Old fields, new thinking

After 1 year of implementing the project on sustainable development of 1 million hectares of high-quality and low-emissions rice associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta by 2030, a strong shift in farmers' thinking and farming methods has taken place. From traditional habits, farmers have approached and applied modern farming techniques, aiming for sustainable production and higher economic efficiency.

Changing production practices

Tan Hung is one of 8 localities selected to implement the Project on Sustainable development of 1 million hectares of high-quality rice and low emissions associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta by 2030

Having spent their whole lives growing rice, farmers are no strangers to sowing, fertilizing, and spraying. But when implementing the project, everything seems to be reset from the way of thinking and doing in their own rice fields.

Tan Hung district is one of the 8 localities with the largest rice production area in the province selected to implement the project. By participating in the project until 2025, the district aims to have 15,000 hectares, and by 2030, about 31,310 hectares of specialized high-quality and low-emissions rice. With the set goal, the district has promoted information and propaganda work on the implementation, meaning and purpose of the project.

Director of the Agricultural Extension and Agricultural Services Center of Tan Hung District - Tran Van Tai said: “In addition to the province's model, in the 2024-2025 Winter-Spring crop, the center selected Vinh Buu Agricultural Service Cooperative as a model for implementing the project. We also organized training and recommended farmers to strictly follow the production process of the agriculture sector. Over time, the center assessed that all households participating in the model cultivated rice according to the instructions of the engineers; reduced pesticides; reduced production costs by nearly 1.5 million VND/hectare, and profits were nearly 5 million VND/hectare higher than outside the model.”

Although participating in the high-tech rice area, members of Vinh Buu Agricultural Service Cooperative are still accustomed to the practice of sowing about 120kg/hectare, while when participating in the project, farmers are required to sow only 70kg/hectare. Therefore, many farmers are very worried about sparse sowing, afraid that snails will eat the plants, so there will be no seedlings, or sparse sowing will not have many flowers. However, in reality, farmers only need to prepare the soil carefully and kill the germs completely, then sparse sowing will help limit diseases, the rice bushes will grow big, and the plants will be strong, thereby reducing production costs, increasing profits on the same cultivated area.

Director of Vinh Buu Agricultural Service Cooperative - Pham Van Kiet shared: “The good news is that after implementing the model, farmers have changed their production mindset on the old fields. They are no longer worried or anxious when spsowing sparsely and have abandoned the habit of seeing other farmers fertilize and spray pesticides and doing the same. Instead, farmers only fertilize according to the rice leaf color chart in each growth stage; increase the use of organic fertilizers and microbiological drugs to protect natural enemies; remove straw from the fields; etc.”

Long An is not a locality chosen by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) as a location to implement the project. However, the province always takes advantage of its existing potentials, maximizing the advantages of the VnSAT Program and high-tech rice areas. Specifically, the provincial Department of Agriculture investigates and plans each area; selects typical cooperatives as the core for implementation; connects and invites businesses with a passion for the agricultural sector to join hands in implementation, etc. Therefore, in phase 1 (2024-2025), the province aims to achieve 60,000 hectares of high-quality, low-emission rice.

No more notion of "rice is just for consuming"

Intensive farming, increasing crops, and chasing output have caused many areas of land to lose nutritional balance and degrade. This situation has negatively impacted agricultural production, causing environmental pollution and increasing greenhouse gas emissions in agricultural production.

Former Director of the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center, Vice Chairman of the Provincial Gardening Association - Nguyen Thanh Tung said: “For many years, farmers have been used to chasing output, not caring about quality and consumer health. Now, customer demand is very high, some countries require certificates and safety indexes for rice to be imported. Good implementation of the project will change farmers' farming habits, protect the environment, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, farmers, the state, scientists, and businesses need to join hands to produce safe and quality products, contributing to increasing the export turnover of the rice industry.”

Tan Binh Agricultural Service Cooperative (Tan Binh Commune, Tan Thanh District) is the second unit selected by the province to implement the project in the 2024-2025 Winter-Spring crop. The participating area is 15 hectares with 7 households. All fields are sown in mid-September (Lunar calendar) in erratic weather conditions and low-lying areas. If in previous years, farmers had to spend about 1 million VND/hectare on planting, when participating in the model, applying the border effect seeder, the rice grows evenly, the bushes expand, there is little loss, and farmers can reduce the cost of planting rice. Director of Tan Binh Agricultural Service Cooperative - Dang Ro Sang informed: “After the first crop, the cooperative members trusted the farming process and boldly applied science and technology. However, in the Winter-Spring crop of 2024-2025, the rice price decreased by more than 1,000 VND/kg, farmers did not make much profit. In the Summer-Autumn crop of 2025, the cooperative will maintain the production of 15 hectares of high-quality rice. We hope that specialized sectors will continue to support the cooperative in linking with enterprises to create stable output for agricultural products, helping farmers feel secure in participating in the project.”

A year is too short to comprehensively evaluate a large project like “1 million hectares of high-quality rice”. But that is enough to prove that farmers' production mindset is changing from following tradition to applying science and technology, from spontaneous production to chain production, from consuming rice to making it commercial product.

Clean and safe production is the inevitable direction of modern agriculture. Therefore, the project opens up many new directions for farmers. And in fact, it is bringing new confidence, new victories, contributing to golden harvest seasons./.

Reported By Staffs 

Translated by NT