Sugarcane flowers, farmers "suffer double loss"

(Baonghean) - By the end of December, the sugarcane area in Tan Ky district had been harvested very little compared to the total sugarcane area in the whole district. The way Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company (referred to as the factory) has long been purchasing sugarcane has caused frustration for sugarcane growers. In particular, most of the unharvested sugarcane area has now turned white, making sugarcane growers feel like they are sitting on a pile of fire. Tan Ky people are no longer interested in sugarcane.

These days, walking on the sugarcane fields of Tan Ky district, one can see a pure white color of sugarcane flowers, like reeds on the hillside. Sitting and watching the sugarcane blossom, sugarcane growers are impatient, waiting for the day to receive the order to harvest the sugarcane from the company. In the fields of Ky Son, Tan Son, Huong Son, Nghia Phuc... there are occasionally families harvesting sugarcane. After a year of care, on the day of harvest, everyone should be excited, but on the contrary, sadness is clearly shown on everyone's face with the sugarcane. Sadness is because the factory buys sugarcane at a cheap price, minus many impurities, low sugar content...

Tan Ky residents are worried that sugarcane production will decrease due to the simultaneous flowering of sugarcane.

Ms. Nguy Thi Hai, Hung Cuong 1 hamlet, Ky Son commune, indignantly said: “My family has nearly 1 hectare of sugarcane, Tan Dai Duong and MI varieties, and is expected to harvest about 40 tons this year. On October 25, the factory issued an order to purchase 1 truck of sugarcane. When the sugarcane was loaded onto the truck, the family handed over all the sugarcane to the driver to take to the factory to weigh and measure. Then the driver informed the family of the results, with the weighted quantity of 15.5 tons of sugarcane, multiplied by the price of grade 1 sugarcane of 820,000 VND/ton. The truck of sugarcane should have been worth 12.7 million VND, but the factory deducted 6.2 quintals of impurities, and the family received 11.3 million VND. The remaining sugarcane in the field is unknown when it will be harvested, but since the beginning of November, the sugarcane has been showing white flags.” Mrs. Hai is worried like last year, her family harvested the last sugarcane truck on April 30, when the sugarcane had been in bloom for 4-5 months, the sugarcane plants were dry and withered in the middle of the field, so the sugarcane yield was much lower than expected.

Coming to Hamlet 1 Dien Nam, Ky Tan Commune, at the house of Hamlet Chief Nguyen Quoc Viet, many people came to express their frustrations with us about the way the factory purchased sugarcane. Mrs. Huong - Dai's family has 1.2 hectares of sugarcane in the same plot, harvesting 2 truckloads of sugarcane. The factory measured the sugar content of the first truckload of sugarcane as type 1, but the sugar content of the second truckload was only type 3 (2 trucks harvested 1 day apart). This fact made many families growing sugarcane in Tan Ky "swallow the bitter pill and keep quiet". In addition, the factory deducted too much sugarcane impurities, for 1 truckload of sugarcane weighing 10 tons or more, the factory deducted 6-7 quintals of impurities. The village chief said: “In previous years, when sugarcane prices were high, people could leave the tops long, but when sugarcane prices are as cheap as they are now, no one would be foolish enough to leave the tops long anymore. Instead, they would cut deep down to get some of the tops and leaves for the buffalo and cows to eat, which is more profitable. Therefore, the factory's claim that people leave the tops long is incorrect.”

Sugarcane growers are too dependent on the factory, while sugarcane prices are low, so sugarcane does not bring as much profit to sugarcane growers as other crops. Therefore, in Hamlet 1 Dien Nam, after this sugarcane harvest, many families will abandon sugarcane and switch to growing corn. Even the family of Hamlet Chief Nguyen Quoc Viet, this year planted nearly 1 hectare of sugarcane, but next year he will switch all the land to grow corn, peanuts, and beans. Because growing those crops brings higher income and less hardship. Following the villagers to the Len Dung and Beo Dau sugarcane fields of Hamlet 1 Dien Nam, the villagers said that more than 2 hectares of sugarcane were harvested at the beginning of December last year, but this year, almost the end of December, they are still "inactive". The sugarcane has bloomed, people are like sitting on a pile of fire. Farmers are at double loss, not only is the sugar content low but there are more impurities, so the price of sugarcane is also pulled down. They say the factory cares about sugarcane growers, but the factory promised to build this road to the fields several years ago but it still hasn't been built, so people have to travel too far to harvest sugarcane.

