Sugarcane price in Nghe An increased by 60,000 VND/ton

(Baonghean) - At the beginning of the 2016-2017 crushing season, the price of raw sugarcane increased quite high compared to the previous year. That, along with preferential policies of enterprises, is a signal to stimulate people to invest in expanding sugarcane raw material areas.

Sugarcane growers are more profitable

These days, Tan Ky farmers are focusing on harvesting 5,400 hectares of raw sugarcane for the 2016-2017 crop year. This year, due to prolonged dry weather affecting crop growth, the average sugarcane yield is only 55 tons/ha, equal to the 2015-2016 sugarcane crop year. Although the yield is not achieved, Tan Ky farmers are excited because this year's sugarcane price is 60,000 VND/ton higher than previous years.

Mr. Truong Van Hoang's family in Doi Che hamlet, Giai Xuan commune, has a total sugarcane area of ​​nearly 5 hectares. He is currently hiring workers to harvest the 3rd year of sugarcane. He said: "Last year, the highest price of sugarcane was 860,000 VND/ton, but this year it has reached 920,000 VND/ton. Each hectare with an average yield of 52 - 55 tons, the family earns 253 million VND. After deducting expenses, the profit is about half...". This is a significant income in the past year, especially for the Tho ethnic people like Mr. Hoang. Up to this point, Giai Xuan commune has harvested 250/1,000 hectares, with the total sugarcane output of the commune expected to reach 57,700 tons.

Sugarcane arrives at Song Con Sugar Factory. Photo: Chau Lan

In Tan Xuan commune, the joy of the people was doubled because the price of sugarcane increased compared to last year and the intensive sugarcane growing model applied mechanization to production with effective Thai sugarcane varieties, creating motivation for sugarcane growers. The model was implemented on an area of ​​50 hectares in Thanh Tra hamlet, currently the sugarcane is ready to be harvested, the average yield is estimated at nearly 100 tons/ha. Calculating 1 hectare, it is more than 100 million VND, the sugarcane can be kept for another 2 years, sugarcane growers earn more than 50 million VND/ha. For the area of ​​sugarcane in the intensive model, Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company increased the sugarcane purchase price by 10% compared to the current sugarcane price.

Mr. Truong Van Thuy - Hamlet Chief, owner of the sugarcane purchasing contract in Thanh Tra Hamlet, Tan Xuan Commune said: "Thanh Tra Hamlet has 62 hectares of sugarcane, of which 50 hectares are intensive sugarcane growing model. Sugarcane growers are very happy because of the high productivity, especially the company purchasing sugarcane in the model area at a price of 1,012,000 VND/ton, while in 2015, the highest price of sugarcane was only 860,000 VND/ton".

In the 2016-2017 crop year alone, Tan Xuan commune had 356 hectares of sugarcane, accounting for 60% of the total cultivated land area. In the 2017-2018 crop year, the sugarcane area in the commune increased to 450 hectares, focusing on expanding the intensive farming model and mechanizing production on an area of ​​100 hectares to achieve high economic efficiency.

Mr. Le Hong Van - Chairman of Tan Xuan Commune People's Committee said, "For the commune, sugarcane is considered the main crop for hunger eradication and poverty reduction and there is no other crop that can replace it. With support policies to build a model of intensive sugarcane cultivation, especially increasing sugarcane prices, it has helped people here stick with this crop more." Tan Ky district currently has 5,400 hectares, currently, Tan Ky people are excited to focus on harvesting raw sugarcane for the 2016-2017 crop and continue to plant more than 2,700 hectares of sugarcane for the 2017 Spring crop to ensure the right season.

Not only in Tan Ky, in the 2016-2017 crop year, Nghe An Sugar Factory (NASU) also purchased sugarcane at 920,000 VND/ton, an increase of 70,000 VND/ton compared to last year. Mr. Nguyen Manh Loi - Deputy General Director of Nghe An Sugar Factory said: For the past two years, the company has had a policy of rewarding farmers for sugarcane with high sugar content. In 2015, the company rewarded farmers 9.4 billion VND. In this year's crushing season, after only nearly 20 days, the company has rewarded farmers 1.5 billion VND. NASU pays for sugarcane according to sugar content, the higher the sugar content, the more beneficial it is for farmers, so if any household invests in intensive cultivation carefully, the higher the sugar content of the sugarcane, the greater the income. The increase in sugarcane price means that sugarcane growers have increased income value, thereby making them excited and confident in expanding sugarcane acreage.

More policies to stimulate the development of raw material areas

In the spring crop of 2017, NASU Sugar Factory has many attractive incentive policies. Enterprises, cooperatives, and farmers in the sugarcane growing area of ​​the factory with a minimum area of ​​0.15 ha are entitled to these policies. Accordingly, NASU develops 6,000 ha of sugarcane in the spring crop of 2017 with preferential incentives: Non-refundable support of 2,000,000 VND/ha; Loan for land preparation according to technical standards of 5,000,000 VND/ha. Loan for mass seed purchase of 11,500,000 VND/ha.

Sugarcane care in Quy Hop sugarcane raw material area.

Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company also “strongly” issued policies to stimulate competition, such as: Farmers are allowed to borrow capital to buy sugarcane cultivation machines with 100% interest support for 24 months for eligible households. At the same time, the maximum loan amount is 100 million VND/household for households with sugarcane area over 5 hectares; 50 million VND/household for households with sugarcane area over 3 hectares; the maximum repayment period is 24 months from the date of money transfer. The company also provides loans to buy sugarcane care machines and pesticide sprayers; the maximum loan amount is 10 million VND/household for households with sugarcane area over 3 hectares; 5 million VND/household for households with sugarcane area over 1 hectare; 1 million VND/household for households with sugarcane area over 2,500m2.

In addition to enjoying all the new planting mechanisms mentioned above, households growing sugarcane in concentrated plots of 50 hectares or more will also receive a cash support of 4 million VND/ha; support of 6 tons of treated sugarcane sludge and added microorganisms for each newly planted hectare...

Sugar prices have improved significantly this crop year because the world sugar supply is showing signs of a sharp decline. The International Sugar Organization (ISO) recently said that in 2016 - 2017, the world may lack about 3.8 million tons of sugar along with a decrease in production in the second largest sugar exporting country, India. With stimulus policies and fluctuating sugarcane prices, sugar companies in Nghe An expect to expand their acreage, increase raw materials for production, and maximize regional advantages in market competition.

In previous years, Nghe An province had over 30,000 hectares of sugarcane, now there are only 26,500 hectares left.

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