Nights spent awake at the agricultural extension home and tales from the tea hills

The salary of an agricultural extension officer barely covers phone and gas bills

Over the last year, due to the implementation of 4.0 technology, which enables reporting by phone, Zalo group, and email, I've been required to attend the commune committee just twice a week; the remainder of my time is spent implementing technical advice and training for individuals. After two decades of labor, I now earn VND1.6 million per month as the head of the agricultural extension group, while the other two members get VND 1.5 million per month, just enough to cover the fuel and phone bills.

The agricultural extension simply serves to motivate people to perform better; the commune's IPM to tea ratio is now 50%, but expansion is challenging for several reasons. The first disadvantage is that it is still priced similarly to normal tea. Second, individuals interested in receiving assistance with microbiological fertilizers and biological drugs must join a co-op group with a minimum of 3 hectares or a cooperative with a minimum of 5 hectares; each cooperative member contributes at least 0.5 hectares, whereas many households were very small and not adjacent to the area.

Phu Tho has around 500 agricultural extension officers, and it is feasible to increase their allowances to the present level following two requests. It's very tough to provide basic requirements in rural regions since it requires a large number of other officials to get different allowances.

The cooperative says no to pesticides

Dinh Manh Cuong, director of Cam My Tea Cooperative, said that prior to the cooperative's establishment, his family cultivated tea individually, which attracted a lot of insects and required them to apply pesticides three times monthly. Making inexpensive tea in the market is risky, and so poverty endures like tea sap caught in the picker's fingers.

Nguyen Thi Cam My, a professor at Hung Vuong University, visited her husband's village many times and counseled her younger sister, who worked tirelessly in a hazardous region of pesticides to grow safe tea, on how to make a fresh new profit.

Cuong took this advice to heart and chose to run first. Previously, chemical sprays killed the worms instantly, but after a week of spraying biological medicines, they saw a reduction in worm density. Previously, if he observed low-yield tea, he would purchase nitrogen and sprinkle it on the roots if it was sunny, or on the canopy if it was rainy; a few days later, the leaves turned green, the buds bloomed profusely, and it could be picked quickly despite the 15-day isolation rule. Cuong uses both organic and inorganic fertilizers in this innovative technique.

He also persuaded individuals to form a cooperative, stating, "We cannot continue producing inferior teas without a brand name; we must be accountable for our goods and put our emotions into them above everything else."

The new cooperative was eventually established after a year of mobilization. However, the transition from conventional farming to safe farming presented difficulties; two individuals were on the verge of quitting, and he had to persuade them once again. The cooperative now has seven core members owning 8.7 hectares and three more affiliated families owning 15 ha.

Cuong has also abstained from the use of biological substances. Currently, the tea area of seven cooperative members is completely pesticide-free due to manual weeding combined with a machine, proper classification, and when pests and diseases reach the threshold, spreading all that layer of leaves, new buds will be released to avoid the next generation of worms.

The cooperative's plans include the construction of factories, irrigation systems, modernization of machinery, and participation in OCOP, but investment resources have been depleted, leaving a shortfall of approximately VND 1 billion to complete the green tea quality improvement project according to the requirements. Another issue was that goods were sold slowly and inexpensively owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pesticides were used at a very low rate

With a total cultivable area of more than 12,900 hectares, Thanh Son utilized just 0.26 kilogram of pesticides per ha in 2020, with biological pesticides accounting for 0.1 kg.

To further decrease pesticide use, the district established a goal for 2021 of having a core group of farmers educated about IPM using it to 50% of rice, over 35% of tea, and over 20% of vegetables in 100% of communes and cities.

According to Vu Van Hoan, Deputy Head of the Thanh Son district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the unit has established a model of the Black Crow glutinous rice variety on a 3-hectare plot in Thang Son commune for the 2020 harvest.

This is a regional specialty that he championed from 2003 to the present, intending to preserve and restore it. The model is organic, with no herbicides or pesticides used. It is completely fertilized and potassium.

According to Le Toan, Director of the Phu Tho Agricultural Extension Center, the province will execute five projects in 2020 to enhance the quality of green tea, with the unit serving as the focus point and the locality as the investor. Due to the nature of the post-investment assistance, it is also difficult for certain cooperatives to access and execute projects due to restricted resources, and therefore it is essential to modify the mechanism in the near future to make it more flexible.