Hoa Son Agricultural Products Processing Company Limited: Connecting with people in raw material areas

(Baonghean) - With synchronous and modern investment and efforts in policy innovation suitable to the practical situation in localities, after nearly 2 years of operation, Hoa Son Agricultural Products Processing Company Limited (Anh Son) is showing many positive signs.

Focus on environmental protection

Hoa Son Agricultural Products Processing Company Limited has planned a cassava raw material area of ​​nearly 2,800/3,350 hectares of cassava according to the plan, mainly concentrated in the two districts of Anh Son and Con Cuong. Thanks to the good development of the raw material area and investment in a modern production line system, in 2016, the company consumed over 110,000 tons of fresh cassava roots, with a capacity of 570 tons of roots/day (equivalent to 150 tons of starch/day), produced 30,000 tons of exported starch, with a revenue of over 200 billion VND, and paid 15 billion VND to the budget. The factory creates jobs for hundreds of direct workers with an average salary of 5.5 million VND/person/year.

Company leaders inspect cassava raw material areas. Photo: Mai Son

During its operation, the company's leaders focus on environmental protection, considering it a decisive factor for success in production and business. The company has allocated over 100 billion VND to apply a modern wastewater and environmental treatment line imported from Europe. With a capacity of 2,400 m3/day and night, the system helps recover Biogas from production water and domestic water. This continuous line includes a closed, automatic machinery system including a Biogas tank, physical and chemical partitions, settling tanks to help treat wastewater to standard A, an activated carbon filter system, a chemical mixing tank, and an aeration pond system. Thanks to this closed system, 30% of wastewater will be recycled for the factory, the remaining 70% will be used to irrigate agricultural crops in the raw material area.

Linking to build sustainable raw material areas

Clearly identifying the raw material area as the survival of the factory, the company has proactively proposed a system of mechanisms for purchasing policies, investing in developing raw material areas in depth. Accordingly, cassava varieties, cultivation methods and purchasing methods are all applied with new mechanisms. Specifically, the subjects that are invested in the planning area are households with an area of ​​1 hectare or more, contiguous plots; village and hamlet collectives with an area of ​​5 hectares or more and outside the planning area are households with an area of ​​2 hectares or more, village and hamlet collectives with an area of ​​7 hectares or more, the company invests according to requirements, including NPK fertilizers: 6-4-8, seedlings... For cooperation in investing 20 hectares or more in contiguous plots, the company invests the whole, after harvesting, minus investment costs, the profit will be divided at a ratio of 6:4. The standard investment rate for fertilizer is 800kg/ha, KM94 cassava variety is 100 bundles/ha. That process also commits that if a group or household violates the policy, they will be forced to reimburse the investment cost plus an interest rate of 1.5/month over the investment period.

The model of growing cassava raw materials for the factory of households in Bac Son village, Mon Son commune (Con Cuong) brings in a good income. Photo: Mai Son

Recently, the General Director of the company issued a mechanism for costs of purchasing, transporting and importing cassava products to the factory. Specifically, the cost of purchasing is 50,000 VND/ton, the cost of loading cassava onto the truck is 50,000 VND/ton. For contracts receiving investment from the factory, the cost of organizing the purchasing is 100,000 VND/ton, the cost of loading cassava onto the truck is 50,000 VND/ton. For direct sellers and those who have signed a contract with the company, they will be paid directly after delivery according to the current price at the factory.

The price of cassava is made public to people at the beginning of the harvest season and at each time according to regulations. On that basis, the company issued Decision No. 06/TB-TBS (2017) committing to the price of cassava purchased for people according to the contract at the field. Currently, the Factory has notified the People's Committees of communes in the planning area and cassava growers that the minimum purchase price of fresh cassava roots at the field in the 2017-2018 production season is 1,350 VND/kg for high-yield cassava KM94 (all year) and applies the price announcement at the factory for other types of cassava. With a large capacity, the Factory is lacking raw materials for production, so cassava growers can stick with and be loyal to the raw material area. Accordingly, the form of seasonal contracts down to the village and each household will bring double benefits in production and business.

Improve production and business efficiency

With new efforts and investments, in the 2017-2018 production year, the company strives to achieve the target of purchasing 120,000 tons of fresh cassava tubers/day, producing 35,000 tons of cassava starch for export to Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, etc. It is estimated that the company will contribute 15-20 billion VND/year to the state budget, creating jobs for hundreds of rural workers in the area and surrounding areas. In the coming time, the company's leaders will issue a number of practical and focused investment policies in the raw material area. Specifically: Support people with 100% of seedlings, interest-free fertilizer loans, and commit to purchasing raw materials for the entire raw cassava raw material area as committed. In addition, together with the commune and district, we will overcome and invest in transportation in the raw material area to facilitate the planting and transportation of raw materials.

To ensure sustainability in production and business, it is necessary to unify clear planning areas for beneficial crop rotation areas (cassava, sugarcane). Because if concentrated and intensive cultivation is done well, it will ensure stable area, productivity, and raw materials for the factory and will not affect soil quality in the long term. Therefore, the company is closely coordinating with all levels, sectors, localities, and cassava growers, gradually perfecting planning, production processes, and related mechanisms and policies to continuously improve production and business efficiency.

Mai Son