Economy

Lesson 3: Green Production and Combating Desertification

Economic Reporting Team • December 5, 2024 13:51

Agriculture is gradually transforming its production model to meet green growth and consumption. Green production in agriculture aims to ensure sustainable agriculture on both socio-economic and environmental pillars, contributing to the overall green economic development.

In the chilly weather of late year, looking out from the embankment along the Lam River towards the alluvial plain stretching beneath the Yen Xuan bridge, one sees a breathtaking, lush green landscape of cucumbers and burdock plants. Few know that just seven or eight years ago, this area was nothing but barren, sandy soil, prone to drought before the sun and floods before the rain, with only tall reeds and rushes growing above head height. For many years, this area remained abandoned, used only for grazing buffalo and cattle because no plants could survive.

Until Nguyen Van Thanh (born in 1982), a young man from Lam Dong province, came to Nghe An province and signed a contract to lease this land in Long Xa commune (Hung Nguyen district), despite many people calling him "crazy" because the land was barren and in poor condition, what kind of crops could possibly be grown there?...

Thành hired people and machinery to level and improve the land. The soil was barren and prone to erosion, so the only way to improve it was to add nutrients. He bought manure, coconut fiber, green manure plants, and various types of corn, bean, and peanut stalks, mixing them together and using probiotics to compost them into soil nutrients… During cultivation, he only weeded manually with the assistance of machinery, only used organic fertilizers: manure, microbial fertilizers from biological preparations; applied self-fermented nitrogen fertilizers; and used an automatic irrigation system…

For years, Thanh worked tirelessly, cultivating and improving the land. He transformed 7 hectares of barren white sand in Long Xa commune into a fertile and prosperous area. “Every year, I apply tons of well-rotted cow manure and tons of bio-fertilizer composted with probiotics. At the same time, I use fish emulsion processed using biotechnology. Thanks to this, I specialize in growing crops, especially cucumbers, zucchini, and burdock root, which yield high productivity…,” Thanh said excitedly.

Currently, from 7 hectares of riverside land, Nguyen Van Thanh earns 2 billion VND annually, creating jobs for 25 local workers with an average salary of 6-7 million VND per month. His entire production area has been certified organic by Vietnam. In addition, he collaborates with over 40 households in Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong, Do Luong, and Anh Son districts to cultivate organically on over 2,000 hectares of green squash and cucumbers, opening up a new production direction for farmers in the riverside area.

In Do Luong district, in 2023, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the District Farmers' Association implemented a biochar production model for fertilizer for 20 households in the district. Accordingly, the households used simple biochar burners, and the fuel for these biochar burners consisted of agricultural waste and organic household waste such as rice husks, straw, wood chips, branches, leaves, vegetable leaves, and grass, dried to about 70%. After burning the agricultural waste for about 5 hours, biochar was harvested. Biochar helps improve soil porosity, has a very high water retention capacity, prevents evaporation or seepage into deeper layers after irrigation during the dry season; prevents soil erosion, creates favorable conditions for beneficial bacteria to live in the soil, and attracts and retains nutrients to gradually release to plants…

Mr. Nguyen Ba Chau, Deputy Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Do Luong District, said: “Through practical application, the product has shown a reduction in household waste, utilization of agricultural by-products and waste materials; and at the same time, it creates a high-quality organic fertilizer for agricultural production. In the future, the model will be expanded to a wider area. In addition, we are currently implementing a parallel model of raising black soldier flies and calcium worms using probiotics and waste materials as feed for livestock.”

Nowadays, in the face of the damage caused by diseases and epidemics, people have become more aware of and concerned about their health. Organic production methods are beginning to gain attention as a replacement for inorganic production methods.

Therefore, the demand for organic fertilizers is enormous. It is estimated that at least 90,000 tons of organic fertilizer are needed annually for agricultural production in the province. Meanwhile, the large amount of animal manure and agricultural by-products would be ideal raw materials for processing into organic fertilizers using biological preparations. This would allow for the reuse of by-products, provide nutrients for plants, and revitalize beneficial microorganisms to improve soil quality.

