Off-season vegetables in Nghe An: Difficult to grow, easy to consume
For many years, Nghe An people have known how to overcome the disadvantages of hot and dry weather to grow off-season vegetables, bringing high economic efficiency.
With an area of 1,000m2garden land, before, Mrs. Cao Thi Hoi's family in Nghi Long commune (Nghi Loc) was used to growing vegetables and tubers "each season has its own food". Growing vegetables in season, easy to grow, easy to care for, vegetables grow quickly but are difficult to sell, low selling price. There were years, in the winter-spring crop, hundreds of cabbages, nearly 100 kg of carrots, kohlrabi were harvested but could not be sold and had to be cut down to feed livestock.
For the past 3 years, determined to develop the household garden economy to have "money in, money out" and increase income, her family renovated the garden, divided the plots and invested in an automatic sprinkler system; underground irrigation. Being proactive with irrigation water, she decided to grow vegetables off-season.
Although the sun is scorching hot at this time, her family's 2-acre garden is covered in lush green vegetables such as celery, coriander, mustard greens, etc. "Every year, during these dry days, the garden is barren, with only spinach and water spinach grown, but it is difficult to sell because every house has them.
For the past three years, I have been able to take the initiative in irrigation water, so I have switched to growing off-season vegetables such as kohlrabi, cabbage, and various types of vegetables. Every day, after harvesting, traders in the commune come to buy all of them, at prices three times higher than main-season vegetables," Ms. Hoi said excitedly.
Building a greenhouse with an area of nearly 1,000 m2For the past 2 years, Mr. Ngo Sy Tuan in Dien Xuan (Dien Chau) has been growing coriander and lettuce in an organic rotation to sell to the market. Although he produces all year round, according to Mr. Tuan, the period from April to September every year is the period when vegetables are most expensive and have the highest profits.
“In season, a bunch of coriander costs only 500-700 VND, lettuce 10,000 VND/kg, but in the off-season, a bunch of coriander can cost 3,000-4,000 VND, lettuce up to 30,000-40,000 VND/kg. Growing vegetables in the off-season requires more care and is more difficult, but the profit is higher,” Mr. Tuan shared.
Not only small households but also in the color areas in the province such as Quynh Luu, Dien Chau, Nam Dan, Nghi Loc... farmers have also found ways to overcome the harsh weather to grow off-season vegetables, bringing high economic efficiency.
Mr. Ho Mau Tuan - representative of the Agricultural and Salt Industry Cooperative and Agricultural Services of Quynh Minh commune said: "Quynh Minh is a key vegetable growing commune of Quynh Luu district, supplying vegetables to the domestic market and the Central provinces, with an output of up to 12,000 tons of vegetables, 95% of households in Quynh Minh commune live on vegetable crops.
Therefore, to increase economic efficiency from vegetable crops, all crops produced in the year are the main crop, not just the Winter-Spring crop. Because the Winter-Spring crop has favorable weather, is easy to grow, and easy to care for, every locality can grow vegetables, every household can grow vegetables, supply exceeds demand, so the price is cheap.
The most difficult time of the year to grow vegetables is from April to September due to the harsh drought and the early winter season is cold and frosty. The secret to producing off-season vegetables in winter is to use plastic canopy to help plants grow and develop well in unfavorable weather conditions, especially when the plants are young. Because the plants are not directly affected by rain and frost, the leaves are always dry, thus limiting diseases caused by harmful fungi and bacteria.
In the summer, after sowing, use straw to create moisture for the seeds to germinate; use a roof, cover with black net, proactively water the plants, combine with regular fertilization to ensure absolute humidity, avoid the plants from drying out, lacking water, lacking nutrients and being of poor quality.
Nghe An has strengths in vegetable production, with nearly 38,000 hectares of specialized cultivated land, with more than 20 types of vegetables; output of more than 578 thousand tons/year. Previously, vegetables were mainly produced in the winter crop, so supply exceeded demand, prices were low, and profits were not high. Meanwhile, in other crops of the year, the amount of vegetables was low, and had to be imported from other localities.
Therefore, developing off-season vegetables increases the production turnover coefficient and improves economic efficiency. However, in order for off-season vegetable growing models to be highly effective and sustainable, people need to research the market and local orient themselves to produce vegetables that are favored by the market in a safe and effective manner. At the same time, create conditions to attract and find businesses to carry out production linkages and product consumption.