Farmers earn hundreds of millions from growing biomass corn

(Baonghean.vn) - With an area of ​​over 2,300 hectares/crop, Anh Son district has long been considered the province's largest corn granary. This agricultural product has helped many people in the mountainous region of Anh Son escape poverty.

Producing biomass corn is not too difficult, because farmers have now brought mechanization into the fields, so the time for land preparation and sowing is quick and convenient. Photo: Huyen Trang

To create a breakthrough in productivity, output and land use coefficient, the district's Department of Agriculture has a policy of producing large biomass corn with a quantity of 4 crops/year.

While many localities are still waiting for the spring corn harvest, in Tam Son commune, people have already finished harvesting and sowing spring-summer corn on alluvial land. Pointing to the land that was just sown 5 days ago, Mr. Nguyen Van Hung in village 7, Tam Son commune said: "My family has more than 10 sao of alluvial land. After harvesting corn to sell to dairy companies, we will immediately start producing the next corn crop."

Mr. Hung said that producing this type of corn is not too difficult, because the commune has now brought mechanization to the fields, and it only takes one day to prepare the land and finish sowing, and the care is not much, and when the corn is full of milk, traders come to the place to buy it, and then they hire people to harvest it themselves. Compared to growing commercial corn, growing biomass corn brings more profit and saves costs for farmers.

People of Tam Son commune (Anh Son) harvest biomass corn. Photo: Huyen Trang

Nearby, Mr. Nguyen Huu Anh in the same village 7 is also checking the corn fields that have just sprouted. He said: Recently, there was a big tornado that broke more than 8 sao of his family's corn, but fortunately, from the beginning of the season, the commune had signed a contract to purchase the products with dairy companies, so the corn area of ​​his family as well as dozens of other households in the commune was completely purchased, the productivity has decreased but there is still income. According to Mr. Huu Anh, if the weather is favorable for growing biomass corn, farmers will definitely earn over 100 million VND/ha/year, while growing corn for grain only earns from 60 - 70 million VND/ha/year. The reason is that growing biomass corn can rotate 4 crops/year, while growing corn for grain only produces 3 crops/year. Moreover, in recent years, biomass corn has been planted at high density, so corn yield is high.

According to calculations by Tam Son commune people, biomass corn has a short growing period of 85-90 days, while corn for grain takes 110-120 days to harvest. If well cared for, each sao can yield 1.8 tons/crop, with a price of 850,000 VND/ton. It is calculated that each year people earn over 7 tons of corn, worth more than 6 million VND, a much higher profit than growing corn for grain before.

Mr. Nguyen Van Toan - Chairman of Tam Son Commune People's Committee said: This is the second year the commune has implemented the model of growing corn 4 crops/year. After 2 years of production, it shows that corn plants are still growing and developing well, with high productivity. According to initial assessment, producing corn for stalks 4 years/crop does not cause soil fibrosis because corn plants often grow strongly and need a lot of nutrients during the cotton growing stage, while with this type of corn for stalks, when the cotton is full of milk, it can be harvested.

To increase productivity, local output is structured with short-term varieties such as: CT888, CT919, CP101... As for product output, there are currently many purchasing companies such as TH Dairy Company, Vinamilk, beef cattle companies, and feed processing factories. To reassure people, the commune government has signed a contract to purchase products right from the beginning of the season. In parallel, the locality also has more than 100 hectares of land in the highlands and plains where people maintain corn cultivation for grain to ensure food sources for livestock.

Huyen Trang