Sitting on a stone bench in front of his house, lighting a pipe of tobacco, Mr. Ho Van Quynh (Hamlet 6, Quynh Tam Commune, Quynh Luu) leisurely monitors the drone spraying pesticides on his family's 2.5 sao of rice. "Do you see how well we are working in the fields? The fields are as wide as a stork's flight, the plot of land is 1,250m22“Planting a fragrant sticky rice variety, machines do everything, people only supervise, farming without feet wading in mud, hands without soil. Happy, really happy,” Mr. Quynh said excitedly.
Previously, Mr. Quynh's 2.5 sao of rice fields were divided into many different fields, each with 1-2 plots, the largest plot was only 300-400m2.2, there are plots of land only about 150-200 m2so it is very inconvenient in production. “The fields are 2.5 sao but “divided into five, divided into seven”, one plot is at the beginning of the commune, the other plot is at the end of the commune, 7-8 kilometers apart, just visiting the fields and getting water is tiring enough. Not to mention the fact that the fields are fragmented, so when incubating seeds, there are 5-7 types according to each field area; land preparation and harvesting are both very difficult. There are fields far from home, so care is limited, so productivity and output have decreased sharply…” – Mr. Quynh continued – “After the first land consolidation in 2002, the fields had larger areas but were still separated, still in many different fields. By 2012, the second land consolidation and subsequent adjustments by the district and commune, up to now, my family’s 2.5 sao of fields are only in one plot, one field area and right in front of my house. It is truly a land “revolution”, 2.5 sao of fields are now one plot, one field area, and right in front of my house. It is truly a land “revolution”, 2.5 sao of fields are now one plot of land, right in front of the house gate, so it is convenient in every way. Land preparation, harvesting, and care are all done by machines, fast, neat, efficient, productivity increases, costs decrease, so you can rest assured to stick with the fields.
Mr. Quynh's hamlet 6 has 180 households, nearly 800 people, of which the agricultural rate accounts for 80%. Previously, the households' fields were scattered across 6 fields, some households had only 2-3 sao of land but had 5-7 plots, each field was several kilometers apart. After many times of land conversion, up to now, the fields of the people in hamlet 6 have basically concentrated in 1-2 fields, of which 80% of households have 1 plot and 20% of households have 2 plots. Mr. Truong Dac Phu - Head of Hamlet 6, Quynh Tam Commune said: "Up to now, the hamlet has basically completed the land accumulation, forming large fields. After the accumulation, the fields are adjacent to each other, adjacent to each other, adjacent to each other, so it is very convenient for production. In the fields, the banks are built high, wide, poured with concrete or hardened, trucks can reach the foot of the fields; irrigation canals run parallel to the plots, so it is convenient for irrigation. In particular, 90% of the production stages such as: land preparation, planting, spraying, harvesting have been completely mechanized, saving both labor and production costs".
On the basis of land consolidation to accumulate resources and farming skills, by the 2023 spring rice crop, Quynh Tam Agricultural Cooperative has built a model and tested mechanized production on the entire 10 hectares of terraced fields with sandy soil of 80 households in Hamlet 6 from the stages of land preparation, sowing, transplanting, spraying pesticides with drones to harvesting. This farming method helps farmers reduce labor, save costs and increase crop yields on the same field. Thereby, gradually moving towards building a "footprint-free" field.
Ms. Truong Thi Lam, a household also in village 6, Quynh Tam commune, said that her family has an area of 2 sao, 90% of the production steps are rented by machines, she does not have to "get her hands dirty" and saves costs compared to hiring workers. Previously, the cost for each sao of rice field was 1.5 million VND, while the rice yield was only 3 quintals/sao. In the 2023 spring rice crop, thanks to the synchronous application of machinery and technology to cultivation in the field, each sao of farmers saved 160,000 - 200,000 VND. Cultivation is both healthy and effective, and the yield is high (yield reaches 3.7-4 quintals/sao), so people are generally excited.
The land accumulation "revolution" in recent periods is also one of the important factors contributing to changing the awareness of farmers in hamlet 6, gradually shifting from "production thinking" to "economic thinking", reorganizing production to promote the full potential of land to form specialized commodity growing areas, linking production according to orders of enterprises to bring high economic efficiency. That is: 9ha fragrant sticky rice field; 5ha pumpkin seed field, 2ha sweet corn field... linked with enterprises, all products are guaranteed. High productivity, high output, high economic efficiency, so people feel secure in production, attached to the fields, so now in hamlet 6, Quynh Tam commune, there is no longer "an inch of abandoned land".
Previously, the Quang Trung sandbank area (Quang Thai hamlet, Trung Phuc Cuong commune, Nam Dan district) was interspersed between people's production land and 5% of the commune's land. Therefore, most of the area was divided into small plots and given to households to draw lots and contract. The poor sandy land was flooded before rain, and drought before sun, so although many types of crops such as corn, sesame, peanuts, etc. were converted, they all had low productivity and poor efficiency. When the season was favorable, they were produced, and the rest were left fallow. Many farmers were discouraged and had to return their fields to the commune.
