Growing peanuts in Dien Chau: Win-win

(Baonghean) - Dien Chau district has fertile land stretching across 12 coastal communes and along National Highway 1A with more than 3,500 hectares suitable for crops such as peanuts, sesame, red watermelon, green beans, and corn. Therefore, the district has determined that peanuts will become a commodity crop, not only planted in the spring crop but also expanded in the autumn-winter crop to make on-site seeds for the next crop.

Previously, farmers in the coastal areas of Dien Chau often had the habit of growing spring peanuts on an area of ​​3,200 to 3,400 hectares. Meanwhile, peanut seeds were purchased from state-owned companies, the transportation route was long, the price was high, the germination rate was uneven, there were years when more than 1,000 tons of peanut seeds had to be bought, sown 2 or 3 times to close the area, and the cost of field services increased. To overcome this situation, the district chose 4 communes of Dien Ky, Dien Loc, Dien Hong, and Dien Thinh to represent 4 key peanut areas for experimental winter peanut planting. Leading engineers from the North Central Plant Breeding Institute, Nghe An Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Provincial and District Agricultural Extension Center came to train, transfer scientific and technological advances, intensive farming methods, and pest control for winter peanuts, attracting thousands of grassroots cadres and farmers to participate.

Among them, Dien Ky commune was chosen to plant peanuts for the first trial, because this commune has more than 100 hectares of flat fertile land along National Highway 1A, convenient for planting and supplying peanut seeds. The commune has brought electricity to the fields, dug wells, and built camps in the fields to create more water sources for irrigation and to protect watermelons and peanuts; and provided poor households with advance payments for materials and fertilizers until harvest season. The Board of Directors of Dien Ky Agricultural Cooperative sent staff to the fields to guide people on planting according to the correct technical process, ensuring density, and timely and proper pest control. Thanks to that, the peanut yield in Dien Ky is the highest in the district, from 22 to 24 quintals/ha/crop.

Model of growing peanuts in autumn and winter covered with plastic in Dien Ky commune (Dien Chau).

The results of growing peanuts in the autumn and winter in Dien Ky are very promising. The tubers are used for seeds and commodities, the plants and leaves are very good for fresh food for cattle, the peanut shells are used as fuel or dried and mixed with corn kernels to be milled to make feed for pigs. Moreover, growing peanuts in the off-season, although the yield is not as high as in the spring crop, overcomes the shortage of seeds. Farmers can buy seeds in the commune and district at a cost 20% lower than buying from other places. Peanuts also create goods to sell before Tet. From the experience of Dien Ky commune, the district organized field trips to learn from experience, held field seminars on seed structure, season, fertilizer investment level, pest control, and then expanded it to the whole district. Thanks to that, over the past 5 years, farmers in the Dien Chau crop area have become familiar with growing peanuts in the winter, planting from 350 to 400 hectares each crop.

In the 2014 autumn-winter crop, the whole district strives to plant 450 to 500 hectares of peanuts. Of which, Dien Ky commune planted 80 hectares. The communes of Dien Phong, Dien Thanh, Dien An, Dien Hung, Dien Thinh, Dien Trung, Dien Tan, each planted 30 to 40 hectares. Even the two coastal communes of Dien Kim and Dien Hai each planted 15 to 30 hectares. The semi-mountainous communes of Dien Phu, Dien Thang, Dien Loi, and Dien Lam also converted their hilly and coastal areas to plant 25 to 35 hectares. In addition to traditional peanut varieties such as Sen lai and Song Lam Nghe An, this crop, the district introduced L23 and L14 peanut varieties to plant in 12 coastal communes and along National Highway 1A. Because these varieties have high essential oil content and if cultivated according to the correct technical process and in time, they can be harvested 7 days before Tet, with a yield of 22 to 25 quintals/ha.

The biggest difficulty in growing peanuts in the fall and winter is the unfavorable weather. When planting, it is the "buffalo fighting" weather on the 10th day of the 8th lunar month, and there is often heavy rain. When the peanuts flower, they will encounter the northeast monsoon with scattered drizzle and cloudy weather. If not cared for and prevented from pests and diseases in time, it will affect the yield and the rate of solid tubers will be low. The key thing in Dien Chau is to have a high peanut yield, absolutely must follow the crop calendar and plant according to the nylon covering technology. All peanut beds are raised in the East-West direction so that the peanuts can receive sunlight. In the spring crop, the area is closed in the spring season, while in the autumn and winter crop, the summer-autumn sesame is harvested and the land is prepared for peanut planting, it is best to finish planting before August 30th of the solar calendar. Only then can the humidity be ensured, the peanuts will sprout quickly and develop evenly.

Furthermore, planting peanuts covered with plastic also reduces the need for care, and pests and diseases are less likely to occur. Around the peanut field, there must be drainage ditches to prevent low pressure and storms. The banks of the fields must be cleared of grass, preventing rats from residing and harming the peanuts. The investment level for peanuts is the same as for rice cultivation, only 500 kg of manure, 35 kg of NPK, 50 kg of lime powder, 10 kg of urea and potassium, of which 100% of the manure and NPK fertilizer is applied as basal fertilizer. Nitrogen and potassium fertilizers are applied twice (when the peanuts have 3 leaves and when the peanuts flower and form tubers). Plant density is from 30 to 34 bushes/m2. By doing this, the peanuts grow well evenly, without wilting, large tubers, and firm seeds. On average, each bush produces 9 to 10 firm tubers. In the past 6 years, Dien Chau has had a good autumn-winter peanut crop with an output of 900 to more than 1,000 tons/crop, meeting the local peanut seed demand of farmers.

Thus, with proper planting methods, besides other crops, autumn-winter peanuts have become a crop that brings high economic efficiency to farmers in the coastal areas of Dien Chau.

Le Hoai Thung