged, labeled, and traceable before being delivered to customers. Photo: Dinh Muoi.

To expand the market and bring consumers quality, safe products, currently, in addition to supplying vegetables to mini supermarkets, the cooperative is also completing procedures to enter AEON MALL.

“In addition to giving away, we offer our products to all potential places. However, organizing consumption and expanding the market will still face many difficulties, not as simple as we think. However, the market potential is huge, when customers are familiar with the product, the income from growing organic vegetables will not be small,” Mr. Thang affirmed.

Mr. Pham Viet Truong - Party Secretary, Chairman of Dai Dong Commune People's Committee said that the establishment and operation of Dai Dong High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative is of great significance to the goal of completing a model new rural commune and the socio-economic development of the locality.

Since the cooperative has been operating, it has contributed to overcoming the situation of fallow land, consolidating land to shift from small-scale production to concentrated commodity production, applying high technology and restructuring the agricultural sector, creating jobs for people, developing the economy associated with building a new model rural area.

According to the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of Hai Phong City, the area of ​​organic vegetable cultivation in the whole city is currently about 72 hectares. Some typical organic vegetable production models include: An Tho and An Tien communes (An Lao); Tu Son, Thuy Huong, Ngu Phuc, Thanh Son communes (Kien Thuy); An Hung communes in An Duong district; Quang Phuc, Dong Hung (Tien Lang); Hung Tien, Thang Thuy, Tan Hung communes (Vinh Bao).

Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/vuon-rau-huu-co-dau-tien-o-hai-phong-5-khong-d379056.html