Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company harvests sugarcane mechanically.

Mechanization in sugarcane fields

In the early days of December, the weather was warm, and in the sugarcane fields of Tan Ky district, from early morning, one could hear the sound of sugarcane harvesting machines echoing in the sky still silvered by the mist. In the vast sugarcane fields, many people eagerly watched how the sugarcane harvesting machines worked. Wherever the machine went, the sugarcane was neatly harvested, leaving a thick layer of chopped sugarcane leaves on the field.

According to Mr. Tran Ngoc Chau - owner of the sugarcane harvester, harvesting sugarcane by machine is very fast and regular, the sugarcane is cut close to the root, the top is ground, and the field is covered. The sugarcane stalks are also cut to a length of about 20 cm. The sugarcane is transported directly to the factory as it is cut, saving time and importantly ensuring weight and storing sugar. The sugarcane harvester has a maximum capacity of 100 tons of sugarcane/day.

When operating, a truck carrying finished sugarcane runs parallel to the sugarcane cutter, picking up the cut sugarcane and loading it into the truck. When the truck is full, it heads straight to the factory, and another truck immediately replaces it. In this way, within 1 day, the sugarcane harvester runs from one field to another.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Long, the owner of a sugarcane field in Nghia Dong commune, said that to harvest 1 hectare of sugarcane, equivalent to about 70 - 80 tons of sugarcane, it takes dozens of people to cut sugarcane in 1 day. Of course, it is not easy to hire dozens of people at the same time, so it usually takes 2-3 days to harvest 1 hectare of sugarcane. Taking a long time to harvest will affect the quality of the sugarcane such as: reducing weight, storing sugar. Meanwhile, 1 hectare of sugarcane harvested by machine takes less than 1 day to be transported to the factory. Another advantage is that all the leaves, tops and impurities are ground by the machine into the field to create moisture for the soil and add nutrients to the plants.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Quy - Deputy Director of Song Con Sugar Joint Stock Company said: From November 26, the company started purchasing raw sugarcane for farmers, putting into operation the new pressing season. This year, the company purchased raw sugarcane at the field for farmers at 3 prices: 1,120,000 VND/ton for sugarcane with 10 CCS or more; 1,080,000 VND/ton for sugarcane from 9 - under 10 CCS; 1,045,000 VND/ton for sugarcane with sugar content below 9 CCS. Compared to last year, this year's sugarcane price has decreased, due to the decrease in sugar prices on the market.

However, to encourage farmers to harvest sugarcane early and ensure raw material supply for the factory, in the first 10 days of the season (from November 26 to December 6), the Company increased the purchase price by VND30,000/ton.

In preparation for the new pressing season, Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company has proactively arranged workers, engineers, maintenance, repair of machinery and production lines, to ensure the pressing capacity of 3,300 tons/day. In particular, the company recently invested in installing large-capacity Indian power turbines to provide enough electricity for the factory to operate, replacing the previous small-capacity turbines.

Previously, in 2023, the company also invested 5 billion VND to upgrade the sugar cooker with new technology from India, in order to continuously improve sugar products to meet the increasing demands of customers.

Outstanding sugarcane yield

In the 2024 - 2025 crop year, the raw sugarcane area of ​​Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company will be nearly 6,000 hectares, most concentrated in Tan Ky district, followed by Thanh Chuong, Yen Thanh, Do Luong, and Anh Son districts.

Although this year, white cotton lint disease appeared on some sugarcane areas, but due to timely detection and early prevention, along with quite favorable weather, drought was not as severe as last year, so the yield of raw sugarcane in Tan Ky developed well, with higher productivity.

At the same time, the introduction of new sugarcane varieties: KK3 and LK9211 into cultivation has demonstrated outstanding advantages: few pests and diseases, drought resistance, tall, plump plants, high sugar content, high productivity and output, making sugarcane growers excited.

The Company’s raw sugarcane yield this year is expected to average 60 tons/ha (last year it was 57 tons/ha). In particular, there are plots in Tan Long, Giai Xuan, Nghia Dong communes... that are planted in concentrated areas and cared for according to technical procedures, achieving a yield of 120-140 tons/ha. Due to this year’s outstanding yield, the raw sugarcane output of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company is estimated at over 360 thousand tons.

To reduce costs and solve the labor problem for sugarcane growers, the company has contracted 2 sugarcane harvesters to serve the farmers. Accordingly, the area harvested by machines will reach about 15-20%, on the total area of ​​nearly 5,000 hectares of sugarcane in Tan Ky district.

To be able to harvest by machine, farmers need to plant sugarcane as well as some necessary criteria, such as sugarcane must be planted in double rows, each row at least 1.4m apart, the field surface must be relatively flat, with a slope of no more than 5%... According to calculations, sugarcane planted in double rows gives higher yield than sugarcane planted in single rows as usual. The distance between rows is large enough not only to suit the harvesting machine, but also to bring in machines to till the soil, fertilize, spray pesticides... during the care process is easier.

Hopefully, with the introduction of machinery into sugarcane harvesting, farmers will have less trouble during harvest season; at the same time, gradually modernize and mechanize the sugarcane production industry.

Xuan Hoang