In Nghe An, in recent years, in many localities, winter crop has become the main crop of the year; many high-value production models have been replicated and winter crop is awaited by farmers to actively invest in production to create new products from new crops.
These days, in Con Go field, Lang Dong hamlet, Hung Tan commune (Hung Nguyen), people are busy planting purple garlic. This is the main winter crop of Dong village people in the past 3 years.
Mr. Phan Thanh Ha - Head of Lang Dong Hamlet said: "The garlic growing area of 30 households in Lang Dong is 2 hectares. Previously, on this land, people mainly grew vegetables, but the output was quite unstable during the harvest season, there was a lot of surplus vegetables, difficult to sell, and in some years, the sales were slow and had to be dumped. In 2019, some households in the village introduced purple garlic to grow. Seeing that this crop was suitable for the soil, suitable for the climate, had a high selling price, and was easy to sell, people learned from each other and gradually expanded it."
By 2020, realizing the outstanding economic efficiency of purple garlic, the government directed people to plant it en masse. In 2021, this model was supported by the district to install an automatic misting irrigation system; in the winter crop of 2022, the Provincial People's Committee supported 50% of the cost of fertilizer and seeds.
As one of the pioneers in producing purple garlic in Lang Dong hamlet, on an area of over 1 sao, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh earns 15-17 million VND/crop. According to Ms. Thanh, compared to other crops, purple garlic has outstanding advantages. “First, it is easy to grow, requires little care, and has few pests and diseases; second, it is easy to sell, after more than 2 months of planting, it is ready to harvest, first selling garlic plants, then selling garlic bulbs. After the garlic is pulled out, it is sold right in the field to traders, without having to bring it back to be processed, without having to dry it, so it is also profitable.
In a good year with good prices, after deducting the initial investment costs, each sao makes a profit of about 15 million VND. After harvesting garlic, we grow spring peanuts, before that, we grow vegetables, so we rotate crops, the soil is not hardened, and the income from production is high..."
Having been planted in Dien Phong (Dien Chau) for 3 years now, potatoes are considered the most effective winter crop on the land here. In the winter crop of 2022, Dien Phong will expand its area to 40 hectares. Notably, the company will purchase all products after harvest at a pre-agreed price.
To encourage farmers to maintain a stable area for winter potato cultivation, Dien Phong Agricultural Cooperative has advised the Commune People's Committee to do a good job of planning production areas, arranging a reasonable structure of seasonal rice varieties to be proactive in the season. Focus on planning areas for producing disease-free seed potatoes and areas for producing safe commercial potatoes.
With the orientation of developing production towards goods, quality, efficiency, enhancing the value chain and sustainable development, in the winter crop of 2022, Dien Chau will stabilize the area of 4,200 hectares, including 300 hectares of potatoes and 1,600 hectares of biomass corn according to the linkage model.
Mr. Phan Xuan Vinh - Vice Chairman of Dien Chau District People's Committee said: "In the past, Dien Chau people produced winter crops on a small scale, without forming commodity areas, and there was still a situation of stagnation and backlog of products. In recent years, through the linkage models of 4 parties (farmers - State - scientists and enterprises), products have been consumed stably and the value of winter crops has been increased. Up to now, Dien Chau has built 30 new models, from which 7 specialized winter crop areas have been formed with an area of 6-40 hectares, with an income of 100 - 250 million VND/ha such as models of growing hot peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, cucumbers, onions, garlic, high-quality vegetables... When participating in new models, Dien Chau farmers all enjoy support mechanisms in terms of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, especially guaranteed output and product purchase prices, so people can rest assured in production".
In the mountainous commune of Thanh Nho (Thanh Chuong), people have been attached to sweet corn for 5 years now. This is a fairly new crop in this area; however, thanks to the close connection between the Commune Farmers' Association and Dong Giao Import-Export Joint Stock Company, people have boldly planted it; seeds and fertilizers are provided in the form of post-payment; and scientific and technical guidance and training are provided... Thanks to that, up to now, the area has 10.3 hectares of sweet corn with the participation of 46 households.
According to calculations, 1 sao of corn yields 700 kg, the committed selling price is 4,800 VND/kg, the enterprise buys fresh corn right at the field. From the effectiveness of the model, many other households in the commune have also boldly planted sweet corn on fertile soil, alluvial soil and sold it to the market.
For Nghe An in particular and the Northern provinces in general, the winter crop is a special and advantageous crop. In the 3-4 months of winter, the weather is cold, with the transition of early and late season temperatures, so it is possible to produce a variety of crops. Starting to develop in 1986 and 1987 of the last century, winter crop production in Nghe An initially mainly grew sweet potatoes, leafy vegetables, root vegetables, mainly sweet potatoes, with an average of 18,000 - 20,000 hectares per crop, accounting for 80 - 85% of the total area.
Since 2000, the province has planted an average of more than 46,000 hectares of crops each year, with a variety of corn, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, leafy vegetables, root vegetables, beans, peanuts, squash, pumpkins, onions, garlic, etc. There was a period when the winter crop production movement developed vigorously, which was a "savior" for livestock development, product consumption, increased income for farmers, and created an abundant supply to meet people's demand for various vegetables. Typically, in 2006, Nghe An's winter crop area reached 53,518 hectares, of which 33,528 hectares were corn.
Currently, winter crops have a very potential consumer market, many types of vegetables have high economic value, especially some of which can be processed such as: baby melon, celery, squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc. Besides, in some areas, farmers have a tradition and high level of intensive farming, on the same unit area, the production value of winter crops is many times higher than that of 2 rice crops. Therefore, for many years now, winter crops in Nghe An have been identified as the 3rd main crop of the year, not only contributing to ensuring the food production target of the province, but also making an important contribution to increasing farmers' income and stabilizing social security in the area.
However, despite many achievements, the winter crop is a production season that always faces many difficulties and even risks, while subjectively, there are still many limitations and inadequacies in both the direction and organization of production and consumption linkage to find stable markets and increase value.