After 2 land conversions, the land area of 5% of Trung Phuc Cuong commune was concentrated in a large area. In 2019, the commune leased it to a business for clean agricultural cultivation. The 15-hectare barren sand area was converted into specialized areas for growing potatoes, cassava, melons, chili peppers, etc., earning hundreds of millions of VND/ha. Farmers in Quang Thai hamlet became workers on the land they previously contracted, received salaries, and enjoyed social welfare benefits.
Then in the Bac Giang sandbank area of more than 40 hectares, due to the distance from the river ferry, far from residential areas, and being classified as "bad" land, farmers have almost abandoned it without production. Faced with this situation, in order not to waste land resources, the Trung Phuc Cuong commune government has mobilized people to contribute land, lease land to enterprises to grow sugarcane, and farmers are hired to work as daily laborers with a salary of 250,000 - 300,000 VND/day. Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Trung Phuc Cuong Commune People's Committee said: In addition to 40 hectares of Bac Giang sandbank land, 15 hectares of Quang Trung sandbank land, after implementing land consolidation in 2013, the commune's highlands such as Cau Dap, Cung Muoi, Trang Nay... have also been consolidated into large areas, contracted out to households to build livestock and crop farms. Currently, there are 15 farms in this area, with an annual income of 100 million VND/ha; 10 hectares converted to growing fruit trees such as guava, coconut... for high income.
Along the Lam River alluvial plain stretching from Anh Son district to Hung Nguyen district, thanks to land accumulation, large fields were formed, calling on many individuals and cooperatives to rent land for production. From there, the potential of the alluvial land was awakened and promoted. Strong capital, investment in technology, greenhouses and net houses and the introduction of new, high-quality crop varieties have turned the barren sandy land into fertile fields, green with fruits and flowers. Those are the specialized vegetable fields in the alluvial plain of Cam Son commune (Anh Son), the pumpkin fields of dozens of hectares with billions of dong in revenue in Do Luong and Thanh Chuong districts; greenhouses growing strawberries, melons, black grapes, and milk grapes in Do Luong, Nam Dan, and Hung Nguyen; the burdock ginseng gardens stretching across Hung Nguyen...
In many localities in Nghe An, thanks to the conversion of land and farming methods, in the same area, when the borders are broken down to create adjacent plots, fields adjacent to fields, farmers can easily cultivate the same crop... forming specialized commodity growing areas linked with businesses that purchase products at high prices, bringing stable income. The economic life of the people is improved without having to leave their hometowns or farms, without worrying about losing production materials, and they are enthusiastic about working to get rich.
Listen to Mr. Cao Tien Trung, a "new farmer" in Dien Phong commune (Dien Chau) share his story: "Before, farming was not enough to make a living, working all year round on the land and the sky still did not have enough food and clothes, so I had to leave my hometown to make a living. After many years of leaving my hometown to go to the South and the North to make a living, I still felt strange and lost. Returning to my hometown, the same amount of rice fields were concentrated in one plot, one area, farming was convenient, machines replaced human labor, and there was a connection with businesses so the agricultural products produced were not worried about being unsold. 5 sao of rice fields in the chili season, potato season, and melon season, the business bought whatever was harvested, so there was a stable income all year round. For generations, farmers have been attached to the fields, so living in the countryside and getting rich on their homeland's land feels the most secure and comfortable. There is also no worry about losing the means of production including land...".
The reality in Nghe An has clearly shown that the land consolidation and land exchange work has created conditions for implementing the linkage model in agricultural production development through the construction of large-scale field models in localities according to Decision 62/2013/QD-TTg dated October 25, 2013 of the Prime Minister on policies to encourage the development of cooperation, linkage in production associated with agricultural product consumption, and the construction of large-scale fields. Thereby, increasing income for farmers and businesses, contributing to the successful construction of new rural areas.
According to the assessment, the productivity and output of large-scale field models in Nghe An have basically increased by 10-15% compared to the general level. The income value per unit area has increased (reaching an average of over 100 million VND/ha/year), contributing to increasing people's income. The products of the "large-scale field" are mainly high-quality rice such as AC5, NA2 Materials, etc., which are easy to consume and have high value in the market. The products are mainly purchased by enterprises at a price at least 10% higher than normal rice, so farmers have higher incomes and enterprises have the conditions to purchase, process and consume products that ensure quality and origin. For example, the purchase price of AC5 rice of Vinh Hoa Company Limited is 8,000 - 9,000 VND/kg, higher than the price of normal rice (5,000 - 5,500 VND/kg). NA2 and DT 68 rice are purchased by the Agricultural Materials Corporation at a price 10-15% higher than the normal price of rice; N87 glutinous rice in Phuc Thanh is completely purchased by the Central Seed Company at a high price; especially the 2014 Autumn-Winter peanut crop is sold for 35,000-40,000 VND/kg... Thus, farmers have a higher income of 10-15% compared to normal production.
From here, the "4-house" linkage in agricultural production: State, farmers, businesses and scientists has also been connected, formed and promoted effectively. Many businesses and units in the province such as: Nghe An Agricultural Materials Corporation, Vinh Hoa Company Limited, Nghe An Seed Center, Seed Company, Nong Tin Company, ... have actively participated, implemented investment in lending, advance seeds, fertilizers, committed to consuming products for farmers ... contributing to promoting stable and sustainable development of agricultural production.