Business in the 'buffer zone' commune

(Baonghean) - Mr. Tran Hai Duong - Vice Chairman of Nghi Trung Commune People's Committee (Nghi Loc) humorously told us: Nghi Trung "has" National Highway 1A, Provincial Road 48E, North - South railway, near Vinh airport. And if Nghi Trung is the center, the 3 surrounding "satellites" are: Vinh city, Cua Lo coastal town and Nam Cam Industrial Park. Thus, it is almost like "What Nghe An has, Nghi Trung has"...

With this rather unique geographical location, the question that the Vice Chairman of Nghi Trung Commune People's Committee cautiously raised was whether the locality should "stick" to agriculture or not? Because for many years, the people of Nghi Trung Commune have never really lived on pure agriculture. Mr. Tran Hai Duong said that with a population of 2,300 households/8,300 people, the natural area of ​​Nghi Trung Commune is 800 hectares. Of which, 590 hectares are agricultural land. In addition to rice cultivation, peanuts are also considered the main and traditional crop of Nghi Trung Commune with an average annual planting area of ​​220 hectares. In addition, there are 50 hectares of concentrated corn and 130 hectares intercropped with other vegetables...

Nghi Trung commune center is only 1km from National Highway 1A.

For an agricultural commune, the above figures are considered “okay”. However, the reality shows that agricultural production activities in the “neighboring” commune of the Vinh city outskirts are “shrinking” in both scale and nature. Specifically, in the economic proportion of Nghi Trung commune, the value that the agricultural sector brings only accounts for about 23%.

Mr. Tran Hai Duong said that this modest result almost reflects the objective necessity of the locality; currently, to produce 1 sao of rice, people need 6 months. With the average yield as before being 3.5 quintals/ha, rice price of 600,000 VND/quintal, people only earn 2.1 million VND from rice cultivation. This value does not include fertilizer and plowing and harrowing fees. Rice production is like that, and peanuts, considered the main crop, are not any brighter.

Mr. Duong calculated: “One sao of peanuts needs 12 kg of seeds, equivalent to 500,000 VND; 6 kg of plastic cover costs 240,000 VND; 4 kg of nitrogen, 15 - 20 kg of NPK; 4 quintals of manure; renting a machine to till the soil twice for a total of about 200,000 VND; not to mention the labor of sowing and caring... By the time of harvest, farmers have almost no money left to save!”

Speaking more about peanuts, it is known that in order to proactively restructure peanut varieties for 2017, in the last winter crop, Nghi Trung commune planted 20 hectares of L14 peanuts. However, due to the impact of consecutive floods, the peanut seed area of ​​Nghi Trung commune was almost completely lost, each sao yielded a maximum of only 10 kg of tubers. “Farmers depend heavily on natural factors, the application of science and technology can only solve a small part of the problem. In early 2016, a severe cold spell caused the cultivation areas of the people to be completely damaged, then in September, October, and November, there were 3 consecutive floods that made no crops survive. I wonder if people are still passionate about agricultural production?” - Mr. Tran Hai Duong expressed concern when talking about this reality.

Building economic models of households and farms to promote the advantages of the area is also the method that some households have been implementing in Nghi Trung commune. Currently, the commune has more than 10 models of economic development of households and most of them are just starting to be implemented.

Following Mr. Tran Hai Duong, we passed through abandoned fields filled with water to reach the livestock farm of Mr. Nguyen Dinh Dung in village 7. This is the border area between Nghi Trung commune and Nghi Lien commune (Vinh city). This entire low-lying area is considered the commune's water pocket during the rainy season, so for many years no one has renovated or cultivated it. In 2015, young man Nguyen Dinh Dung (born in 1986) completed the procedures to apply for a contract for 1.3 hectares to develop a livestock model. Here, Dung invested nearly 1.8 billion VND to build infrastructure with a system to raise 300 imported super lean pigs and 30 sows. In addition, on an area of ​​7,000 m2 of water surface, Dung raises grass carp, common carp, bighead carp, and climbing perch... Recently, he sold 150 pigs with a total weight of 20.5 tons and earned 880 million VND. The batch of monosex tilapia released in March this year after being imported to traders also generated a revenue of 150 million VND. And in the pond there are still 3 - 4 tons of fish that have not been sold, this is the "full profit". Nguyen Dinh Dung said that in the future he will raise 1,000 more chickens, the hybrid fighting chickens and free-range chickens are very popular in the market.

Also in Nghi Trung commune, there is a climbing fish farming model of Mr. Dang Huu Luong's family in village 8. The model is supported by the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center. Climbing fish started to be released in April 2016, the expected raising time is 9 months, but after 6 months, the smallest fish reached 2 kg, the largest fish reached more than 5 kg. According to the market price, climbing fish is about 90,000 - 100,000 VND/kg, Mr. Dang Huu Luong's family model can make a profit of more than 100 million VND after only half a year of raising.

The above economic models in Nghi Trung commune initially showed effectiveness, but were still very modest and widespread application was a big challenge.

Faced with the general reality of agricultural production in the communes surrounding Vinh city, Nghi Trung people have a fairly simple and effective way of making a living. "In the morning, I carry a ba (construction worker's tools - PV) on my back, and in the afternoon I have several hundred thousand dong" - Mr. Nguyen Van Long, a resident of village 7, talked about the work that many people are doing to earn extra income. No one has counted how many people are currently working as bricklayers, construction workers, porters, etc. in Nghi Trung, but the estimated number is very large. The husband is a construction worker and the wife is a construction worker is the "business model" of many families in Nghi Trung. Accordingly, the main construction worker's salary is currently about 230,000 - 250,000 VND/day, and the construction worker's salary is 150,000 - 170,000 VND/day. After deducting expenses, each couple can save about 300,000 VND in a working day. They only need to work 20 days a month to earn 6,000,000 VND. That is also the source of money for their children’s education and family expenses. If they only rely on agriculture, they will not be able to survive.

Besides, in Nghi Trung commune, most young people and young workers do not work in the fields. If they do not “go to the South”, they also have the option of working as workers in factories and workshops in Nam Cam Industrial Park located in the district. “Where do you get cash to pay for food and clothing from farming? Working in a company, such as making teddy bears and lighters, at least you will have five or three million a month to buy things” - a resident of Nghi Trung shared.

Returning to Mr. Tran Hai Duong, our story continues to revolve around the livelihood of farmers in conditions where production and cultivation are no longer effective. The question is, should there be a strong enough enterprise to establish organizations such as unions, labor cooperatives or labor service companies... to attract farmers to participate. There, farmers will be supported with suitable jobs, ensuring basic rights and, more importantly, creating long-term stability. Is it too romantic? According to Mr. Duong, this is entirely based on reality. Abandoned land, fragmented and ineffective cultivation are posing challenges to the transformation of economic structure for areas such as Nghi Trung commune. However, assuming there is any enterprise that wants to implement an agricultural project, it will be very difficult. “Because it is difficult to rent land from farmers even when they leave it fallow without production. That is also a reality” - Mr. Tran Hai Duong shared.

The Nghi Trung land that I once knew was the homeland of many writers and artists, of which the most prominent were Hoai Thanh - Hoai Chan, two leading literary critics of Vietnam in the first half of the 20th century. And there is another reality that has been and is happening in this land that is not a joke - That is choosing the path of economic development for sustainability./.

Dao Tuan