The Ministry of Agriculture and Tourism jointly surveyed sugarcane raw material areas and community tourism in Nghe An.

The working delegation included Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam; Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Trinh Thi Thuy, along with representatives of the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development; Department of Cooperative Economics and Rural Development; National Agricultural Extension Center; Central Office for New Rural Area Coordination; Department of Travel and Tourism; Department of Grassroots Culture... Comrade Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee along with representatives of leaders of Nghia Dan, Quy Hop and Quy Chau districts worked with the working delegation.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism surveyed a community tourism site in Hoa Tien village, Chau Tien commune (Quy Chau). Photo: Tien Dong

Before entering the working session, the delegation surveyed the community tourism model in Hoa Tien village (Chau Tien commune, Quy Chau district) and visited the NASU Sugar Factory.

Reporting to the working delegation, the leader of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nghe An said that sugarcane is one of the main crops of Nghe An province. In recent years, thesugar cane businesshas carried out research activities, applied science and technology stably to develop raw material areas, actively applied mechanization and support policies for farmers to invest in production. Thereby, contributing to improving the output and quality of raw sugarcane, bringing stable income to farmers.

In the 2021-2022 crop year, the total area of ​​raw sugarcane in Nghe An will reach 19,223 hectares, concentrated in the following districts: Quy Hop 4,961 hectares; Tan Ky 3,171 hectares; Nghia Dan 7,600 hectares; Quy Chau 1,158 hectares; Quynh Luu 936 hectares; Anh Son 449 hectares, etc. The sugarcane yield is expected to reach an average of nearly 61 tons/ha, 5 tons/ha higher than last year's sugarcane crop; the expected output is 1,173,000 tons, serving 3 sugarcane processing factories with a total designed capacity of 15,500 tons of sugarcane/day.

However, the area andraw sugarcane outputIn recent years, Nghe An has tended to decrease. Compared to 2015, the area of ​​raw sugarcane in the whole province has decreased by about 27%, and the output has decreased by 23%. This has caused a shortage of raw materials for processing factories, and in some years, there has been competition for raw materials among factories. Some production stages have a very low rate of mechanization, such as planting and harvesting sugarcane. Not to mention that the roads serving the production and transportation of raw sugarcane are still limited; the irrigation system has not met the demand for irrigation water, especially in the dry season.

Working delegation with NASU Sugar Factory. Photo: Tien Dong

Regarding the development of cooperatives associated with community tourism, currently, in the province, there are 5 cooperatives with community tourism activities in Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, and Quy Chau districts. However, the current community tourism sites are still rudimentary and have not received much investment to meet the needs of tourists for relaxation and sightseeing.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh An - Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Tourism, recommended to the working delegation that it is necessary to soon arrange funding to support investment in building typical tourist destinations for communities, ethnic minorities and mountainous areas according to the National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development of Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas in the period of 2021-2025 for Hoa Tien village, Chau Tien commune (Quy Chau). From there, help this community tourism destination to further improve its products, diversify services from traditional occupations, cuisine, folk songs, folk dances... to create better attraction for tourists.

The delegation worked with the People's Committee of Nghe An province. Photo: Tien Dong

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee said: In order to develop raw material areas, in 2021, Nghe An Provincial People's Committee approved the Project on developing key agricultural products of the province for the period 2021-2025, with a vision to 2030; Continue to establish and develop more cooperatives and cooperative groups associated with enterprises to produce, trade and consume sugarcane products according to the value chain, associated with restructuring the agricultural sector and building new rural areas. Strive to have at least 55 cooperatives by 2025 and 110 cooperatives producing sugarcane by 2030...

Comrade Le Ngoc Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee spoke at the meeting. Photo: Tien Dong

Regarding community tourism associated with new rural development, comrade Le Ngoc Hoa said that recently, the province has also worked with localities to develop plans for community tourism development, especially in localities that have reached the new rural destination; building more attractive tourism products associated with the development of OCOP products...

Mr. Le Quoc Thanh - Director of the National Agricultural Extension Center said: To maintain the sugarcane material area, there must be comprehensive solutions, and businesses themselves need to support farmers more. Strengthen the connection between people, businesses and local authorities to ensure the maintenance and development of sugarcane.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said that Nghe An needs to have specific policies to develop sugarcane material areas. Photo: Tien Dong

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Thanh Nam said that Nghe An needs to have specific policies to develop sugarcane material areas so that sugar factories have enough raw materials for production but farmers can also make a living from growing sugarcane. Therefore, agencies and units need to calculate and reorganize production to reduce investment costs and increase crop productivity.

Deputy Minister Tran Thanh Nam also requested the Department of Agricultural Product Processing and Market Development; Department of Economic Cooperation and Rural Development... to actively support Nghe An in building policies and plans to develop raw material areas in a stable and sustainable manner according to the set criteria.