Reducing varieties to reduce fertilizer pressure

The delegation of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development  (MARD) had a meeting with the People's Committee of Tra Vinh Province today (December 9) on the inspection of the provincial agricultural production.

Pham Thanh Truyen, director of Tra Vinh provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development reported that in the recent autumn-winter rice crop, farmers in the province sowed more than 75,000ha with rice, of which over 40,000ha has been harvested. The high price of agricultural materials caused a big increase in the cost of rice production in the province. According to the department, the production cost per kilogramme of rice by local farmers is expected to be VND4,800 per kilogramme. In which, the high investment expenditure is VND22-23 million per hectare. The reason is that input costs increase, plant protection products increase from 10-20 per cent, fertilizers increase from 40-100 per cen. Farmers' profit is only from VND5-8 million per hectare.

For the 2021-2022 winter-spring rice crop, Tra Vinh plans to sow  over 53,900ha with rice. The province focuses on two main periods. The first leg is from November 15 to November 30 with an area of ​​nearly 5,500ha, the remaining area will be sown in the second leg from December 5 to December 30. Up to now, the province has sown over 7,200ha, focusing on the coastal localities such as Tra Cu and Cau Ngang.

For intercrops, the province plans to plant 52,900ha next year with an output of over 1.35 million tons. As for perennials, the province also plans to plant 42,600ha with an estimated output of over 573,000 tons. Of which, fruit trees have an area of 18,600ha, the rest is coconut trees. For the plan of crop plants conversion, in 2022, it is expected to convert 1,338ha on rice land, of which 766ha will be converted to other trees.

As the agricultural production in Tra Vinh has also met many difficulties in the past time, Truyen asked the MARD about issues of stabilizing the prices of agricultural materials; supplementing infrastructure projects to ensure water source security; financial support for building agricultural expansion models; variety management solutions, especially investing about VND1,000 billion for the province to build coastal embankments to prevent landslides.

For the seasonal calendar issue of Tra Vinh, deputy director of the Department of Crop Production under the MARD suggested that the province rearranges the crop calendar to match the crop calendar of the MARD, contributing to the change of locals’ livelihoods.

In addition, Le Van Thiet, deputy director of the Plant Protection Department under the MARD said that the province should develop a sowing schedule in combination with water sources and forecast of brown backed rice plant hopper. In the context of high fertilizer price, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development  directed the sub-Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection to apply scientific advances of 3G3T and IPM strongly, increase to use organic fertilizer and reduce production costs.

Besides, Thiet also highly appreciated the co-operation of the provincial sub-Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection to breed parasitic bees and euborellia stali to prevent beetles on coconut trees. For coconut trees, biological measures are very safe so it is necessary to strengthen biological measures

For the granting of codes of cultivation areas for fastidious markets and the Chinese market, the MARD has entrusted the provincial agencies to issue codes. Thiet also suggested that the sub-Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection quickly register with the Department of Plant Protection to open a course to grant planting area codes in order to localities can issue planting area codes, manage pests as well as propagate the importance of product traceability..

Following listening to the above opinions, Deputy Minister Doanh emphasized that the winter-spring rice crop is an important crop of the year. At the end of this year, salt drought can happen, Doanh asked the province to sow completely in December to avoid saltiness at the end of the crop.

Doanh also shared difficulties when input material prices increased in Tra Vinh. He said this is a common problem of the economy. He suggested that the provincial sub-Department of Plantation and Plant Protection strongly popularize to farmers to implement technical solutions such as 3G3T and 1P5G.

Related to the issue of landslides caused by climate change and freshwater reservoir project, the Deputy Minister said that he will direct the agencies of the Ministry to consider supplementing capital sources for the province, especially the freshwater lake project of Lang The River.