Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company: Ready for the new pressing season

Overcoming difficulties for a successful pressing

We returned to Nghia Dong commune (Tan Ky) in the early days of November, the vast, green sugarcane fields were ready for harvest. People were clearing away dry leaves - the last part of the production cycle, to prepare for the fruits of a year of hard work cultivating for a sweet sugarcane season...

This year, the entire Nghia Dong commune has nearly 190 hectares of sugarcane, of which 17 hectares are rented by the Company from local people to grow sugarcane.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Long - Head of Hamlet 10, Nghia Dong Commune said: "Most of the alluvial land and sandy beach of the hamlet are used to grow sugarcane. Thanks to technical guidance and the application of synchronous mechanization in intensive sugarcane cultivation, production costs have been reduced, productivity and output are expected to increase compared to previous manual production. If the sugarcane price is stable like the previous pressing season, it is expected that people will have an income of 100 - 110 million VND/ha, with an estimated profit of 40 - 50 million VND/ha".

Sugarcane growers in Nghia Dong commune trim dry leaves from sugarcane before harvesting. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Although this year, the weather was quite unfavorable, prolonged drought caused 150 hectares of sugarcane to dry up, significantly affecting growers and causing damage to the company. However, with the introduction of K3 sugarcane variety into cultivation in the past 2 years, it has proven its outstanding advantages: few pests and diseases, good drought resistance, tall, plump plants, high sugar content, high productivity and output, so sugarcane growers are very excited.

Mr. Nguyen Sy Hai - Agricultural Officer, Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company said: "The company has contracted to bring a sugarcane harvesting machine to the Tan Ky raw material area for a pilot test. With a machine capacity of 200 - 250 tons/day, the productivity is hundreds of times higher than that of ordinary labor, the machine rental price is only about 170,000 VND/ton, cheaper than hiring workers".

To prepare for a successful pressing season, the Company has now completed the maintenance and repair of machinery and production lines to ensure a capacity of 3,300 tons/day. With this capacity, the company will use up all of the farmers' raw sugarcane, limit the backlog of raw materials during the main season, and at the same time improve the quality of finished sugar.

People in Tan Ky district harvest raw sugarcane for the factory. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Currently, the sugarcane purchase price at the field is expected to be 800,000 VND/ton of clean sugarcane, equal to the purchase price at the beginning of the season last year. In addition, the Company also applies a bonus policy for sugarcane with high sugar content. This is a measure to encourage farmers to invest and take care to improve the quality of sugarcane.

On the other hand, the Company has prepared means of transportation; announced purchase prices, signed contracts to purchase raw sugarcane to households. At the same time, coordinated with localities in raw material areas to repair and upgrade internal roads to serve the transportation of raw sugarcane easily and conveniently.

In the 2018-2019 crop year, the raw sugarcane area of ​​Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company is 7,000 hectares, concentrated in Tan Ky, Thanh Chuong, Yen Thanh, Do Luong, Anh Son with 9,400 growing households. Sugarcane yield in the 2018-2019 crop year is estimated at 54 tons/ha (down from the previous crop year); sugarcane output is estimated at 350,000 tons; sugar output is estimated at about 5,000 tons.

Many policies prioritize raw material areas

Since 2018, Ms. Ngo Thi Tan’s family in Hamlet 10, Nghia Dong has rented 3 hectares of land from households in the hamlet to grow sugarcane. Over the past two years, on average, 3 hectares of sugarcane have brought her family an income of about 150 million VND per year.

Ms. Tan excitedly said: “Compared to cassava and corn, sugarcane is much more effective. Firstly, sugarcane does not require much care, so it is suitable for the current rural labor situation. Secondly, the capital and initial investment costs are advanced by the company, and the loan is lent until the harvest. Thirdly, the product is sugarcane, which is guaranteed by the company. Therefore, we farmers are very secure and confident in boldly renting land to grow sugarcane and expand the area.”

Agricultural staff of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company discuss sugarcane harvest time with farmers. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh's family, a resident in Nghia Dong, said that the family has 2 grandparents, all of their children are working far away, and they have 5 sao of land. They switched from growing corn to growing sugarcane. "Before, they had to worry about harvesting, hiring workers, providing meals... but now they have machines so they don't have to worry about anything. Now they just have to worry about planting and taking care of the crops according to the right process and techniques to ensure productivity, output, and high sugar content to sell at a high price."

The new variety SJC 2 was introduced by the Company for planting in the autumn-winter crop of 2019 - 2020. Photo: TP - XH

Accompanying farmers in expanding sugarcane material areas, the Company supports 4.5 million VND/ha for new planting of SJC 2 sugarcane variety; 3 million VND/ha for new planting completed during September 15 - December 15, 2019. Loans of 23 million VND for 1 hectare of new planting to buy seeds, pay for land preparation, fertilizers, pesticides, and sugarcane care; loans of 3 million VND/ha for taking care of the area of ​​sugarcane with stumps. At the same time, support of 10 tons of treated sugarcane sludge for 1 hectare of new planting.

Currently, the Company is looking to lease land and expand the sugarcane cultivation area according to the planning of the raw material area of ​​10,000 hectares, in which priority is given to a minimum area of ​​2 hectares/plot that meets the conditions for plowing, planting, caring for, and harvesting sugarcane by machine.