New direction for tobacco plants in Nghe An
(Baonghean.vn) - Tobacco, also known as Tuong Tu Thao (Missing Grass), has been a crop for generations of people in Quynh Di (Hoang Mai Town) and Dien Hanh (Dien Chau). Recently, as the trend of organic agricultural production is gradually becoming more widespread, tobacco is widely used in the production of biological pesticides; tobacco leaf ash contains a lot of calcium and potassium, which is a very good source of organic fertilizer for plants...
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| Tobacco, also known as Tuong Tu Thao (Missing Grass), is a staple crop and the main source of income for local people in Quynh Di (Hoang Mai Town) and Dien Hanh (Dien Chau). Photo: Thanh Phuc |
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| Tobacco plants begin to be sown around October this year and harvested in April and May next year. After being harvested, the tobacco is cleaned, the hard core is removed, and rolled into 2-3m long, 40cm diameter rolls. They are then incubated for 3-4 days until the leaves are “ripe”, then shredded. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
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| In the past, people had to cut the herbs by hand, which was hard and time-consuming. Now, with machines, the cutting is faster, the fibers are smaller and more even. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
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| After cutting the medicine, use specialized chopsticks to fluff it up on a tray and dry it in the strong sunlight for 5-6 days. During the drying process, turn the medicine frequently to dry evenly. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
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| The secret passed down from generation to generation of the locals here is to make the medicine fragrant, sweet, not too pungent, strong, after drying in the sun, it is exposed to dew for 3-4 nights. In particular, the locals here also use a solution of thinly cooked sticky rice porridge, strain the water and mix it with coffee, put it in a specialized tool and spray it evenly on the medicine during the drying process so that the fibers of the medicine stick together, increasing the sweetness and aroma. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
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| The price of tobacco is currently low, only 1,500 VND/cake, while the investment cost for 1 sao of tobacco from land preparation, fertilizer, labor, and shredding machines has increased by 1-1.5 million VND. Economic efficiency has decreased, so gradually, in tobacco fields, people have switched to growing other crops. Photo: Thanh Phuc |
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| According to many studies, all parts of the tobacco plant contain nicotine, so they are used to produce insecticides, plant protection drugs and some skin medicines. In particular, when the trend of organic agricultural production is gradually becoming more popular, tobacco is widely used in the processing of biological pesticides; the ash of tobacco leaves contains a lot of calcium and potassium, which is a very good source of organic fertilizer for plants. Hopefully, the uses of tobacco will be widely applied, the price of commercial tobacco will increase again, this crop will recover on the land of Quynh Di, Dien Hanh, bringing income to farmers in these localities... Photo: Thanh Phuc |