New way of doing things in Phu Hau (Dien Tan - Dien Chau)

(Baonghean) - In the context of many agricultural cooperatives facing difficulties, Phu Hau Agricultural Cooperative in Dien Tan Commune (Dien Chau) has found a new direction, diversifying its operations and services, creating jobs, and increasing income for its members. In particular, in recent years, the cooperative has signed a contract to produce rice seeds with Thai Binh Seed Corporation, opening up a direction for intensive farming to increase value in the fields.

New direction from rice seed production

The family of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhu in Hamlet 2, Dien Tan Commune (Dien Chau) is one of the cooperative members participating in rice seed production from the first crops. Income from growing rice seeds helps her family increase their income, contributing to stabilizing their lives. Not hiding her joy, Mrs. Nhu shared: "Last summer-autumn crop, my family grew 6 sao, of which 3 sao were used for rice seeds, yielding nearly 900 kg, which was purchased by a business from Thai Binh at a price 1.5 times higher than that of rice. My family and many other households in the commune were very excited.

Testing and evaluating the production process of high-quality rice varieties. Photo: NS

In recent years, the people of Dien Tan commune have been really enthusiastic about rice seed production. This work started in 2009, when Phu Hau Agricultural Cooperative signed a contract with Southern Seed Joint Stock Company to produce rice seeds. After that, Thai Binh Seed Company recognized the cooperative members' ability to produce rice seeds, so it proactively signed a contract to produce BC15 and TBR225 rice seeds. The company provided all original seeds to the people for production loans, and payment was made at the end of the harvest. The process of making rice seeds is the same as that of regular rice, but people only spend more effort in the stage of removing mixed seeds. When the rice flowers bloom, if they find flowers of different varieties, they will remove them. After several years of production, people in the area have gained experience and can check and remove other seeds right from the time they are soaked, which saves effort and ensures the uniformity of the seeds after the harvest. Thai Binh Seed Company is very satisfied with the quality of rice seeds produced by Phu Hau Cooperative, the grains are uniform and do not contain any rice residue.

Coming to Dien Tan commune on a chilly early winter day, in the fields where people are taking care of the winter crop, Ms. Dau Thi Nguyet, hamlet 3, excitedly said: “After harvesting the summer-autumn rice, we immediately started the winter crop. This field produces high-yield rice seeds and also grows corn very well. The members of the commune are very hard-working, rarely letting the land rest...”. Ms. Nguyet’s family produces two rice seed crops each year. In the last summer-autumn crop, they planted more than 3 sao and harvested nearly 900 kg, selling them to the seed company for more than 8 million VND, after deducting expenses, the net profit was more than 5 million VND. Growing meat rice only sells for 6,000 VND/kg, while rice seeds sell for 9,500 VND/kg, so the people are more excited because they have more income. Currently, the cooperative and 400 member households are actively producing rice seeds on 152 hectares.

Mr. Luu Van Ngu - former head of the cooperative said: "Thanks to the rice seed model, many cooperative members have quite high profits, each year they grow 2 crops, each sao net profit is more than 10 million VND, in addition, they also grow winter vegetables combined with raising livestock and poultry, bringing stable income. Each year, the cooperative imports over 100 tons of rice seeds for businesses. The important thing is that in the process of producing rice seeds, the cooperative has closely connected businesses with farmers, creating peace of mind for members in production...".

Internal credit services

Along with rice seed production, the services of Phu Hau Agricultural Cooperative effectively support people in production to achieve the highest efficiency. One of those services is the internal credit fund of the Cooperative, which has created favorable conditions for members to borrow capital to invest in production and business, buy buffaloes and cows, or support their children to go abroad to work. This service has been operating since 2007, at one point the fund's mobilized amount reached nearly 2 billion VND.

Originating from the need for capital loans of cooperative members, the internal credit service was born on the basis of the cooperative congress, with the consensus and support of the members. Since then, anyone with capital of 5 million VND or more can deposit it into the cooperative's internal credit fund for other cooperative members to borrow capital. The interest rate on deposits and loans is 0.5 - 1% higher than the interest rate of commercial banks, but all cooperative members respond to this service because the difference is not significant compared to banks and the deposit and loan are close to home, with quick procedures. In particular, for those who need immediate cash, the capital can be disbursed within only about 20 minutes. Another advantage is that those participating in the credit fund service are all in the village, in the commune, so they thoroughly understand the circumstances and conditions of each household, without having to go through appraisal and verification, which takes a lot of time and effort.

The family of Mr. Luu Viet Huong in Hamlet 2 is one of the households that has accessed credit capital to build a livestock farm since 2013, with a scale of 3,000 m2 of fish pond, 800 ducks, 250 chickens and geese combined with growing fruit trees. He shared: “During the process of developing the farm, my family really needed investment capital. Thanks to the internal credit service of the cooperative, my family borrowed on credit to buy breeding animals to develop integrated livestock farming. Up to now, the farm has a stable income and can repay the loan. In 2014, it is estimated that our farm will have a revenue of 150 - 200 million VND”. Meanwhile, the family of Mr. Pham Tru in Hamlet 3, who specializes in carpentry, was given a credit loan of 20 million VND by the cooperative to supplement the capital to buy raw materials for production. Every year, his family's carpentry workshop processes 20 blocks of wood to make doors, kitchen cabinets, stairs, and household furniture to serve the needs of the people in the commune.

Continuously for more than 10 years, agricultural production in Dien Tan commune has always been successful. Contributing to that success are the services of Phu Hau Agricultural Cooperative in introducing new varieties of high-yield, good quality varieties into production; directing the season, applying scientific and technical advances into production, intensive rice cultivation; at the same time providing all kinds of quality materials and fertilizers for people to feel secure in production; building a concrete canal system to ensure irrigation and ensure electricity for production. Therefore, members always promote efficiency in production, increase income value per unit area, contribute to sustainable poverty reduction, improve living standards, and ensure social security in the locality.

Quynh Lan