In Thong Nhat village, Tan Phu commune, sugarcane is the main crop that brings economic benefits to households. With 130 households and 460 people, the total rice area of ​​the whole village is only 10 hectares, but the sugarcane area is up to 70 hectares. Currently, the sugarcane fields have all bloomed, and a few fields have been harvested. According to Thong Nhat village chief, Mr. Pham Van Hoan, in previous years, sugarcane was a crop that brought prosperity to the people, but now it is no longer the case. Mr. Hoan said: "The fact that sugarcane blooms cannot be blamed on Song Con Sugar Factory. However, given the current situation, the factory should have an early purchase plan to help people avoid losses. However, people have reported that sugarcane cutting orders in Thong Nhat village are very rare because they buy from areas outside the district. If this continues, the factory will benefit but the people will suffer."

Sugarcane growers in Tan Ky calculate: To grow 1 hectare of sugarcane, people invest in seeds, fertilizers, lime... nearly 34 million VND. If calculating the average sugarcane yield of the district at 55 tons/ha, and calculating the current price of grade 1 sugarcane at 820 thousand VND/ton, it is 45 million VND. Thus, sugarcane growers still make a profit of 11 million VND/ha. That does not include the rental fee for harvesting, care... To harvest 1 ton of sugarcane, a family must rent at least 150 thousand VND, in places where the roads are difficult, they have to hire "tenders" to bring sugarcane to the gathering place, which is very expensive. For example, in Hamlet 1 Dien Nam, in recent years people have focused on sugarcane, so the sugarcane area of ​​the whole hamlet has nearly 30 hectares. The factory has promised many times to build raw material roads to help people transport sugarcane, but many years have passed, and in the village's sugarcane fields, the muddy sugarcane transport roads are still there, and the factory has not invested in building any roads for the village.

Even the fact that the factory lends biofertilizer to sugarcane growers needs to be discussed. Sugarcane growers say that the factory lends biofertilizer to sugarcane growers to create conditions for households in difficulty to invest in sugarcane in time for the season, but the company charges too high a price compared to the market price of biofertilizer (according to sugarcane growers, the current market price of biofertilizer is 5,600 VND/kg, while the company charges 7,300 VND/kg). Moreover, people are also upset that the factory is forced to borrow the fertilizer and not sell it for money immediately, so after harvesting the sugarcane, the factory deducts this and that, and the sugarcane growers have very little money left.

According to the data of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tan Ky district, currently in the district there are 6,850 hectares of sugarcane, of which 4,344 hectares are sugarcane with stumps, of which 2,234 hectares are sugarcane with stumps from the third crop that need to be removed to plant new crops or rotate with other crops. The plan to plant new sugarcane in 2014 in Tan Ky is 1,800 hectares. Thus, the sugarcane material area of ​​Tan Ky district needs to be harvested early on an area of ​​2,234 hectares. However, we know that after 50 days of entering the new pressing season, Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company has purchased 150 thousand tons of sugarcane, of which the amount of sugarcane purchased in Tan Ky district is about 135 thousand tons, the rest is purchased outside the district. The amount of sugarcane collected is equivalent to more than 2,450 hectares. Thus, if compared with the area of ​​sugarcane that needs to be removed to plant new crops next year, it is relatively suitable. But if so, why is there still over 20 hectares of over-aged sugarcane in Hamlet 1, Dien Nam, that has not been harvested yet? Not only in Dien Nam, but sugarcane growers in other localities are also very upset because the sugarcane is over-aged and there is no harvest order.

