Farmers in Nghe An province are consolidating land for large-scale production.

(Baonghean) - Since the second land consolidation and exchange program (in 2013), the movement of farmers accumulating land for large-scale production has developed quite strongly in many localities of Nghe An province.

The "new bosses" in the countryside.

Driven by the dream of becoming a "business owner" and getting rich in his hometown, after his banana plantation business failed and he returned the land to the people, Mr. Dang Quang Hoang, residing in Hamlet 9, Vien Thanh Commune, Yen Thanh District, leased 6 hectares of arable land in the Cay Truong and Le Ke fields to establish a farm. The rental price was calculated at 50 kg of rice per sao (approximately 1000 square meters) per year.

Farmers in Dien Hoa commune (Dien Chau district) are consolidating land to grow biomass corn. Photo: Quang An

After investing in plows, furrowing machines, and seeders, in 2016, Mr. Hoang signed a contract with Nghi Lam Cattle Farm to plant 6 hectares of biomass corn. Despite unfavorable weather conditions and considerable effort, he still harvested 200 tons of corn stalks, worth 200 million VND.

In early 2017, Mr. Hoang traveled all the way to Ninh Binh to sign a contract with Dong Giao Company for the production of soybeans. “I am planning to partner with Dong Giao Company to grow Cayenne pineapples or chives. These crops are very easy to grow and care for, and the roots can last for 2-3 years, resulting in high economic efficiency. Especially, thanks to the concentrated and standardized production, I can sign contracts directly with businesses, ensuring a reliable market for my products,” Mr. Hoang shared.

In 2013, Mr. Cao Thanh Ha's family, residing in Hamlet 4, Dien Lien Commune (Dien Chau District), requested land from several households in the Con Coi area that had abandoned for production, in order to establish a comprehensive farm. After four years of construction, Mr. Ha's farm now has over 1,000 laying ducks, 300 chickens, and he collects 700-800 duck eggs and several hundred chicken eggs daily. Additionally, his three ponds yield 3-4 tons of fish per year. At its peak, Mr. Ha's farm sometimes raised thousands of ducks, thousands of chickens, and over 100 pigs for meat, not to mention income from fruit trees.

Currently, many families in Dien Lien commune are developing new farming models. In particular, in recent years, people have introduced the cultivation of red-fleshed dragon fruit and durian, which yield harvests within just 1-2 years. The entire commune has 22 hectares of dragon fruit intercropped with other plants.

The aforementioned models are increasingly appearing in districts and communes throughout the province, contributing positively to production transformation and maximizing value per unit area. The core issue for these land consolidation models to be effective is the linkage between households and businesses to ensure stable outlets for agricultural products.

A model of a pig farm combined with fish farming in Hung Tan commune (Hung Nguyen district). Photo: Tran Chau

Creating sustainability for centralized production.

Based on successful models, many localities have implemented policies to encourage farmers to consolidate land and concentrate production. In Dien Lien commune, there are four distinct land areas, one of which is elevated land, and the other three are swampy, deep-water areas.

Previously, farmers still produced rice, but the yield was very low, with spring rice yielding only 2 quintals per sao (approximately 200 kg per 1000 square meters) and summer/autumn rice yielding only 50-70 kg per sao. After land consolidation, some households no longer needed to produce rice, so the commune established regulations for land conversion, consolidating land into larger plots and allowing some households to lease land to develop integrated farms. As a result, to date, Dien Lien commune has 46 households engaged in family farms and large-scale farms, ranging from 5,000 square meters to 3.5 hectares per model.

According to Mr. Le The Hieu, Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Dien Chau District: The district has a support mechanism to develop concentrated production at the following levels: 5 hectares of concentrated winter crop production receive 1 million VND/hectare for land preparation; the first crop conversion receives 5 million VND/hectare; and high-tech farming models of 1,000 m2 or more receive 50 million VND. At the same time, conditions are created for people to consolidate land through land leasing and borrowing.

The district also planned specific production areas and farms to allocate to households in need. To date, all communes have between 20 and 50 hectares of farmland per commune, and the entire district has 259 farms with a scale of 2 hectares or more, with an average income of 250 million VND per hectare.

Land consolidation and reallocation to develop sugarcane cultivation in Tan Ky district. Photo: Phuong Thao.

The trend of land consolidation into farms is considered inevitable in the development of agriculture in Nghe An. Farmers' production mindset is improving towards commodity production and concentration.

According to statistics, the province currently has 74 farms with contracts with businesses supplying input products; 14 farms with contracts with businesses for product processing; and 104 farms with contracts with businesses for product consumption. At the same time, farms also place great emphasis on linking production and product consumption with cooperatives.

However, according to Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc, Head of the Provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, land consolidation and concentrated production still face many difficulties because the majority of farmers still have the mindset of holding onto their land, while the mechanisms for exchanging and leasing land are not yet specific, and are mostly just encouragements and facilitations.

In the long term, unified guidance is essential to create specific plans for each type of crop and livestock, identify specific products for investment in production, build brands, and establish sustainable consumption linkages.

Phu Huong