Helping farmers overcome difficulties caused by Covid-19

Lack of funding, volatile market

These days, Mr. Nguyen Van Ky, Hamlet 3, Hung Yen Nam Commune (Hung Nguyen) is busy taking care of his family's flock of 6,000 chickens. Mr. Ky shared: "I borrowed nearly 600 million VND from relatives to invest in raising chickens in a biosafety direction. However, this year's erratic weather, especially rain, floods and epidemics, has caused heavy losses for my family. In addition, although the chickens have been invested in and cared for meticulously, their output is still limited and they have not been able to connect with purchasing units, mainly retail, so this year's revenue will certainly be affected...".

The Provincial Farmers' Association gives breeding chickens to farmers facing difficulties due to natural disasters. Photo: Thanh Tam

Mr. Pham Hong Tien - Chairman of the Farmers' Association (FA) of Hung Nguyen district said: If in previous years, each year we supported about 14 chicken models and 6 pig models for key livestock communes in the district, in 2020, this support was limited.

In addition to limited funding, natural disasters and epidemics have also significantly affected support for households. Specifically, currently on the market, the price of piglets and chickens has increased many times compared to 2019; the price of materials and animal feed has also increased significantly. Not only that, many people do not dare to re-raise their herds because African swine fever and avian influenza are still lurking.

Supporting safe livestock farming models is facing difficulties due to the high prices of breeding animals and materials. Photo: Quang An

In Nghi Hai Ward (Cua Lo Town), seafood processing and trading units are also going through a difficult year. Hai Giang I fish sauce processing village has 84 members, is a long-standing fish sauce production unit, has a brand name in the market and ensuring food hygiene and safety in the production process is always the top priority of the members.

However, in 2020, the craft village's revenue dropped significantly (nearly 50%) due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Many households had to temporarily stop production and cut staff to ensure operating costs, and goods were stagnant. Not only that, the erratic weather in 2020, with many storms, interrupted fishermen's sea trips many times, and the source of raw materials for the craft village was also seriously affected.
In Dien Trung commune, a locality with a tradition of shrimp farming in Dien Chau district, in recent years, many biological shrimp farming models have been applied and initially brought about effectiveness. However, in reality, starting to build this model also encountered many difficulties.

Organic shrimp farming requires large investment costs and advanced farming techniques. Photo: Quang An

Mr. Ngo Xuan Dai in Hamlet 4, Dien Trung Commune said: Organic shrimp farming requires a large initial capital source, farmers must equip themselves with new farming knowledge, so some households have difficulty absorbing it.

In addition, biological products and environmental improvers for shrimp farming are now flooding the market with many different types and prices. The nature of shrimp farming is that just one wrong step can cost hundreds of millions of dong, even billions, so we face very high risks if we buy products that do not ensure quality.

Not only the livestock and production sectors, but also the cultivation of safe vegetables, tubers and fruits also face many risks in practice. Some households are not deeply aware of the production of safe agricultural products, so there are still cases of incorrect implementation of the process, leading to the quality of vegetables and tubers not being guaranteed. The situation of getting retail prices and not complying with the contracts signed with the purchasing units still occurs.

Besides, despite the large investment costs, the output of vegetables, tubers, fruits and safe food is still limited, the connection with units and businesses is not much, the quality of safe vegetables in the province is still not competitive compared to famous vegetable growing areas in the country...

In addition, consumers themselves have not yet equipped themselves with the knowledge to identify safe and unsafe vegetables; the mentality of wanting to buy beautiful, green, cheap vegetables is still very common, making safe agricultural products unable to gain a foothold in the market.

Accompanying the people

The occurrence of many natural disasters and epidemics, especially the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, has affected the entire economy, and safe agricultural and food production models in the province cannot avoid the negative effects of the pandemic.

To accompany farmers and production facilities,Nghe An Farmers AssociationThere have been specific programs and actions to help people overcome difficulties.

Comrade Nguyen Quang Tung - Chairman of the Provincial Farmers' Association presented gifts to officials, members and farmers of Thanh Xuan commune. Photo: Quang An

In early December 2020, the Provincial Farmers' Association presented thousands of DABACO breeding chickens to 59 households in 9 communes of Hung Nguyen district, including: Hung Yen Bac, Hung Yen Nam, Hung Dao, Hung Thong, Hung Phuc, Hung Linh, Chau Nhan, Xuan Lam, Long Xa. These are households that suffered heavy losses in the recent historic floods. People are extremely excited, especially in the context of high breeding chicken prices and people do not have the conditions to re-herd.
In Dien Trung commune (Dien Chau), we recognized the difficulties of households when implementing the model.organic shrimp farming, The Provincial Farmers' Association has supported households to borrow capital to invest in ponds and breeding animals. In the remaining food crop and livestock farming models, farmers' associations at all levels always accompany, support funding, and guide people to properly implement technical steps to bring the best products to the market. In addition, propaganda work on the production of safe agricultural products and food is always focused on and regularly disseminated by farmers' association officials, contributing to raising awareness among people.
Not only paying attention to and directing production work, Nghe An Farmers' Association also directs grassroots associations to strengthen exchanges and connections with units, businesses, and supermarkets inside and outside the province to help farmers consume agricultural products safely and increase income./.