Effectiveness of winter waxy corn cultivation in Yen Thanh

(Baonghean) - MX 10 waxy corn variety (hybrid waxy corn), with stable output and high price (through 2 production seasons), contributes to increasing income and improving the lives of farmers in My Thanh commune - Yen Thanh.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Khanh in Hamlet 8, My Thanh Commune (Yen Thanh) is taking care of the MX 10 sticky corn field, saying: After testing 2 crops of MX 10 sticky corn and seeing the effectiveness, this year my family decided to invest in planting 2 sao of sticky corn on the large Cay Me field. According to Ms. Khanh, the MX 10 variety has outstanding advantages: the plants grow evenly, the corn is large, the grains are even, and the harvest time is short (about 80 days for harvest). In particular, the quality of the corn is favored by the market because the grains are milky white, soft, chewy, and delicious. The output is favorable because traders from all over come to buy at the field, with prices from 1,500 - 2,000 VND/corn. Each sao of corn, after deducting costs, still has a profit of about 2.8 million VND, which means that corn brings in higher income than rice.

Ms. Le Thi Thanh also happily planted 3 sao of sticky corn: My family has planted 3 sao of sticky corn for more than 10 days. To get high yield of MX 10 sticky corn, we have boldly invested in proper technical care. The advantage of MX 10 sticky corn when harvested is that the stems and leaves are still young and green, so it can be used as food for cattle in the cold season. Many households also use it as green manure. Ms. Thanh said: In the winter crop of 2012, my family planted 2 sao of corn, and earned 5.5 million VND. This crop, we will continue to plant 3 sao of corn. If we can sell it for over 2,000 VND/cob, we will earn nearly 8 million VND. Sticky corn is a very short-term variety. According to the commune's direction, corn-growing families proactively divide the sowing sessions into 4-6 days to "spread out the crop" to facilitate harvesting and always have corn to supply the market.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Son - Head of Hamlet 8 said: The economic efficiency of MX 10 hybrid sticky corn has been confirmed. From a trial planting of 0.5 ha, up to now, the hamlet has concentrated on planting nearly 4 ha of hybrid sticky corn on 2-rice land, with over 40 households participating. This is also the basis for the hamlet to continue expanding the hybrid sticky corn planting area for the next winter crops. Mr. Son further explained: The reason why Hamlet 8 will expand the corn area to about 10 ha is due to stable investment, traders in Nghi Loc, Dien Chau, Vinh City bring cars to the place to buy...

Mr. Nguyen Vinh Hoi - Vice Chairman of My Thanh Commune People's Committee added: This winter crop, My Thanh produced over 70 hectares of corn, of which 45 hectares were corn on 2-rice land and 25 hectares were corn on colored land. For MX 10 glutinous corn, the commune concentrated its planting structure on over 9 hectares in large-scale fields in hamlets 8 and 9 near National Highway 7A to facilitate traders to purchase at the field. Up to this point, the commune has sown over 80% of the corn area. For the MX 10 corn area that has been sown 100% of the area, the commune has directed people to sow and divide it into 4-5 batches, 5-7 days apart, to facilitate consumption. To support farmers in developing MX 10 glutinous corn, the commune has coordinated with the Agricultural Extension Station and the District Department of Agriculture to open training classes and provide technical guidance on care processes. MX10 corn has a short harvest time, so people need to fertilize early and focus on each growth stage of the corn plant to both grow well and resist pests and diseases.

Currently, the commune is actively directing hamlets to mobilize forces to effectively carry out flood control work. Regarding the policy mechanism for MX10 corn variety, 100% of the seeds are supported for people. If the sowing is damaged by flooding, the seeds will be re-issued. Of which, the province supports 60%, the district 20%, and the commune 20%.

Van Truong