Countryside sticky corn in the city

(Baonghean.vn) - Currently, many farmers in suburban communes harvest sticky corn and sell it at markets in Vinh city. Each sao of corn brings households an income of 3 - 5 million VND.

These days, the family of Mr. Nguyen Van Quang (Hamlet 8, Nghi Lien) is busy harvesting corn to sell to the market. He said: "My family grows 2 sao of white sticky corn, earning nearly 10 million VND."

Mr. Nguyen Van Quang, hamlet 8 Nghi Lien, harvests sticky corn intercropped with peanuts. His family has 2 sao of sticky corn, earning nearly 10 million VND.

Ms. Duong Thi Vinh in Hamlet 8, Nghi Kim Commune has 3 sao of peanuts, and she intercropped 9 rows of glutinous corn. So far, she has harvested almost all the corn, earning more than 4 million VND. "Before, I only planted peanuts, this year I intercropped corn to have more income. Next season, I will plant more corn because it is easy to sell and highly effective," Ms. Vinh said.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh, a resident of Cua Lo, buys 300-400 cobs of sticky corn from people in the fields every day, at a price of 1,500-2,000 VND/cob. Then she brings it to Vinh wholesale market to sell at a price of 2,500-3,000 VND/cob, earning a profit of 200,000-400,000 VND per day.

Currently, many farmers in suburban communes harvest and sell glutinous corn at markets in Vinh city. Mr. Tran Duc Oanh - Head of the Agricultural Department of Nghi Lien commune said: "Gluco corn is a commercial crop that brings high economic efficiency. This spring, Nghi Lien commune planted 50 hectares of commercial glutinous corn. The locality is encouraging farmers to expand the area because this is a short-term crop, easy to consume. Especially in the spring, planting corn intercropped with peanuts will take advantage of the land area, shorten the care time and gain more profit when combining both types of crops in the field."

Young sticky corn is a delicious and nutritious dish that can be boiled, roasted, cooked into sweet soup, made into corn milk, etc., so many people choose to buy it.

In the spring crop of 2016, the city had 174 hectares of corn, of which commercial glutinous corn reached 157 hectares, concentrated in the communes of Nghi Lien, Nghi Kim, Nghi An, Nghi Duc and Dong Vinh ward. Currently, farmers are focusing on harvesting and selling to the market. According to farmers' calculations, each sao of commercial glutinous corn reaches 4-5 million VND/crop; this spring crop, Vinh city farmers earned 14,130 million VND from commercial glutinous corn. Currently, there are 2 types on the market: traditional white glutinous corn and purple glutinous corn originating from Thailand.

Herbal purple sticky corn sells for 4,000 - 5,000 VND/cob. This is a type of corn that is very popular with people but in small quantity.

“Previously, city farmers mainly grew hybrid corn for animal feed. In the 2015 winter crop, the city supported farmers to build a model of growing purple glutinous corn for sale, achieving a value of 5-6 million/sao. In the 2016 winter crop, the city will support 30-50% of the price of purple corn seeds for farmers to produce because this is a short-term, high-yield corn variety, favored by the market and can take advantage of the plant stem as food to develop cattle and buffalo farming,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh, deputy head of the Vinh city economic department.

Thanh Tam - Quang An