Increase investment efficiency from concentrated raw material areas

(Baonghean) - Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company is coordinating with farmers to create large-scale concentrated production areas to increase investment efficiency.

Early this November, people in Tan Ky district will harvest raw sugarcane for the factory. Photo: Xuan Hoang

Replicating the model

As a key crop in the locality, in recent years, the economic efficiency of sugarcane in many communes in Tan Ky district has not been high due to backward traditional production practices and small scale, so mechanization and implementation of investment care processes have not been uniform and have encountered many difficulties. Since switching to growing raw sugarcane according to the concentrated sugarcane production model, the productivity and quality of sugarcane have gradually increased.

Mr. Truong Van Thuy's family, in Thanh Tra hamlet, Tan Xuan commune (Tan Ky), grows more than 1 hectare of sugarcane in the commune's concentrated sugarcane production area. They shared: Since 2015, the commune has been producing concentrated sugarcane fields according to the support policy of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company, by replacing the new sugarcane variety KK2, tilling the land with deep plows and supporting fertilizers and sugarcane humus, so the efficiency has increased.

After participating in growing sugarcane in large fields, not only did the investment, care and labor costs decrease, but the sugarcane yield also increased from 80 to 90 tons/ha; on average, each hectare, the family earned about 30 million VND/year.

Mr. Le Hong Van - Chairman of Tan Xuan Commune People's Committee added: From the effectiveness of the concentrated sugarcane production model of 50 hectares in Thanh Tra hamlet, which received high consensus from the people, the commune has registered with the factory and the District People's Committee to implement an additional 50-hectare model in Xuan Yen and Hoang Xuan hamlets in the next crop year. Tan Xuan has more than 422 hectares of sugarcane, and the locality is currently continuing to implement land consolidation and plot exchange. As the implementation progresses, the commune will direct the people to produce concentrated sugarcane.

Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tan Ky district, Mr. Nguyen Cong Trung, said: From the concentrated sugarcane production model in the communes of Giai Xuan, Tan Hop, Nghia Dong, the yield reached 80 - 90 tons/ha/year, sugarcane growers earned a profit of 30 million VND/ha, many localities have registered to grow concentrated sugarcane for high productivity, which will be applied in the 2018 - 2019 crop year.

Accordingly, Giai Xuan commune registered to implement the model of 61 hectares, Tan Xuan 50 hectares, Ky Son 60 hectares, Nghia Hanh 60 hectares, Nghia Binh 30 hectares, Dong Van 20 hectares. For communes that have not registered, the District People's Committee assigned each commune to implement a concentrated sugarcane model with a minimum scale of 5 hectares or more. The sugarcane varieties planted in the concentrated models are LK92-11 and KK3.

Tan Ky district currently has 5,872 hectares of raw sugarcane. In order to increase sugarcane productivity, Tan Ky district has assigned each commune to implement a high-yield sugarcane intensive farming model of 5 hectares or more. These models will be supported by investment sources in the form of value chain production, capital for implementing the new rural development program and some policies of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company.

Investment direction of sugarcane harvesting machine

In recent years, Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company has focused resources on changing the production practices of sugarcane growers in the raw material area according to various support policies such as land preparation machines, fertilizers, training on technical care processes, etc.

The factory is effectively implementing the planning of raw sugarcane areas according to large fields, contributing to increasing sugarcane productivity.

Mr. Truong Van Thuy, Thanh Tra hamlet, Tan Xuan commune, takes care of sugarcane. Photo: Xuan Hoang

According to Mr. Nguyen Ba Quy - Deputy Director of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company: If in the 2014 - 2015 sugarcane crop, the entire raw material area of ​​the factory only had 100 hectares of sugarcane production concentrated in Nghia Dong and Tan Xuan, then in the 2016 - 2017 crop, it increased by 117 hectares in Giai Xuan commune, with an expected yield of over 80 tons/ha.

This shows that the expansion of the concentrated sugarcane growing model is still modest. According to statistics over the years, the average sugarcane yield in concentrated production fields is 20 to 30% higher than that of mass production areas; meanwhile, production costs are lower than mass production.

The company has now considered investing in buying sugarcane harvesting machines to serve the people, a problem that sugarcane growers have long been concerned about due to having to hire high-cost labor. However, for the sugarcane harvesting machine to operate effectively, it is necessary to have a large enough area of ​​hundreds of hectares or more.

Therefore, to overcome the limitations and aim to expand the model of concentrated sugarcane production fields, according to Mr. Nguyen Ba Quy - Deputy Director of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company: To help sugarcane growers feel secure in production, in addition to the factory's support policies, local authorities are also taking strong action, encouraging people to participate in concentrated sugarcane production.

Xuan Hoang