Nghe An: Open direction from the wave of high-tech agricultural investment

(Baonghean) - Realizing the role, position and increasing demand of clean agricultural products for human health and life, in Nghe An, in addition to TH Group, many high-tech application models have appeared.

These are production models such as melon, green asparagus, Korean melon, grafted tomato, herbal rice, Vinh orange, Xa Doai orange with golden heart, Nghia Dan crispy guava... and have been initially successful.

Successful application on "difficult land"

With the aim of creating a source of clean vegetables and fruits to supply to people and tourists to Con Cuong district, a prominent tourist destination of Nghe An, Con Cuong district has invested 900 million VND for Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Trung - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Chi Khe Commune Seedling Agricultural Cooperative to build a greenhouse model applying Israeli irrigation technology to produce American melons.

Successful melon production in Con Cuong. Photo: Ba Hau

The above model is part of a fairly large-scale project of the district until 2020, which is to produce vegetables according to VietGAP. This is a bold step of Con Cuong district when investing in a large and successful model up to now. Chi Khe Commune Seedling Agricultural Cooperative is the beneficiary of the funding and has implemented it with all its enthusiasm and responsibility from the initial stages of selecting seeds, soil, techniques, sowing, care... in a professional and methodical manner.

After 3 months of trial planting, the American melons grew well, with a 100% survival rate, yielding about 7 tons of fruit from 4,800 melon plants. With the success of clean melons, the Chi Khe Commune Seedling Agricultural Cooperative continues to grow melons and eggplants ecologically, using Israeli drip irrigation technology.

Pig farming at Dai Thanh Loc Farm (Nam Dan). Photo: Chau Lan

In Anh Son district, the model of growing melons in greenhouses in Hoi Son has also been successful over the past 2 years. Here, melons are grown in individual pots of substrate without soil and the entire greenhouse area was invested in by Mr. Truong Van Hoa's family in Hamlet 2, Hoi Son Commune in the hill garden, where it is dry all year round. In the first crop, Mr. Hoa's family planted 2,000 melon trees, each tree producing one fruit and each fruit weighing from 1.5 - 2kg.

Mr. Hoa's total investment in the melon growing model is about 1.4 billion VND and the products have been sold out (mainly in cities).

After researching, Mr. Ho Ngoc Dong in Vinh city cooperated with Nghi Lien farmers to grow green asparagus on an area of ​​1.5 hectares. Previously, Nghi Lien also successfully produced melons. Through discussion, Mr. Ho Ngoc Dong said: Asparagus is grown using Israeli technology, with a drip irrigation system to conduct fertilizer and water, covered with 2-sided reflective plastic. The group also hired some farmers to take care of the garden such as cutting branches, pruning diseased plants...

Green asparagus production in Nghi Lien, Vinh city using Israeli technology. Photo: Chau Lan

The total investment for 1 hectare of asparagus is currently about 700 million VND; while working and waiting for the harvest, the group implementing the model hopes that the asparagus will be exploited in the next few weeks. The price of 1kg of asparagus is 120,000 VND, this is a super clean, nutritious vegetable that can be eaten raw and processed into dishes, so it is easy for customers to choose.

Mr. Ho Ngoc Dong shared that to invest in high-tech agriculture, the planting object is very important. And the application of some high technologies to asparagus farm production has shown the effectiveness of labor management reduced by half compared to traditional methods, plants grow better, have less diseases, and most importantly, bring consumers quality, safe products.

Gain experience from failed models

Through research on some models of applying high technology in agricultural production, not all models are successful. The Korean melon model grown in Nam Xuan commune (Nam Dan), by Nguyen Dac Son's Nam Xuan Xanh Cooperative is an example.

Invested in the form of nursery, drip irrigation and greenhouse, costing 500 million VND and following technical procedures, however, due to heavy rain and high humidity, the drip irrigation system could not function; therefore, the model lost 200 million VND.

Mr. Nguyen Dac Son said: It rained a lot so drip irrigation was not feasible. The greenhouse and irrigation technology are only suitable for melons, tomatoes, and cucumbers, but normal vegetables do not need greenhouses. Then, due to another storm, the greenhouse was severely damaged. The greenhouse model in Dien Chau and Quynh Luu districts was also the same, after harvest, the storm blew it down and completely damaged it.

After that failure, Mr. Nguyen Dac Son found a new direction, which is to cooperate with districts and communes to produce safe vegetables in open fields to supply products to schools. This is a direction that, according to Mr. Son, is quite solid, because the demand of the markets is currently very large.

Production of Korean cantaloupe. Photo: CL

Talking about the success and failure of greenhouse models, Mr. Phan Nguyen Hung - Head of Planning Department, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development shared: I have been to Da Lat and realized that climate and weather are very important factors for high-tech agricultural production.

In Da Lat, it was successful because of very little humidity and cool climate, while in Nghe An, it is too hot and sunny, in the hot season, greenhouses and net houses are not suitable for growing plants. High humidity causes investment projects to deteriorate quickly, microorganisms to grow strongly. Therefore, the type of plants to be grown and the season to be applied to greenhouses and net houses are very important.

In Nghe An, with the orientation of attracting investment in the agricultural sector, especially high-tech agriculture, in recent years, it has attracted many enterprises with large projects to organize high-tech agricultural production.

These include: TH Milk Food Joint Stock Company, Vinamilk for milk processing; Thang Nam Forestry Joint Stock Company for wood processing; Kieu Phuong Company Limited for cattle breeding, Dai Thanh Loc Company Limited for foreign pig breeding, Nghe An Food Joint Stock Company in Que Phong for passion fruit breeding; Agricultural Materials Corporation, Phu Quy High-tech Agricultural Industry Company.

Besides, there are safe vegetable production areas according to VietGAP process in coastal communes of Quynh Luu district, Hoang Mai town; high-quality rice seed production in Yen Thanh district; white-leg shrimp farming model in Quynh Luu district; Hoang Mai town and Dien Chau...

Grafted tomato production in Dien Chau. Photo: PV

The development of high-tech agriculture in Nghe An has brought the average production value to 200 - 250 million VND/ha/year, 2 - 3 times higher than mass agricultural production, contributing to increasing the added value in agricultural production.

Many advanced technologies have been applied by enterprises in production such as: Seed technology (from European countries, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, etc.), modern greenhouse technology (from Israel); information technology for automatic control of water-saving irrigation, temperature, humidity, nutrition, light (from Israel, Taiwan, the US, etc.).

Chau Lan