Hybrid corn in Nghi Loc reaches 7 tons/ha

(Baonghean.vn) - In order to create a source of food for livestock and poultry, in recent years, Nghi Loc farmers have replaced low-yielding local corn varieties with hybrid corn, with a yield of over 7 tons/ha.

This spring, Ms. Pham Thi Thanh's family in Hamlet 15, Nghi Long Commune produced more than 1 sao of hybrid corn varieties C919, AG69 for livestock farming. This corn variety has a high yield, reaching 3.5 - 4 quintals/sao, 50 - 80 kg/sao higher than pure corn varieties. At the current price of 650,000 VND/quintal of dried corn kernels, after deducting investment costs, Ms. Thanh has a revenue of about 4.5 million VND.

In Nghi Thuan commune, in the 2017 spring crop, the locality produced 100 hectares of hybrid corn, an increase of 40 hectares compared to the previous crop. Of which, 70 hectares were intercropped with shallots and peanuts, the rest were pure corn. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Phuong - agricultural extension officer of Nghi Thuan commune said: "In the spring crop, the commune mainly planted hybrid corn. Farmers applied science and technology to plant at the right time, and the seed source was suitable for the local soil quality, so the yield was quite high, averaging over 7 tons/ha, an increase of 1 ton/ha compared to the same period last year."

Hybrid corn has the advantage of large cobs, even kernels, full coverage, good drought resistance and high yield. Photo by Thu Hien

In previous years, the hybrid corn area for Nghi Loc's livestock farming was concentrated in the color-rich communes such as Nghi Truong, Nghi Thinh, Nghi Hop, Nghi Khanh, Nghi Long, Nghi Phong, Nghi Trung, Nghi Xa, but this year, it is spread across 30 communes and towns in the district. The corn varieties planted include AG69; NK4300; C919... These are hybrid corn varieties with high yield, many advantages such as: large cobs, even grains, covering the cobs, good drought resistance, maximum growing period of 4 months.

Of the total 2,537 hectares of corn in the district (including corn kernels, waxy corn, and corn plants), hybrid corn is grown on an area of ​​over 1,000 hectares. With the current selling price of 650,000 VND/quintal of corn kernels, each sao of corn earns a profit of about 2.3 million VND, which means that 1 hectare earns about 45 million VND.

With the current selling price of 650,000 VND/quintal of corn kernels, farmers in Nghi Long commune (Nghi Loc) earn about 2.3 million VND per sao of corn. Photo: Hong Vinh

According to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Quang - Head of the district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, "From the beginning of the production season, the Department of Agriculture has advised the district People's Committee to direct communes to restructure hybrid corn varieties that can withstand harsh weather and have few pests and diseases. Up to now, people have harvested about 80% of the area. The district has directed people to both harvest spring corn and combine land preparation to continue producing 750 hectares of summer-autumn corn"./.

Thu Hien - Hong Vinh