To exploit the potential of riverside land

With more than 1,000 hectares of alluvial land in 9 communes along the Lam River, Hung Nguyen is one of the localities that is assessed to have exploited the potential of this fertile land well. According to Mr. Hoang Duc An, Head of the District's Agriculture Department, in recent years, the district has focused on directing the introduction of new varieties of traditional crops in the corn and peanut fields such as genetically modified corn, new intensive peanut varieties, building large fields for growing corn and peanuts with a scale of 15-30 hectares/field; especially developing nearly 50 hectares of high-yield millet in Hung Nhan, generating an income of about 40-45 million VND/ha after 3 months, drought-resistant and easy to care for, it is expected that this summer-autumn crop will expand to about 100 hectares in Hung Long and Hung Linh communes. At the same time, focusing on building safe vegetable production areas in Hung Khanh, Hung Nhan, Hung Long, encouraging some households to develop integrated farms in the alluvial areas; Promote the development of large-scale livestock farming, take advantage of food sources from upland crops such as corn, peanuts, beans and large grazing areas, bringing the rate of crossbred cows here to 90-100% while in other communes it only reaches 50% at most, some households have introduced the highly effective 3B bull breed.

“In particular, there are now businesses investing in building livestock farms and slaughterhouses, processing Australian beef and Indian buffalo for export with a scale of about 1,000 heads, expected to be operational in 2019. The district will also focus on investing in building electricity and irrigation systems in the coastal areas to encourage cooperatives and businesses to invest in applying high technology in the production of high-quality commodity crops to fully exploit the potential and advantages of the coastal land,” Mr. Hoang Duc An shared.

However, there are not many localities that have exploited the potential of alluvial land well. The family of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thuy, Hamlet 3, Nam Tan Commune, Nam Dan has 5 sao of alluvial land. After the late winter-early spring corn crop, she planted a spring-summer watermelon crop and then let the land fallow because the rainy season is approaching, and low alluvial land is often flooded. Mrs. Thuy said: Corn yields about 3.5 quintals/sao, net profit is 500-600 thousand VND/sao; watermelon gives a profit of about 2.5 million VND/sao. In total, her family's 5 sao of alluvial land brings in about 15 million VND per year after deducting expenses.

According to Mr. Tran Xuan Hung, Director of Nam Tan Agricultural Service Cooperative, people have only been able to grow two crops on most of the 80 hectares of alluvial land along the river in the commune. "The alluvial land is very fertile, suitable for growing all kinds of vegetables, but people do not dare to grow it because there is no connection, they are afraid of not being able to sell it," Mr. Hung said. Deputy Head of the District Agriculture Department, Mr. Ho Dinh Thang also said: Nam Dan has over 1,000 hectares of alluvial land, however, this fertile land area is currently mainly used to grow only two crops: late winter-early spring corn and spring-summer watermelon, with a small area growing an additional bean crop. The district has directed some high alluvial land areas in Nam Tan, Nam Loc, and Hung Long to convert to growing fruit trees such as lemon, guava, and grapefruit, but the area has only reached about 30 hectares.

Nghe An has about 20 thousand hectares of alluvial land, concentrated in districts along the Lam River such as Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Do Luong, Anh Son, Tan Ky... This is considered a great potential for developing commercial vegetable areas, especially high-quality vegetables. In fact, in recent years, we have turned alluvial land into concentrated commodity production areas with high value. Some areas have used comprehensive intensive production, applied high technology in production, and increased land use value. However, according to general assessment, apart from some localities that are really interested, have built specific projects, made efforts to invest in infrastructure, transfer production techniques to farmers, and exploit the potential of alluvial areas such as Hung Nguyen, Anh Son, and Con Cuong, some other localities are still quite stagnant and slow. The area of ​​commercial vegetables in the riverside area is still small, mainly corn and peanuts are grown, only solving the problem of covering the area, bringing average income, completely not commensurate with the potential.

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Nguyen Van Lap said: Nghe An always identifies the area of ​​alluvial land as the strategic focus area for the production of vegetables and high-quality commercial crops of the province. The biggest difficulty at present is that due to the characteristics of the land, flooding makes it difficult to invest in building electricity and irrigation infrastructure to serve production. In addition to reviewing and calculating to have a reasonable production plan, localities need to divide specific zones in terms of the level and frequency of flooding to invest in building appropriate electricity and irrigation works. Areas that can be invested in construction should focus on applying high technology to production, increasing the value and efficiency of crops; in difficult areas, there should be solutions to take advantage of soil quality and avoid crop seasons for production. In particular, it is necessary to have close links with businesses to produce and consume products for areas producing commercial vegetables./.