Recover position for sugarcane: Pull farmers back to raw material areas

Reducing the area by 3/4 compared to the golden age

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Mr. Nguy Nhu Tien Dung, Deputy General Director of Son Duong Sugar Joint Stock Company, said that currently, the total area of the Company's raw sugarcane area is 1,800 ha. This year, with the newly developed area of 700 ha, the raw material area will reach about 2,500 ha. This is the largest area in the last four years, but only equals 1/4 compared to the golden age.

The reason why the raw sugarcane area in Tuyen Quang has seriously declined is that in previous years, white sugar was unsold with a large inventory, and bank debt increased. People lacked money; sugarcane purchasing prices were low and not timely, so many farmer households turned their backs on sugarcane. Many areas previously used to plant sugarcane were converted to growing vegetables and forests. Many communes considered the core area of the raw sugarcane area, such as Tam Da, Hao Phu, Tan Thanh, etc., of Son Duong district, with an area of several hundred to thousands of hectares, currently have only a few dozen hectares left.

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In the 2023–2024 crushing crop, the Company's total raw sugarcane output is estimated at about 100,000 tons, an increase of about 24,000 tons compared to last year's crushing crop. The reason for the increase in output is that the area has increased by 200 ha compared to the previous crushing crop. Along with that, because sugarcane has good prices and farmers have paid attention to investing in care, productivity has also increased, reaching more than 60 tons/ha.

Although the raw material area has had many improvements, Son Duong Sugar Joint Stock Company is still facing many difficulties in sugar production because a raw material area of 1,800 ha only ensures production activities for one factory. The remaining factory must temporarily stop operating.

Mr. Truong Huy Canh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hao Phu commune (Son Duong district), said that in previous years, sugarcane was considered a staple crop in the locality. However, in the years 2019–2020, sugarcane prices dropped and economic efficiency was not high, so people abandoned sugarcane, and the discarded sugarcane area increased highly.

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This year, when sugarcane prices increased highly, Son Duong Sugar Joint Stock Company also implemented many preferential policies to encourage sugarcane growers. This will be the driving force that helps restore the raw sugarcane area. In 2024, Son Duong district assigned a target of 15 ha of newly planted raw sugarcane area for Hao Phu commune. Up to now, the commune has planted 25 ha, exceeding the set plan.

The goal is that by 2025, the raw sugarcane area of Son Duong Sugarcane Joint Stock Company will reach more than 3,000 ha. To achieve this goal, the biggest difficulty is the small rural labor source in localities because most people of working age work as workers in industrial zones. As for the agricultural land area, instead of using it to grow sugarcane, people choose to plant forests to reduce care costs.

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Along with that, the Company is also facing difficulties in capital resources and bad debt at banks that is still relatively large, at about VND 200 billion. Although sugarcane prices have increased, the Company’s raw material area still reaches less than 2,000 ha, and the output only reaches about 6,000–7,000 tons of white sugar per year. This output, after balancing costs, will not be enough to solve the problem of outstanding debt at banks.

If the raw material area produces an output of 20,000–30,000 tons of white sugar per year, then with a sugar price of VND 21,000/kg, the Company will be profitable and hope to resolve all outstanding bank debts.

Reviving the raw sugarcane area

To revive the sugarcane raw material area, in the past 3 years, Son Duong Sugar Joint Stock Company has adjusted a series of policies beneficial to people to regain the trust of sugarcane growers.

The purchasing price of raw sugarcane is adjusted by the Company to increase each year. Especially in the 2023–2024 crop year, the Company has deployed the purchase of raw sugarcane at a price of VND 1.3 million/ton, an increase of VND 0.27 million/ton compared to the purchasing price of the previous crushing crop.

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In addition to increasing sugarcane purchasing prices, Son Duong Sugar Joint Stock Company also adjusted a series of support and preferential policies to encourage the expansion of the raw sugarcane area, such as: purchasing sugarcane tops at the price of VND 1.43 million/ton; investment support of VND 45 million/ha for newly planted raw sugarcane areas; and VND 25 million/ha for root-regenerated sugarcane areas.

However, in addition to the difficulty in regaining the trust of farmers, the competition in terms of economic efficiency per unit area of many crops with sugarcane is also a big challenge for the Tuyen Quang sugarcane industry.

In parallel with policy adjustments, the application of science and technology to improve productivity and quality of sugarcane seeds is also paid attention to by the Tuyen Quang sugarcane industry.

Mr. Nguy Nhu Tien Dung, Deputy General Director of Son Duong Sugar Joint Stock Company, said that currently, more than 1,800 ha of root-regenerated and replanted sugarcane area are being planted by the Company with new varieties such as KK3, LK92, and QĐ 92159 to increase productivity and ensure high sugar levels.

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In addition, the Company also applies many scientific and technical advances to sugarcane production, such as coordinating with units to use drones to spray pesticides on sugarcane plants; supporting soil-tilling machines, plows, and harrows for farmers.

Especially during the harvest season, the use of sugarcane loaders has basically solved the problem of labor shortages in rural areas. If previously a 15-ton sugarcane truck took 6 people to load within 2 hours to fill, then using a sugarcane loader only takes 1 person to work within 1 hour, not only reducing the time but also decreasing the loading cost by about VND 600,000/vehicle.

The Tuyen Quang sugarcane industry also maintains the model of large sugarcane fields in Binh Xa, Thanh Long communes (Ham Yen district), and Phu Luong commune (Son Duong district).

According to Mr. Nguy Nhu Tien Dung, after 3 years of efforts to revive the raw material area with a series of adjusted policies, the economic efficiency per hectare of sugarcane has gradually increased. Currently, with the first crop sugarcane area yielding 70 tons/ha, after deducting the costs of investing in seeds, fertilizer, labor, etc., people earn a profit of about VND 30 million/ha, and profits for the following crops are about VND 60 million/ha.

It is expected that by March 30, Son Duong Sugar Joint Stock Company will end the 2023–2024 crushing crop. In parallel with processing, the Company also develops newly planted areas.

The Company's newly planted raw sugarcane area in the 2024–2025 crushing crop was assigned an increase of 420 ha by Tuyen Quang province. Currently, the Company has signed commitment contracts with households to newly plant 630 ha and can reach an area of 800 ha. This growth figure shows that the raw sugarcane area is gradually being restored, and Tuyen Quang people's trust in sugarcane is gradually increasing.