Improve productivity and quality of raw sugarcane

(Baonghean) - The time to join the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) is approaching, causing many domestic products to face fierce competition from potential markets in the region. Sugarcane products are no exception. Aware of that, from businesses to farmers have been taking steps to "transform" to improve production efficiency.

With 6,348 hectares of sugarcane, Quy Hop district is considered one of the key growing areas of the province, in which, in Tam Hop, sugarcane is distributed in 18 hamlets of the commune. A new point in the last spring crop is that the land consolidation and plot exchange work was well implemented, thereby forming concentrated raw material areas. In Tan Tien hamlet, after land consolidation and plot exchange, people brought mechanization into production, especially in the land preparation and harvesting stages to reduce production costs, bringing down the price of finished products accordingly. There are areas growing sugarcane with high productivity, up to 80-90 tons/ha, even some areas reaching 100 tons/ha. With the sugarcane purchase price of 830,000 VND/ton, each hectare achieved a revenue of 70-80 million VND, after deducting costs, the profit was over 40 million VND/ha.

The clean, green, disease-free sugarcane area of ​​the autumn crop of the people in Cau Da hamlet (Chau Loc commune, Quy Hop).

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Tam, an agricultural extension officer of Tam Hop commune, said: “Currently, more than 80% of the growing area has been used by people to use machines in the land preparation and spraying stages to increase productivity and reduce production costs. The whole commune has 6 large-capacity land preparation machines with a price of over 270 million VND/unit and 4 small-capacity machines. With the above number, it is possible to ensure the land preparation stage - a stage that requires a lot of time and significantly determines the productivity of sugarcane. In addition, families here have invested in spraying machines to serve the sugarcane care process. During that process, the sugar factory coordinated with the district and commune to organize training on sugarcane care techniques and disease prevention. In the last spring crop, the commune had nearly 50 hectares of sugarcane infected with grass shoot disease. Faced with this situation, people quickly destroyed the infected area, treated the soil and bought disease-resistant varieties QD93 to plant for the new crop…”.

In Tan Ky district, to increase sugarcane productivity, some drip irrigation models for sugarcane were applied on 40 hectares of Nghia Dung, Tan Long, Tan An communes... Initial evaluation after 7 months of testing showed that the model brought clear efficiency. Normally, sugarcane productivity only reaches around 60 tons/ha, but with this irrigation method, sugarcane yield can be increased to 100 tons/ha. With an area of ​​7.3 hectares applying this method, Mr. Thieu Thanh Long, in Nghia Dung commune, shared: “The irrigation system using this method has two main parts: the pump and the water pipes. The pump has devices to control the irrigation mode, mix fertilizers and pesticides. When operating, water and the above mixtures will be led through each branch pipe and then divided into small pipes to irrigate each tree. Therefore, we can precisely control the amount of irrigation water and fertilizer without fear of being washed away when it rains. So even in hot weather, the ground still has moderate moisture, the sugarcane is strong and green. The total investment cost for this irrigation system ranges from 50 to 60 million VND/ha. However, with just a one-time investment, the system can be used well for 5 to 7 years later.”

Sharing about the policies and directions for developing sugarcane raw material areas in the coming time, Mr. Nguyen Ba Thuc, Head of the Department of Agriculture of Tan Ky district, said: "If in the past, the development of growing areas took place massively, now the general policy is to stabilize the growing area to focus on improving the quality and output of the cultivated area. Faced with the situation of low purchasing prices, unfavorable weather, and strong development of pests and diseases, the district has coordinated with Song Con Sugarcane Company to find solutions. One of the proposed solutions is to boldly restructure sugarcane growing areas by eliminating low-yield areas and gradually converting rice land without proactive water supply and inefficient rice production to sugarcane cultivation. At the beginning of this year, the district tested converting 120 hectares of inefficient rice production due to lack of proactive water supply to sugarcane cultivation, increasing sugarcane yield from 68 tons/ha to 110 - 120 tons/ha, raising income to 90 - 95 million VND/ha. After deducting expenses, sugarcane growers earn an income of 50 - 55 million VND/ha/year. This can be considered a positive signal from which the model can be replicated in the future.

Enterprises currently located in the province have also actively cooperated and supported investment in raw sugarcane growing areas. Recently, Nghe An Sugarcane Company Limited and Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company have approved support policies for sugarcane growing areas in the planning area. Specifically, people will receive investment support to buy seeds and machinery and equipment, and land areas converted from other crops will also be supported. Mr. Nguyen Sy Hai, Head of the raw material area development department of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company, said: "Because the price of raw sugarcane accounts for 75 - 80% of the product cost, the company constantly improves the quality of the raw sugarcane area with disease-free sugarcane varieties and good genetic resources, and constantly accompanies farmers in guiding technical care measures to increase sugarcane yield and quality. On the other hand, promoting the application of scientific and technical advances in production. This year, in addition to support policies on fertilizers, seedlings and converted land, the company also encourages households to buy more land preparation machines. Currently, there are more than 110 land preparation machines in the area, however, they are mainly small capacity machines so productivity is not high. Therefore, the company has supported loans of up to 100 million VND/household, supporting 100% interest for 24 months for farmers to invest in buying machines with a capacity of over 100 horsepower. The company trusts the raw material area will develop better and better, products can compete with other countries in the region".

The support and product consumption policies of sugar factories have reassured sugarcane growers. However, people are still hesitant about the high sugarcane transportation costs, causing people to lose a large amount of money. Last year, the purchase price was 830,000 VND/ton, but after deducting transportation costs, only 800,000 VND/ton remained. Therefore, most sugarcane growers hope that sugar companies and factories will pay attention to reducing transportation costs so that sugarcane growers can have more income to reinvest in developing better raw material areas.

THANH QUYNH