New features of winter crop in Cam Son (Anh Son)

(Baonghean) - Going up National Highway 7, our car passed many fields along the Lam River. Arriving at Cam Son, the scene that opened before our eyes was a long stretch of rich vegetable fields, all built with trellises and sturdy bamboo poles.

At this time, Mr. Vuong Dinh Quy's 2 sao of squash has been planted for more than 1 month, each plant has 3-5 leaves. The squash has just been cut off the top to prepare for the branching stage. Normally, after the top is cut off, the squash plant will grow many new shoots but only 3 branches are kept to prepare for the flowering and fruiting stage. Mr. Quy said while using a tire cart carrying bamboo, walking to the field to set up a trellis for the squash: "My family has a very clear division of labor, the husband goes to plant stakes, bury bamboo, the wife builds a trellis for the squash to climb, taking care of the plants, each person has a specific assignment, so when the season comes, they know their own part of the job." Every year, there are 2 main vegetable crops: summer-autumn vegetables and winter-spring vegetables, but the summer-autumn crop often encounters storms, so the risk is high, there are many years when the crop is lost. This is also the reason why Cam Son farmers always take care of, prioritize and focus on investing first in winter crop production on colored land and land reserves. According to Mr. Quy, after the summer-autumn vegetable crop, he will continue to grow squash. It only takes about 2.5 months to harvest squash, if the weather is cold and rainy, it may take 4 months to harvest fruit but it is still not affected by the weather. After 1.5 months, the squash begins to flower, so you must brush enough pollen, take the male flowers and dot them evenly on 1-3 female flowers, the flowers must be brushed with enough pollen, then later it will produce full, balanced fruit. To fertilize 1 sao of squash, you must invest 1 cubic meter of manure (2 tire carts), 2.5 tons of NPK, 1 tons of phosphorus, the more phosphorus the better; to care for squash plants when they have cotyledons, you must spray them with medicine to prevent wilting and root rot; to prevent ladybugs and thrips from appearing in large numbers with medicine.

Cam Son farmers take care of winter crops

A few years ago, Cam Son was known for its watermelon brand. Melons were grown a lot on the land, but in the past 2 years, the area of ​​melons has been reduced, giving way to squash and beans. Ms. Luong Thi Lien currently has nearly 3 sao of squash, saying: "This is the second year my family has grown squash. After 3 to 4 years of growing melons, we stop to let the land rest and replace it with other plants. We plant crops in rotation on the same area so that the soil quality and new plant varieties do not degrade and the harvest is as expected."

Squash is increasingly being grown in Cam Son, partly to replace other ineffective crops on fertile and barren land. Along with many other farming households, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue - Village 4 Hoi Lam, analyzed: "My family contracts 4 sao of land in the commune's high-income fields, paying 500,000 VND/sao each year, cultivating 2 vegetable crops/year. Compared to corn, squash gives a higher and more stable income". According to her calculations, the cost for one sao of corn is 400,000 VND including seeds, fertilizer, labor, nitrogen, good intensive cultivation, corn yields 70 yen/sao, selling dried corn for 50,000 VND/sao, total income reaches 3.5 million VND/sao. Meanwhile, investing in squash costs 200,000 VND for seeds, 500 kg of manure at a cost of about 200,000 VND, not to mention the cost of canvas, trellis, phosphate, nitrogen, etc., squash plants are carefully cared for, the income reaches 2 tons/sao, calculated according to the market price, the average squash is 4,000 - 5,000 VND/kg, so the income can be over 10 million VND/sao of squash. Compared to growing corn, growing squash gives 3 times higher income, the output is bought by traders from Hanoi, Hai Phong, Hai Duong, so Cam Son people feel secure in growing squash.

After squash is green beans. According to the calculations of the people, green beans are a traditional crop in the winter. The price of beans is stable, taken from the garden for 7 thousand VND/kg. According to Mr. Vuong Dinh Quy, in the peak harvest season, picking one crop can reach 1.2 quintals/sao, the cost of replanting is insignificant. If calculating the income, green beans can earn tens of millions of VND/sao. Along with green beans, cabbage is being grown by the people here on very good fertile soil. Cabbage is arranged to be planted from October every year, after 3-4 months it is ready for harvest. Then there are coriander, lettuce, and chrysanthemums to sell on Tet and the New Year.

The whole Cam Son commune currently has over 800 hectares of agricultural land. After 5 years of land consolidation from the original according to Decree 64/CP, the whole commune has now completed the conversion to fallow land, intensive cultivation of winter crops. Currently, the commune has over 200 hectares of corn, 30 hectares of squash and 10 hectares of various vegetables. The 30-hectare high-income field built on the dry land and fallow land of hamlets 2,3,4 is now called a 3-crop/year field with rotation and intensive cultivation forms, specifically: 2 squash + 1 melon, 1 melon + 1 squash + 1 winter vegetable, 2 rice + 1 winter corn in the field.

According to Mr. Dau Xuan Phu - Chairman of Cam Son Commune People's Committee: "Winter crop production has become a strategy in the Resolution of the 2010-2015 Party Congress. Up to now, people have been completely proactive in production and winter crop cultivation following the market economy mindset. On average, after 2 main production crops on colored land and land, with the main crop being winter crop, each Cam Son farming household can earn a net profit of no less than 100 million VND, this income is 3-5 times higher than the farming method before conversion". This result creates momentum for the construction of new rural areas in the area to reach the finish line soon.

Luong Mai