An Giang expands SRP application in rice cultivation

Outstanding profits

SRP (Sustainable Rice Platform) is a set of international sustainable rice production standards recognised by countries around the world. When applying SRP standards, rice farming not only meets export requirements but also sees higher production efficiency, reduced environmental pollution and better protection for the health of farmers and consumers.

Farmer Le Van Phuoc in Tan Thuan hamlet , Ta Danh commune (Tri Ton district) was a bit confused at first when being selected by the Agricultural Extension Station of Tri Ton district to deploy a sustainable rice farming model with SRP application.

However, with the support of the district's Agricultural Extension Station, Phuoc gradually got used to the new farming style.On an area of ​​2ha, he was supported with rice variety OM18, fertilizers, pesticides. He was trained in the cultivation process "1 must 5 reduce" along with soil preparation techniques, fertilization procedures, pest control.

He was also instructed to record a field diary. Phuoc applies the process of sowing sparsely (density 120 kg/ha), effectively using pesticides according to the principle of "4 right" (right drug, right dose and concentration, right time and right way).

As the result, in 2022 winter-spring crop, the SRP model rice field of Phuoc grew better and its production cost was lower than control fields.

Thanks to the use of good seeds, it helps to keep the rice plants healthy at the beginning of the crop, thus reducing the pressure of pests and diseases.

The use of fertilisers is more reasonable and balanced, so the rice is less prone to falling, and the profit is nearly VND4 million per ha higher than the control field.

Phuoc excitedly said that with SRP standards, they reduced the amount of seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, water for irrigation, post-harvest losses, but yield and profit increased a lot compared to with the previous traditional method.

"Seeing the obvious effect, I continued to apply SRP in this year's summer-autumn crop and many farmers in the area also applied it," he said.An Binh Agricultural Cooperative, Thoai Son District is one of the first cooperatives established with the capital contribution and personnel of Loc Troi Group, so it is very convenient for rice production to follow SRP standards.

When using rice varieties Loc Troi 18 and Loc Troi 28 and applying SRP standards, farmers will receive an additional VND1,000 per kg compared to the fixed offtake price from the beginning of the crop.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of An Binh Agricultural Cooperatives Trinh Cong Minh said, on the basis of OM18 cultivated with SRP standards, the cooperative created the brand "An Binh 1 safe rice", which was awarded the certificate by the Provincial People's Committee, provincial OCOP products .

"The cooperative always wants to create delicious, safe and nutritious rice products to serve domestic consumers, not just for export," he said.

Farmers master the 41 criteria of SRP

According to An Giang Agricultural Extension Centre, for many years, the centre guided, trained and demonstrated the model of rice cultivation with SRP standards to hundreds of farmers in the province. Thereby, farmers understand the basic content of 41 criteria of the SRP standard. The demonstration brought positive results when helping farmers reduce production costs from VND1.1 million to VND2.4 million per ha, the average yield was 8.4 tonnes per ha, an increase of more than 0.3 tonnes per ha compared with the control model.

Huynh Dao Nguyen, Director of An Giang Agricultural Extension Centre, said that from 2020 to now, the centre has gradually conducted training and demonstrations in 11 districts, towns and cities in the province. On average, each model is 15ha so that farmers can see the farming process as well as the efficiency of SRP.

The project will apply synchronously mechanisation to rice production, from tillage, sowing to harvesting, such as: Using transplanters, cluster seeders, pesticide spraying equipment, drones, and combine harvesters.