Sugarcane prices remain stable at high levels, Nghe An farmers are excited to 'stick' to raw sugarcane

Farmers "stick" to sugarcane

Mid-April, when thesugarcane processing plantThe crushing season in the province has just ended, which is also the time when farmers in Tan Ky, Anh Son, Quy Hop districts... start planting new sugarcane crops, or plowing and fertilizing sugarcane areas with remaining sugarcane roots. In the sugarcane fields, we encountered farmers who knew how to seize the opportunity to get rich from raw sugarcane.

Bringing mechanization into sugarcane cultivation in Tan Ky district. Photo: XH

Mr. Pham Van Luc in Nghia Hoa hamlet, Nghia Phuc commune (Tan Ky) said: For decades, his family has been "clinging" to sugarcane to develop the family economy. For the past 3 years, the family has rented land from many other families in the area to maintain 5 hectares.raw sugarcane. Due to proper investment in care, the annual sugarcane yield reaches over 70 tons/ha. With the sugarcane price purchased by the factory at the field at 1.1 million VND/ton, each year his family earns a profit of about 150 million VND/5 ha.

Because sugarcane prices remain high and fertilizer prices have decreased, in the 2023-2024 crop year, the family rented an additional 8 hectares of land to grow sugarcane.

“The entire process from land preparation to planting and care is mechanized, along with reasonable investment in fertilizer, so the yield is high, the cost is lower than hiring labor, so sugarcane yields quite high profits. If 1 hectare of sugarcane yields over 80 tons, sugarcane growers earn about 25 - 30 million VND,” Mr. Pham Van Luc shared.

Raw sugarcane fields in Tan Ky district are properly invested and cared for, so productivity is high. Photo: XH

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh's family in Giai Xuan commune used to grow 2 hectares of sugarcane, with a yield of over 80 tons/ha. Every year, they harvested sugarcane for the factory, earning a profit of about 60 million VND. Realizing that sugarcane cultivation is now almost 100% mechanized, this year the family decided to rent another hectare of land to grow sugarcane.

“With 3 hectares of raw sugarcane, the factory provided timely machinery, equipment and fertilizer, so after the harvest, 2 hectares of sugarcane were plowed and fertilized; 1 hectare of newly planted sugarcane was also completed in mid-April. If the price of raw sugarcane in the next pressing season remains the same as this year, the family will have a significant income from sugarcane,” said Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh.

Mr. Nguyen Sy Hai, officer in charge of raw material area of ​​Sugar FactoryTan Kysaid: Because sugarcane prices are high, while fertilizer prices are "cooling down", farmers are switching to growing more sugarcane. A survey of sugarcane raw material areas in Tan Ky district shows that in the 2023-2024 sugarcane crop, the area of ​​raw sugarcane increased by about 800 hectares compared to the previous crop, up to nearly 4,000 hectares.

Quy Hop district is a key area for sugarcane raw materials. In recent years, farmers have not only maintained the sugarcane area, but also converted some areas of ineffective fruit trees to sugarcane. The largest area is Minh Hop orange growing area, most households have switched from growing oranges to growing sugarcane. The reason is that orange trees are infected with pests and diseases, while sugarcane here has high productivity, the factory's purchase price has increased steadily at a high level.

When sugarcane grows well, the work of inspecting, detecting and preventing pests and diseases is always of concern to agricultural staff of factories. Photo: XH

Mr. Quan Vi Giang - Vice Chairman of Quy Hop District People's Committee said: With the advantage of reduced fertilizer prices and the price of raw sugarcane at an all-time high, farmers in the district have the motivation to "stick" to sugarcane, so the sugarcane area in Quy Hop district is higher year after year. In the years before 2021, there were 4,800 hectares of sugarcane each year, but in the past 2 years it has increased to 5,300 hectares. The new sugarcane areas are mainly converted from crops in orange and acacia growing areas and ineffective rice growing areas.

Create a win-win policy

Mr. Nguyen Tien Duc - Head of the Provincial Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection added: In recent years, the sugarcane area in the whole province has increased quite rapidly. In 2021, the whole province had nearly 18,500 hectares, in 2022 it increased to nearly 20,200 hectares, and it is expected that in 2023 the sugarcane area will increase even more. The reason is that the price of sugarcane is "stuck" at a high level, many areas of fruit trees are of poor quality, so people have switched to growing sugarcane.

In Nghe An, there are 3 sugar processing factories located in Tan Ky, Anh Son and Quy Hop districts. All 3 sugar factories have a total capacity of over 13,000 tons of raw sugarcane per day. Each company has its own raw sugarcane area, which is planned by Nghe An Provincial People's Committee for each company to work directly with local authorities and farmers on plans to develop raw sugarcane areas to serve the operation of the sugar factory.

With proper investment and care, many areas of raw sugarcane in Nghe An have reached over 100 tons/ha, with some areas reaching 120 tons/ha. Photo: XH

To develop and maintain sugarcane raw material areas, sugar companies annually grasp the fluctuations of sugarcane in regions and areas in the country in terms of area, productivity, price... and proposals from sugarcane growers to come up with reasonable mechanisms and policies to ensure mutual benefits for both parties.

Support policies of factories such as: Support for money to reclaim land, land converted from non-irrigated rice to sugarcane; interest-free loans to buy sugarcane seeds; loans for microbial and organic fertilizers with payment later...

In addition, the companies provide deferred loans for buying seeds and fertilizers and provide mechanical services for land preparation, planting and caring for sugarcane, and support the construction of roads in sugarcane material areas; at the same time, arrange for each sugarcane material area to have agricultural officers regularly stay in the fields to help farmers take care of and prevent pests and diseases in a timely manner.

Xuan Hoang