Mr. Vuong Dinh Lap - Vice Chairman of Tan Ky District People's Committee, said: The district's guiding viewpoint is to base on the sugarcane harvest time of each household in the previous harvest to have a plan to harvest sugarcane for the next crop. But in reality, for a long time, there has been no specific contract between sugarcane growers and the company on the sugarcane harvesting process. Sugarcane areas that have been left uncultivated for 3 years and are being replanted are prioritized by the factory for early harvesting. To overcome this situation, the District People's Committee has a solution starting next year, requiring localities to coordinate with the factory's agricultural staff to sign specific contracts on the sugarcane purchasing schedule to have a basis for the next harvest. If any family sees that the agricultural staff arranges the sugarcane harvest not in accordance with the contract time, they have a basis to make a recommendation to the government and the factory. People need to directly supervise and get the results, and should not entrust everything to the driver, as has been the fault of the sugarcane growers for a long time.

According to Mr. Nguyen Ba Thuc - Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tan Ky district, if the sugarcane flags early due to the variety, the Company needs to choose long-term sugarcane varieties, or sugarcane varieties that do not flag to replace the planting structure. Sugarcane that flags for a long time before being harvested will certainly affect the yield and quality of sugarcane, leading to losses for sugarcane growers.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Quy - Deputy Director of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company, explained: Sugarcane blossoming early is due to sensitivity to the weather this year with a lot of rain, high humidity, combined with dryness, causing sugarcane to flower early. This pressing season, the Company officially started operating from November 14 and will end pressing on April 30, 2014 (this year the factory increased its capacity from 3,000 tons to 3,300 tons of sugarcane/day). Therefore, last year's pressing season, up to December 31, the Company purchased 102 thousand tons of sugarcane, but this year, up to January 5, 2014, the Company purchased 150 thousand tons of sugarcane, of which 90% was purchased in the district, the rest was purchased outside the district.

Currently, the Company has contracted 220 trucks to transport sugarcane from the raw material area to the factory every day. The Company's raw material area, in addition to Tan Ky district (nearly 6,400 hectares contracted with the factory), also has 2,000 hectares of raw sugarcane in 5 other districts: Thanh Chuong, Anh Son, Yen Thanh, Do Luong and Huong Son district (Ha Tinh). The Company complies with the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in removing impurities in sugarcane (non-sugar substances), such as roots, leaves, soil, tops, etc. Previously, the sugar price was high, so the company did not remove sugarcane impurities, so that sugarcane growers could benefit. In recent years, the sugar price has dropped sharply, forcing the Company to remove impurities to reduce the burden on the company.

Frustrated with this issue, representing sugarcane growers, Mr. Phan Thanh Hung - Deputy Director of Song Con Agricultural One Member Co., Ltd. said: It is unreasonable for the factory to buy sugarcane and remove impurities as it has been doing for a long time. Because, when the sugarcane cart is still intact, the factory uses the drill bit of the sugarcane quality testing system to drill deep into the sugarcane cart to take samples for sugar content analysis, then of course the sugarcane sample includes impurities, so when analyzing the sugarcane sample, that part of the impurities has already affected the sugar content. In addition, the factory also removes 3 - 4% of the sugarcane cart's impurities, leading to double losses for sugarcane growers.

Regarding biofertilizers, Mr. Quy explained: The biofertilizers that the Company has been giving to sugarcane growers for fertilization are produced by the Company and are suitable for sugarcane during the growth process, so the Company sells them at a price of over 7,000 VND/kg. Mr. Quy's explanation is difficult to convince, because no competent authority has confirmed the special properties of the Company's biofertilizers.

In my opinion, for a sugar factory to develop sustainably, it is essential that the factory takes care of and protects its main raw material areas, and should not "give up the plate for nothing". Should managers, especially sugarcane production units, have long-term, sustainable strategic policy planning, closely follow and share with sugarcane growers, aiming for the goal of growing sugarcane that benefits all three parties. While the sugarcane industry is facing difficulties, sugarcane growers are ready to share with the factory, and vice versa, the factory also needs to share with sugarcane growers equally.

X.Hoang – N.Lan