Yen Thanh diversifies options to increase agricultural product value

(Baonghean) - As a key agricultural district of the province, Yen Thanh not only seeks to increase the value of rice, but also diversifies crops, moving towards high-value, commodity agriculture.

Yen Thanh district has an area of ​​agricultural, forestry and fishery production of more than 44,000 hectares, of which 12,700 hectares are two-rice land (over 8,000 hectares are water-dependent). Agriculture is always a spearhead that the locality is concerned about and interested in developing. Mr. Phan Van Tuyen - Chairman of the District People's Committee said: If we still do agriculture in the traditional way, there will still be many uncertainties in both production and consumption.

From that reality, Yen Thanh district has made efforts to find a breakthrough, first of all, to break through traditional and advantageous crops. The district has focused on converting from high-yield rice varieties to high-yield and high-quality rice varieties and has initially formed a number of commercial rice production areas.

Harvesting oranges at Thien Son orange farm, Dong Thanh commune (Yen Thanh). Photo: Phu Huong

To increase value as well as create a stable source of consumption, in addition to commercial rice production, the district has called on businesses to join in producing rice for goods and rice seeds on an area of ​​700 hectares, concentrated in the communes of Lien Thanh, Hoa Thanh, Phuc Thanh, Vinh Thanh, Tan Thanh, for income value 10-15% higher than normal production.

In recent years, Yen Thanh mushrooms have become a “brand” known to consumers with an annual output of up to 450 tons. Many mushroom farms have formed a strong link between production and product consumption.

Being a land known as “a salary before, a money chest after”, in addition to fertile agricultural land, Yen Thanh also has a large hilly area. Taking advantage of the land advantage, the whole Yen Thanh district has hundreds of households growing 370 hectares of oranges, of which the concentrated planting area is 155 hectares, most in the two communes of Dong Thanh and Minh Thanh, yielding from 800 million to 1.5 billion VND/ha/year.

In particular, Yen Thanh has attracted TH enterprises to invest and cooperate in the production of 4,000-6,000 hectares of high-quality rice in two forms: cooperating with farmers and leasing land, using local workers, and people are guaranteed an annual income after deducting expenses.

Winter mushroom production in Yen Thanh. Photo: Thai Duong

It is expected that from the spring crop of 2018, the district will implement production linkage in the form of a model of about 500-600 hectares with two high-value rice varieties: Japanese rice and restoring the Dragon sticky rice variety, mainly in communes along the main canal, proactively watering such as Xuan Thanh, Hoa Thanh, Tang Thanh, Hop Thanh communes...

The Provincial People's Committee has also announced its approval in principle for the investment project to build the Ve Vung Lake Eco-tourism Area in Dong Thanh Commune. In this area, in addition to investing in tourism infrastructure, native trees will be planted and restored, and the water surface will be maintained for long-term development; over 152 hectares of production forest will be planted with quality trees, building brands for orange, grape, and medicinal products.

“The project is expected to be approved in September this year to grant a license to the investor. The district has also requested the province to identify this as a key high-tech project of the province to have comprehensive direction and appropriate support policies,” Mr. Phan Van Tuyen added. In addition, the district has also handed over 2,000 hectares of forest hill land to enterprises to grow paper raw materials and some medicinal plants to serve the production of high-quality functional foods.

In addition to the above projects, Yen Thanh advocates building the Yen Thanh clean chicken brand in Tay Thanh, Quang Thanh, Minh Thanh, Thinh Thanh communes; Trang Ke honey brand in My Thanh commune. At the same time, the organization cooperates with Tam Nguyen Company and with enterprises to produce rice, rice seeds, corn for goods; cooperates with Dong Giao Food Joint Stock Company to produce soybeans, vegetables and sweet corn for export. Promote the application of scientific and technological advances in orange production in Dong Thanh and Minh Thanh communes...

Phu Huong