Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company puts 'giant' machines into sugarcane production

In November 2019, Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company coordinated to demonstrate modern machinery in sugarcane production and harvesting, including agricultural sprayers and sugarcane harvesters.

For agricultural sprayers, this is the first modern sprayer demonstrated in Vietnam, with a spray range of up to 150 meters, each hour the sprayer can spray 18 - 20 hectares. The machine has the effect of suppressing pests and diseases on a large scale, short spraying time, increasing economic efficiency and ensuring people's health, avoiding contact with pesticides.

High-capacity agricultural sprayers are demonstrated at the sugarcane field in Tan Ky district. Photo: Quang An

This year’s harvest, Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company will put into operation the first high-tech sugarcane harvesting machine in Tan Ky. Before the official harvest, the Company organized a demonstration of this modern machine in the fields of Tan Long commune, Tan Ky district, attracting many visitors.

The sprayer is designed to be modern and advanced. Photo: Quang An

The people witnessed the operation of the sugarcane harvesting machine made in India. The machine has a 6-cylinder engine, 174 horsepower, and can harvest 15-20 tons of sugarcane per hour. The advantage of using the machine is to shorten the harvesting time as well as to import raw materials to the sugar factory in a timely manner within only 2-3 hours after harvesting. The machine cuts close to the base to avoid spillage, reducing losses by 20% compared to manual harvesting.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Loan, Tan Long commune, Tan Ky district said: Sugarcane has the characteristic of being heavy, requiring strong people to carry the sugarcane from the field to the car, therefore, during harvest season, we all have to rush to find and hire labor.

In recent years, young workers tend to go abroad to work and work far away, so hiring workers to harvest sugarcane is very difficult. Therefore, when we heard that the factory would harvest sugarcane using modern sugarcane harvesting machines, we were very excited. The cost of harvesting sugarcane is 170,000 VND/ton, which we felt was very reasonable, much cheaper than hiring workers.

Sugarcane harvester attracts many people to visit and admire. Photo: Quang An

When operating, the reels will roll the sugarcane inside, then cut the stalks into small pieces and release them onto the truck for transport. Photo: Quang An

Although the application of advanced machinery in sugarcane production and harvesting is necessary, however, to facilitate the harvesting by machine, when planting, farmers need to follow the correct technique, 1.2 meters between rows, 30cm between plants. Besides, some farmers are still worried that if the field is muddy, the machine will not be able to harvest, because cars cannot enter the sugarcane field because it is slippery. Moreover, the drivers of sugarcane harvesting machines and cars should also be careful not to let the wheels run on the sugarcane roots, because it will affect the sugarcane roots later.

In the immediate future, the company will introduce a modern sugarcane harvester in the 2019-2020 crop year. If people have a need, the company is ready to add another machine to serve them. Although it brings many advantages, there is still a lot of work to be done to put modern machines into widespread production, in which the issue of sugarcane acreage planning is the most important because in reality, some sugarcane fields are still fragmented, small, and the roads inside the fields are narrow, making it inaccessible for machines.

Mr. Nguyen Sy Hai - Agricultural Officer of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company

The application of science and technology will help improve production quality and reduce labor for people. Photo: Quang An

Currently, the sugarcane raw material area of ​​Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company has nearly 7,000 hectares, of which nearly 5,000 hectares are in Tan Ky district. In the context of a shortage of sugarcane harvesting labor in Tan Ky, the application of mechanization and machinery to sugarcane harvesting is the solution to this problem. However, in reality, mechanical harvesting can only be applied to flat, wide sugarcane fields, planted and cared for by machines. Currently, in Tan Ky district, a number of sugarcane fields have been built in Giai Xuan, Tan Xuan, Nghia Hoan, Nghia Dong... each field has an area of ​​50 hectares or more.