Why has the peanut growing area in Nghe An decreased sharply?

Peanuts down, corn up

Leading us through the peanut fields of Mu Cang, Doi Sau, Tri Cu... with an area of ​​dozens of hectares entering the harvest season, Mr. Le Van Phong - Vice Chairman of Nghi Thinh Commune People's Committee (Nghi Loc) said: "The whole commune has 15 hamlets, all 15 hamlets grow peanuts, last winter-spring crop the whole commune planted 180 hectares of peanuts/250 hectares of agricultural land of the commune. Notably, since switching to cultivating L14 peanut variety, the yield has reached nearly 2.3 quintals/sao, good quality, high oil content.

However, although the productivity and quality of peanuts have increased, the peanut growing area of ​​the commune is on the decline. In recent years, about 20 hectares of peanuts have been converted to corn and vegetables.

This is a situation that occurs not only in Nghi Thinh but also commonly in Nghi Loc district. Normally, the district's spring peanut crop is at 3,000 hectares, but now it has decreased to 2,500 hectares. In return, the total corn area, which used to be maintained at 1,200 hectares, has now increased to nearly 2,300 hectares.

Explaining this situation, Mr. Dong Thanh Binh - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture of Nghi Loc district said: "The crop structure in local agricultural production has many changes stemming from practical needs. Notably, the "superior" position of peanuts has been changed compared to corn and vegetables.

Specifically, in Nghi Lam, Nghi Hung, Nghi Kieu, Nghi Van communes... in recent years, the livestock sector has developed strongly. Many pig and cow farms with a total herd of thousands of animals require extremely large food sources. In particular, corn is prioritized by farm owners to import for processing into animal feed at a relatively high price, maintaining stability. Since then, on many agricultural land areas that are often at risk of flooding or drought, people have switched to growing corn on hundreds of hectares.

For communes along National Highway 1A and National Highway 46, thanks to convenient transportation for transporting agricultural products to two major markets, Vinh city and Cua Lo town, people have gradually converted many peanut growing areas to sweet corn growing for sale. Therefore, in recent times, in communes such as Nghi Trung, Nghi Long, Nghi Thuan (along National Highway 1A) and Nghi Truong, Nghi Thach, Nghi Phong (along National Highway 46), corn has gradually replaced the main crop of peanuts.

Finally, in the winter crop, to increase production value on the same unit area, people have developed many corn and vegetable areas into specialized commodity growing areas such as Nghi Thuan, Nghi Long, Nghi Trung...

Therefore, nearly 500 to 700 hectares of converted land in Nghi Loc district now people rarely grow peanuts but mainly grow corn and vegetables.

As for the area of ​​land purely used for growing peanuts, this area has decreased from 400 ha to 500 ha in the past 5 years.

Unstable consumer market

In Nam Dan, one of the third largest peanut growing areas in the province, the peanut growing area also shows a decreasing trend.

The alluvial lands of Nam Tan, Nam Loc, Nam Cuong... used to be the "capital" of peanuts, but now people have gradually reduced the area to switch to growing many other crops. Previously, in the spring crop, the whole district usually had a planting area of ​​1,500 to 1,700 hectares, but now it has only decreased to 1,400 hectares. Winter crop cultivation also only has a few hundred hectares for seeds.

Explaining the above situation, Mr. Ho Dinh Thang - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture of Nam Dan district said: “For a long time, the output of peanut products has been quite unstable. In addition to using peanuts to press into oil, most of the finished peanuts still depend on small traders for consumption. Buying and selling are only verbal agreements without strict binding documents or contracts. Therefore, farmers are always in a passive and disadvantaged state when negotiating prices or quantity of goods to be exported.

Along with that, although people do well in production, there are still many limitations in processing and preserving products after harvest. Because the district does not have a preliminary drying oven and storage warehouse, if peanuts are not sold quickly, they will change color or sprout. Therefore, whether peanuts are expensive or cheap, they must be sold immediately in the month after harvest and cannot wait until prices are high to ship.

Meanwhile, to invest in 1 sao of peanuts, the cost of seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, and labor costs at this time is about 1.3 to 1.5 million VND/sao. The net profit is very low, not including labor, the profit is only about 600,000 VND/sao.

In Dien Chau, the peanut growing picture is somewhat brighter than other localities in the province when the peanut growing area is always maintained stable. In addition to the spring peanut growing area always maintained at over 2,700 hectares, the winter crop also tends to increase due to the high economic efficiency from peanut seed production.

With the assurance from production to consumption, Dien Chau is not only a peanut granary but also known as the largest peanut purchasing and exporting place in the province. Dien Chau not only meets the domestic peanut consumption demand but also exports to some countries such as Japan, China, Korea, etc., bringing a more stable output for peanuts in the district.

However, official export is not always favorable. Meanwhile, unofficial export is unstable, with many risks for both peanut growers and peanut buyers and exporters. For example, in 2017, unstable peanut prices caused thousands of tons of peanuts to be stagnant, taking a long time to consume all of the finished products.

Finding a way for peanuts

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Huong - Deputy Head of the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection said: According to statistics, the peanut growing area in the whole province has decreased sharply in the past 10 years. Although the productivity and quality of peanuts have improved significantly as people have continuously updated good varieties, farming techniques have also become more modern and scientific. Specifically, in 2008, the total peanut growing area of ​​the whole province was more than 23.4 thousand hectares, by 2015 it had decreased to 17.9 thousand hectares and by 2017 it had decreased to only more than 15 thousand hectares.

There are many reasons for this situation. Firstly, in recent years, corn has become the main crop in agricultural production in many districts. The demand for corn cultivation for grain and by-products as animal feed is very high. In particular, in recent years, when spring peanut production has faced many difficulties in both the consumer market and extreme weather, corn has proven its superiority with stable output, good drought resistance, and less risk due to weather...

When entering the winter crop, the economic value of vegetables is also higher than that of peanuts. Compared to peanuts, growing vegetables also has very clear advantages. A peanut growth cycle is enough time for people to grow 2 to 3 crops of vegetables to increase production value on the same unit area.

More importantly, although the quality of Nghe An peanuts has met the requirements of variety, size and color, the most important step is finding a stable market, which still has many shortcomings. Peanuts of our province are mainly sold to the Chinese market (accounting for nearly 65% ​​of total output). But this market is always fluctuating and has many unpredictable developments. People exporting goods do not have a commitment or strict contract, but mainly rely on verbal agreements. Therefore, prices are always unstable, and sellers are worried about unsold goods. Along with that, peanuts when exported are mainly raw products or only simply processed, so the value is not high.

To have a better source of consumption, it is necessary to find solutions to find more stable markets other than China. To do that, in addition to ensuring quality, it is also necessary to focus on improving processing and packaging.

At the same time, it is necessary to build geographical indications and brands for Nghe An peanuts, thereby being able to manage from production to processing into export products.

Finally, it is necessary to promote the transfer of new varieties and technical advances in farming, and increase mechanization in the fields to reduce investment and increase production efficiency for farmers.