Building a sustainable sugarcane material area at Song Con Sugar Factory
The Provincial People's Committee has just approved the addition of 3,000 hectares to the sugarcane raw material planning area in Anh Son and Thanh Chuong for Song Con Sugar Factory. Thus, the sugarcane raw material area of this factory is spread over 5 districts: Tan Ky, Do Luong, Anh Son, Yen Thanh, Thanh Chuong with a total area of nearly 10,000 hectares.
The Provincial People's Committee has just approved the addition of 3,000 hectares to the sugarcane raw material planning area in Anh Son and Thanh Chuong for Song Con Sugar Factory. Thus, the sugarcane raw material area of this factory is spread over 5 districts: Tan Ky, Do Luong, Anh Son, Yen Thanh, Thanh Chuong with a total area of nearly 10,000 hectares.
For the past two years, sugarcane growers in Tan Ky, Anh Son... have been very excited because the sugar price has increased, and accordingly the sugarcane price has also increased, earning 900,000 VND per ton of sugarcane. Song Con Sugar Factory has committed to purchase that price stably for 3 consecutive years from January 1, 2011 to April 30, 2013, regardless of the unstable market.
Right now, sugar prices have dropped much lower than at the beginning of the season, and many factories in the South believe that selling sugar at 17,000 VND/kg is not profitable because sugarcane is bought at 1.3-1.4 million VND/ton in some places.
But the Director of Song Con Sugarcane Joint Stock Company - Mr. Le Dinh Hoan said that the company is surviving because it does not have to borrow money from banks to pay for sugarcane to farmers and the company sells sugar at the right time.
Spraying pesticides on sugarcane in Tan Ky.
In addition, the timely increase in factory capacity from 1,600 tons of sugarcane per day to 2,500 tons of sugarcane per day has contributed to the success of the company's production and business plan. At a time when the sugar market was scarce, the company produced a lot, importing 21,792 tons of sugar, exceeding the plan by over 4%.
We met Mr. Tran Quoc Dung, hamlet 2 Vinh Son - Anh Son in Tan Ky when he and some households came to Song Con Sugar Factory to borrow money to invest in sugarcane. We were surprised to see that Anh Son farmers were producing sugarcane for Song Con Sugar Factory. He told us: The price of sugarcane purchased by Song Con Sugar Factory is high, so 3 hectares of sugarcane yielded 80 tons/ha, in 2010, they earned 240 tons, minus expenses, the profit was nearly 100 million VND.
Mr. Dung also said: in the hamlet, there are 9 households growing sugarcane with an area of 30 hectares for Song Con Sugar Factory and all households have a good income. That is also one of the reasons why the province has planned for the company to add 3,000 hectares in Thanh Chuong and Anh Son districts by 2015.
Not only Anh Son, Yen Thanh, last year sugarcane farmers in Tan Ky had a bumper sugarcane crop. For example, Giai Xuan commune, a remote commune of Tan Ky, produced 595.7 hectares of sugarcane, earning 27 billion VND.
Many farmers sold hundreds of tons of sugarcane to the sugar factory. For example, Mr. Truong Van Kieu in Xuan Tien hamlet, Giai Xuan commune, produced 185 tons of sugarcane, earning 166 million VND; Mr. Truong Hai Ho - Ke Mui hamlet - Giai Xuan, sold 214 tons of sugarcane, earning 192 million VND; Mr. Nguyen Van Khuong in Long Tho hamlet - Giai Xuan, sold 140 tons of sugarcane.
Last year, Nghia Dong converted highland rice fields to sugarcane fields and also had a bumper crop, the whole commune earned 12 billion VND with 156 hectares. Many farmers felt like they had struck gold: Mr. Bui Van Than, hamlet 11, produced 205 tons of sugarcane; Mr. Tang Tuan Ha, hamlet 11, produced 156 tons of sugarcane, Mr. Ta Ngoc Hien, hamlet 11 sold 194 tons of sugarcane... earning hundreds of millions of VND. In many places in Tan Ky, sugarcane is more effective than crops such as rice, corn, peanuts, mulberry...
The sustainability of the sugarcane area in Tan Ky is the result of the strong participation of all levels of government and the factory. From the district's resolution, to the implementation of the resolution, the project on sugarcane, the factory's raw material area strategy until 2015, the investment policy, satisfactory purchasing... have encouraged people, agricultural staff, agricultural extension, plant protection to take care of sugarcane. Along with that, the factory has a stable purchasing policy, early season notification, timely sugarcane pressing after cutting because the factory has increased capacity... has helped sugarcane growers feel secure in production.
Currently, Song Con Sugarcane Company is striving to produce and trade in multiple industries and professions (sugar, molasses, fertilizers, hybridization...) with the main focus being sugarcane. The company also identifies technological innovation and increasing sugarcane capacity as a top priority; continuing to increase sugarcane pressing capacity to 5,000 tons of sugarcane/day.
In the fierce competition of many crops, the sustainable development of the sugarcane raw material area of Song Con Sugar Factory is a right direction on the path of professional and modern production, enriching not only the factory.
Chau Lan
