Together with farmers to increase production value

(Baonghean) - Agricultural, forestry and fishery production in Dien Chau district in recent years has always achieved encouraging results. Fields are green all year round, farmers work enthusiastically without letting the land rest, in some places the land use coefficient has been increased from 2.5 to 3 times/year... These results are thanks to the great contribution of the agricultural extension staff from the district to the grassroots level.

Dien Thanh is one of the key vegetable growing areas in Dien Chau. To help farmers here access science and technology and increase the value of products, the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center (KN-KN) has built a safe vegetable production model following VietGAP (in 2013). Through this model, 30 vegetable growing households in Hamlet 10 participated in growing cabbage on an area of ​​3 hectares. Mr. Dau Cong Hoa, Hamlet 10 said: "We were guided and trained by technical staff of the province and district to master the techniques and processes of safe vegetable production. Thanks to that, people have followed the correct process, regularly monitored, visited the fields and recorded very fully. When fertilizing, preventing pests and diseases, or harvesting, all follow the regulations. Thanks to that, on an area of ​​2,500m2 following VietGap, the yield when harvested increased by more than 10% compared to the usual way of growing vegetables and sold at a high price."

People of Dien Thanh commune grow cabbage out of season.

Ms. Le Thi Huong - Vice Chairman of Dien Thanh Commune People's Committee said: "People here have a tradition of growing vegetables, but most of them still produce in the old way, during the care process, they often arbitrarily fertilize, spray pesticides... so the vegetable yield is low, affecting the environment and the health of consumers. When benefiting from the project of safe vegetable production following VietGAP direction, the commune actively participated. Commune leaders and agricultural extension officers went down to the hamlets to discuss implementation methods with the people. After receiving support from the people, steps were taken such as: propaganda, planning, testing soil samples... Through this model, it can be seen that growing safe vegetables at a density of 1,700 plants/sao, through strictly implementing the safe vegetable production process, the cabbage weight reached 1.2 kg/head, such yield compared to mass production is an increase of 5.44 tons/ha".

In the 2013-2014 Winter crop, many Dien Thanh households have boldly grown vegetables according to the safe vegetable production process. Ms. Nguyen Thi Van in Hamlet 5 said: "Due to unstable output, there was a time when the price of cabbage here was only 1,000 VND/head. To overcome this situation, people are now planting off-season cabbage and are being guided by district agricultural extension officers on techniques and care in the direction of clean vegetable production. Although the yield of off-season cabbage is not high, the price is good, traders come to buy at the field for 5,500 VND/head". It is known that currently in Dien Thanh, farmers are planting 10 hectares of off-season cabbage and this success has partly compensated for the loss of people in the last main crop.

KN - KN activities have gradually changed the way of thinking and working of the people and this is clearly shown in Dien Bich, which is the model of raising sea bass on an area of ​​5,000m2 in 2 households. During the investment and implementation of the project, KN - KN officers together with households followed the correct procedures and techniques, so the fish in the pond grew well. After 9 months of raising, the survival rate reached 72% and the harvest yield in the 2 models reached 4,320 kg and with a selling price of 60,000 VND/kg, the revenue was 259.2 million VND, after deducting investment costs, sea bass farmers made a profit of more than 92 million VND. The success of this model is very meaningful to the people of Dien Bich, because raising sea bass can replace shrimp in areas with low shrimp efficiency and this is a good model that can be replicated in the future.

Or in Dien Thai commune, before harvesting rice, a part of the straw was dried to be used as fuel, or as animal feed... Such usage does not fully utilize the value of straw, but also pollutes the environment. Faced with that reality, the KN - KN sector has organized a straw mushroom production model with 5 households participating, harvesting 5-6 batches and from 1 ton of raw materials to harvest 160 kg of mushrooms and the selling price is over 40,000 VND/kg. From that practical effectiveness, the straw mushroom growing model is currently being developed by many households to create a source of income and create jobs for people.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dai - Head of Dien Chau Agricultural Extension Station said: “From 2013 to now, through programs and investment support from relevant levels and sectors, Dien Chau Agricultural Extension Station has opened 176 training classes for people on cultivation techniques, veterinary husbandry, aquaculture, and plant protection. The content is linked to each season, so it has a very good effect. Along with that, the Station pays great attention to vocational training for farmers, such as organizing vocational training for chicken raising in Dien Lam commune, growing safe vegetables in Dien Thang and Dien Thanh communes. Also in the past time, the Station has coordinated with businesses to build 12 models on the use of fertilizers and new varieties and continues to conduct trials of some promising varieties to introduce and replicate the model”. One of the highly effective activities of KN - KN in the new rural construction movement in Dien Chau is to actively participate in orienting and building 22 new tree and animal models suitable for the conditions of each locality, and at the same time participate in building a large model field in Dien Cat - Dien Hung commune with high results.

To improve the effectiveness of the work of science and technology, in the coming time, Dien Chau Science and Technology Station will continue to open more vocational training classes for rural workers and each commune will have at least one model of science and technology, and at the same time organize 180 classes to transfer science and technology to farmers...

Knowing how to apply science and technology to production, the productivity and quality of crops and livestock have increased significantly, contributing significantly to the cause of hunger eradication and poverty reduction in agriculture and rural areas. More importantly, people have had a new way of thinking in production towards goods and markets, taking economic value as a measure for each hectare of cultivated land...

Article and photos:Hoang Vinh