Nghe An farmers actively 'keep up' with the market

STORY ON THANH MAI TEA HILL

Tea is the main crop of people in the upper regions of Thanh Chuong district. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Born and raised in the mountainous area of ​​Thanh Mai commune (Thanh Chuong), where tea trees have been associated with local farmers for decades, Mr. Nguyen Van Duong - Director of Thanh Mai Tea Processing Agricultural Cooperative, Head of the professional association for production, processing and consumption of Thanh Mai green tea, has witnessed the ups and downs of tea trees. When the export market for dried tea buds was severely affected, sometimes stagnant, causing fresh tea buds to lose value, growers suffered losses.

In this difficult time, with 30 years of experience in tea production, processing and export, Mr. Duong realized that only with clean and safe production can tea trees develop sustainably.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duong checks the quality of tea buds after processing. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“The market is increasingly strict, dirty tea, tea with pesticide residues or chemicals will be returned, losing customers, losing value, losing brand, the growers will be the ones who suffer the most. Therefore, building clean raw material areas, focusing on safety measures in production, providing clean raw materials to process high-quality tea products, conquering all markets is urgent,” said Mr. Duong.

As the head of the professional association of production, processing and consumptionThanh Mai green tea, he has persistently encouraged members of the association to change their production mindset from extensive to intensive farming, using biological products and organic fertilizers to replace pesticides and chemical fertilizers, forming safe tea areas following VietGAP; applying integrated pest management measures...

However, changing farmers' habits and production practices is not simple, while organic production faces certain difficulties: immediate economic efficiency is lower due to lower productivity and output due to the use of growth stimulants; more care is required...

Forming organic tea growing areas is a sustainable direction for tea plants. However, getting people to listen, believe and follow is not simple. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Determined to build a quality and sustainable raw material area, he persistently mobilized households; coordinated with the Vietnam Agricultural Institute to provide technical training to people; and pioneered the implementation oforganic tea productionon his tea growing land. In particular, he does not hesitate to spend hundreds of millions of dong to buy biological products and organic fertilizers to supply and support 50% of the costs for households growing and caring for tea in an organic way; sign a commitment to purchase at a higher price from households that comply with clean tea production processes...

“We must persistently pursue and pioneer so that people can see, believe and follow. If we want tea to develop sustainably, not lose value, and affirm our brand, the only way is clean production. In the short term, there may still be difficulties, but in the long term, this is an inevitable direction to survive, adapt to market demand; and cope with the increasing prices of materials, fertilizers, and inputs for tea. Currently, there are 10 households implementing clean tea production with an area of ​​about 50 hectares. Compared to the total area of ​​the whole region, it is still small, but it is a commendable result. I believe that if these 10 households are successful, hundreds, thousands of households, and even tea growers in the whole province will learn and follow suit.”

QUICKLY TURN TO THE MARKET "RHYTHM"

Ms. Bui Thi Minh raises earthworms as chicken feed. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Building a business since 2010 with the main crop being Vinh oranges, but due to many reasons, orange trees gradually degenerated, declined, and at times the price dropped miserably, causing the family of Ms. Bui Thi Minh (Xuan Dinh hamlet, Chau Dinh commune, Quy Hop district) to suffer losses. Realizing that she could not stick with this crop, and if she did not quickly switch, she would gradually "lose capital", Ms. Minh discussed with her husband to convert the orange growing area to mixed farming.

“In 2020, my family switched from growing oranges to a mixed livestock farm. At that time, feed prices skyrocketed, livestock and poultry diseases broke out, and the Covid-19 epidemic began to spread rapidly, so we faced the risk of loss. After researching market demand, we found that instead of raising pigs and fattening cows as before, our family decided to raise dairy bulls; instead of raising chickens on industrial farms, we chose to raise them free-range and feed them earthworms instead of industrial feed,” said Ms. Minh.

Not only proactively providing clean food sources for chickens, Ms. Minh's family also sells a large amount of earthworms to livestock farmers in the area. Photo: Thanh Phuc

According to Ms. Minh, the price of the childbull dairy cowquite cheap (only 3 million VND/head), easy to buy (mainly bought from TH Milk Food Joint Stock Company) while the output of this type of cow is quite stable, being completely purchased by slaughterhouses in Hanoi.

While other farms choose to raise industrial chickens, feed them with growth-enhancing feed, and focus on flock size, unstable output, and low prices, her family chooses to raise free-range chickens and feed them earthworms, corn, and rice grains. Thanks to the delicious, fragrant meat that is favored by consumers, thousands of her family's chickens are "in demand", selling out in just 3-5 days, and the selling price is also higher than other types of chicken.

With stable output, selling 50 cows per batch, Ms. Minh's family earns hundreds of millions of dong in profit. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“There are many livestock farms now, and the market is saturated, so we are “latecomers” so we have to research carefully, see what kind of animals the market needs now, which ones are easy to consume, and have stable output, then we raise them. While raising, we also explore and analyze when is the right time to plant, when to expand and reduce the herd to avoid “supply” exceeding “demand”, which is both unsold and unprofitable,” Ms. Minh added.

Keeping close to the market, catching up with consumer trends to produce, raise and supply suitable products will help farmers have stable and profitable output. The story of clean tea trees in Thanh Mai or the story of choosing suitable livestock of Ms. Minh's family is one of the specific examples for the statement of Professor, Dr. Vo Tong Xuan "Farmers know clearly where and how their products will be consumed, how can they fail" at a conference related to the problem of agricultural products avoiding "rescue" which has happened in recent years.