Farmers excited about the new crop as fertilizer prices decrease

According to statistics of the city's agricultural sector, in Can Tho, the sowing area for 3 rice crops in the city reached nearly 206,000 ha, and the harvest yield was more than 907,000 tons. In which, the summer-autumn rice of 2023 has sown nearly 73,000 ha and harvested over 94%, the yield is estimated at 5.9 tons/ha, equivalent to the same period.

For autumn-winter rice in 2023, more than 57,000 ha have been sown. This year's autumn-winter rice crop is considered quite favourable in terms of weather. Farmers receive good news when the cost of agricultural inputs, Especially, fertilizer prices dropped sharply compared to previous years, rice yield was satisfactory, so profits would increase significantly.

Realizing in Thuan Thang cooperative of Thoi Lai district, in the autumn-winter rice crop of 2023, the cooperative buys fertilizer at a sharply reduced price. Specifically, the price of Phu My nitrogen fertilizer is VND 400,000/bag (1 bag of 50 kg), and the price of potassium fertilizer is from VND 800,000 to VND 900,000/bag. The price of DAP Hong Ha is also about VND 900,000/bag. According to Mr Duong Van Sieu, Deputy Director of Thuan Thang Cooperative, the price of this fertilizer has decreased by about VND 120,000/bag compared to the summer-autumn crop of 2023.

Currently, the rate of using high-quality rice varieties, speciality fragrant rice of Can Tho reaches over 90%. The city is maintaining 140 models of large fields with a total area of nearly 35,700 ha. Farmers involved in production in large fields were trained in advanced rice production techniques. Moreover, 40% of the large field area is covered by businesses with prices higher than the market price from VND 50 - 150/kg for commodity rice and VND 500 - 700/kg for seed rice. For the harvested area of summer-autumn rice in 2023, the price was 11 - 13% higher than the same period in the same period, equivalent to about VND 700 - 850/kg.

In recent years, the agricultural sector in Can Tho also promotes the application of mechanization and post-harvest technology into production. As a result, farmers have achieved profits of over 30%. Areas with advantages for rice production in the city have formed a number of specialized rice production areas with an area of about 55,000 ha, concentrated in Thoi Lai, Co Do and Vinh Thanh districts. 20 rice production cooperatives in the whole city have joined the annual association with a consumption volume of over 24,000 tons, worth more than VND 115 billion. Besides rice, durian is one of the export products with a high economic value in Can Tho. The annual profit of gardeners is from VND 200 to 250 million/ha/year.

According to the Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of the city, in recent years, durian has been invested and developed strongly. If in 2015, the durian area of the Can Tho is 537 ha, and so far it is estimated to reach over 4,000 ha, with an estimated output of over 30,000 tons/year, the average yield is 15 tons/ha. Currently, the functional sector has issued 8 codes for durian growing areas for export to the Chinese market, with an area of ​​about 175 ha.

Implementing policies to support linkages in the production and consumption of agro-products in the locality, the city is considering implementing a number of Projects of linking fruit production and consumption of durian products.

Typically, the project associated with Dai Thuan Thien Clean Agricultural Products Co., Ltd., in the period of 2023 - 2027, has a total investment of over VND 29 billion and a linking scale of 80 ha of durian. The joint project of BJ&T Joint Stock Company in the period of 2023 - 2027 invested over VND 40 billion to implement the link of 90 ha of durian.

The projects, if approved, will open up great prospects for the consumption market for durian farmers in the city.

To promote sustainable agricultural production, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc He, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee of Can Tho requires the agricultural sector to focus on directing production according to local advantages. In particular, focus on quality, production according to standards associated with traceability, and protection of the ecological environment. Closely monitor natural disasters to proactively prevent and promptly overcome consequences. At the same time, promoting the application of scientific and technical advances to the production chain to build a brand of agricultural products for Can Tho.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Can Tho sign a cooperation agreement with Mobifone to deploy the MobiAgri application to promote digital transformation activities in agriculture, This is the foundation application of smart agriculture. Identify more than 1,000 crops by taking photos, connecting questions and answers from experts.

The application also supports the farming process, provides information, and in-depth weather forecasts and comes with crop recommendations. This help Can Tho farmers step by step apply digital transformation into practical farming, and make a promise to approach closer to the output e-commerce platform in the near future.