Nghe An is one of the country's sugarcane production centers, with 3 large factories and nearly 25,000 hectares of sugarcane plantations, yielding a total annual sugarcane production of nearly 1.6-1.7 million tons. Along with this, a large amount of by-products and bagasse are released into the environment. Concerned about environmental issues and wanting to process bagasse into high-quality animal feed, the Nghe An Department of Science and Technology has successfully researched and produced a reserve animal feed product from sugarcane by-products. This is a batch of scientific and technological products commissioned through a technology supply-demand connection between the Nghe An Department of Science and Technology and Japan. In August 2024, Nghe An proudly exported a batch of animal feed made from bagasse to Japan, opening up great prospects for environmental protection and creating a new source of goods. The shipment was highly appreciated by the Japanese side.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Tung, Chairman of the Provincial Farmers' Association – the unit in charge of implementing the project "Propagating, mobilizing, and guiding farmers to produce organic microbial fertilizers from agricultural waste and by-products in the province during the 2023-2025 period" – believes that the technique for producing organic microbial fertilizers is quite simple and does not require much investment capital, so people can make them themselves to meet the fertilizer needs of their households or farms. Using biological preparations to process agricultural by-products will contribute to solving environmental problems and simultaneously create an additional source of organic fertilizer for reinvestment in crops, aiming towards the development of clean and sustainable agriculture. In recent years, with the development of science and technology, many agricultural waste and by-products have been reused by businesses, farms, and farmers, turning them into important input materials for agricultural production and many other fields. This is an inevitable trend in clean agricultural production and good agricultural practices among farmers in Nghe An province.

Having been involved in shrimp farming for nearly 25 years, Mr. Nguyen Cuong (born in 1970) in Dien Trung commune (Dien Chau district) has experienced many ups and downs and hardships. At times, he almost lost all his capital and everything… “I started shrimp farming in 2002, using extensive methods. In the early years, I was very successful, earning billions of dong each year. However, due to weather fluctuations and diseases caused by the long-term overuse of chemicals, the shrimp got sick and died. I was left penniless.”

In 2022, Mr. Cuong invested all his savings accumulated over 20 years of shrimp farming to renovate his shrimp farming area, switching from farming shrimp in lined ponds to high-tech, bio-secure whiteleg shrimp farming. “By applying high technology to the three-stage closed-loop shrimp farming system with automatic temperature-regulating covers, I have been able to raise four crops per year. In particular, high-tech, bio-secure farming requires less care, less antibiotics, and ensures disease safety,” Mr. Cuong said. Building on that success, he has now expanded his area to 20 shrimp ponds, including 6 ponds using the closed-loop technology model, 2 nursery ponds, and 3 wastewater treatment ponds. His annual output of commercial shrimp reaches 150 tons, providing regular employment for 10 local workers with an average income of 8-10 million VND per person per month.

To overcome the impact of unpredictable weather patterns, some shrimp farmers in Quynh Luu district and Hoang Mai town have applied Biofloc technology to intensively farm shrimp in 2-3 stages, achieving 2-3 times higher efficiency compared to traditional farming methods.

Biofloc technology is a self-nitrification process in aquaculture ponds that does not require water changes. Biofloc aggregates a mass of suspended organic matter in the water, such as unicellular and multicellular algae, feces, leftover feed, microbial remains, bacteria, and even invertebrates. This mass is capable of assimilating organic waste into bacterial biomass in a very short time, thereby improving the water environment without the need for light like algae. Simultaneously, it serves as a food source for aquatic animals with high nutrient content.

Mr. Le Duy Khanh, a shrimp farmer in Quynh Lap (Hoang Mai town), said that applying Biofloc technology helps him divide the shrimp farming process into three different stages according to the age of the shrimp. “Applying this method allows me to raise shrimp at a higher density while still easily controlling diseases, feed sources, and water environment. In addition, farming in greenhouses helps limit temperature differences between day and night, and control water environment fluctuations; this helps shrimp grow well, develop uniformly, and minimizes risks compared to traditional shrimp farming methods,” Mr. Khanh added.

It can be affirmed that the application of microbial products, biological preparations, or advanced biotechnology in general in shrimp farming is a necessary solution to limit disease outbreaks in farmed shrimp and promote sustainable development. Along with this, it addresses environmental pollution issues, creates clean, antibiotic-free shrimp products, and enhances the competitiveness of commercial shrimp in both domestic and export markets. Facing challenges such as climate change, deteriorating infrastructure in some farming areas, and water pollution, some farmers in the province have recently made significant innovations in investment and farming technology. Many shrimp farming models applying biotechnology without antibiotics or chemicals, and using biological preparations to improve the farming environment, are gradually emerging and need to be replicated.

Moreover, Nghe An has also implemented many effective biotechnology models in mountainous areas.

Economic Reporting Team