wanting to be organic, “going far together”

Like many other places in Binh Phuoc, Bu Gia Map district has advantages in terms of land and climate. Binh Phuoc Organic Farming Cooperative in Dak O Municipality has decided to develop organic pepper to start production and business activities.

Under the motto “going far together”, thanks to the close cooperation and connection with Nedspice Vietnam Co., Ltd (Nedspice Company), with almost 100 members, of which 29 members with a total of almost 60 ha of peppers, all are certified organic. The remaining members with an area of hundreds of hectares are also cultivated to produce organically and sustainably (RA).

When the cooperative was founded, the price of pepper on the market was low, accompanied by diseases that appeared on a large scale, causing growers to “sit on fire” and stand empty-handed. Many farmers heard that pepper was discouraged, but the board of the cooperative felt it was necessary to find a solution and grow organic pepper together.

Mr. Mai Hien Huy, Chairman and Director of Binh Phuoc Organic Farming Cooperative shared that the cooperative learned about the technical process of organic pepper cultivation based on pepper farmers’ experience and conducted training for farmers. cooperative members. The most important thing for farmers when growing organic pepper is to follow the process and monitor each other closely. So far, farmers growing organic peppers have achieved a yield of over 4 tons/ha.

According to Mr Huy, in the past farmers often thought that it was good to use a lot of fertilizers and pesticides, but in fact this caused an excess, the plants did not absorb everything and formed soil glue, which had a negative impact on the environment and health.

“We found out that there are households that apply up to 10 kg of fertilizer of all kinds to each pepper tree every year, but the yield is not high, even the garden is dead. My family grows organic pepper when each pepper tree is 6 – 8kg of seed is applied only 2kg of microbial organic fertilizer but increasing the amount of antagonistic fungi to break down indigestible matter certifies the output,” said Mr. Huy.

Mr Huy said the cooperative is now fully converted to using organic fertilizers and biological pesticides. Before use, the cooperative thoroughly inspects the products and materials and then has them brought into cultivation to ensure that all gardens meet the requirements of organic farming and that all farmers comply with the production process.

“We assess organic certification for the cooperative as a whole, not for each household, so if people test more than 800 banned substances, if a farmer discovers any chemicals during the test, they will be immediately disqualified. At that time, the entire cooperative suffered the same damage,” emphasized Mr. Huy.

Mr. Nguyen Van Luan is one of the Cooperative’s first farmers to get involved in the cultivation of organic pepper and is currently Vice Chairman of the Cooperative’s Board of Directors, adding that his family currently owns 4.5 hectares of certified organic pepper as a year.

According to Mr. Luan, at the beginning of the transition to self-sufficiency, people faced many difficulties, expenses rose and fell, investment problems were also high. However, after some time, the soil gradually recovered, the nutrients in the soil were gradually increased, the pepper plants grew and developed healthily, with good disease resistance and stable yields.

“In the past, when production was spontaneous and fragmented, with the abuse of fertilizers and chemical drugs, the pepper yield was very erratic, with favorable weather the yield was high, otherwise the opposite. But in organic farming, the yield is very stable, initially it reaches about 2.5 tons/ha, later the land recovers and gives a yield of up to 4-4.5 tons/ha,” Mr. Luan Chalk begins to speak .

According to Mr. Luan, in addition to their own experience, in order to achieve the above results, he and his members were also “hands-on” guided by the cooperative and the Nedspice Company from cultivar selection to technical processes. People took it a bit surprised at first, but after understanding all the techniques, they found it very easy, the price and profit from organic pepper production was much higher than dependent production. in feces, chemical drugs as before.

“If I join a co-op I have the right to sell on commission, the company can pay me 70% of the product’s value up front to have money to build a garden, I’m happy to close the price whenever I want, very sure. Besides, pepper is very productive in this direction, and the income is still much higher than that of other crops,” Luan said excitedly.

Being organic is hard, maintaining prestige is even harder

Although newly established and operating for more than 2 years, Binh Phuoc Organic Agriculture Cooperative has achieved success in production and business at first. In 2022, the cooperative sold more than 100 tons of organic pepper at high prices, earning tens of billions of dongs.

“This year’s production will be about 30% higher than last year due to organic farming, although the yield will decrease at the initial stage, but after the garden has stabilized, the production will gradually increase every year. We expect this crop to reach 150-160 tons of organic pepper, RA standard pepper currently purchased by Nedspice Company at a price of VND 58,000-59,000/kg.

Our organic pepper will achieve an added value of 17,000-20,000 VND/kg this year, which is a benefit that members enjoy directly when they join the cooperative,” said Dinh Van Truong, deputy director of the cooperative.

Mr. Truong added that after two years of support from the Nedspice Company for organic certification, the cooperative is currently preparing its own organic certification assessment documents. The aim of the cooperative, after the recognition of the organic certification, is to find more partners to increase their competitiveness while researching the deep processing of products to improve the value chain and farmers’ income.

“Actually, when we produce organic pepper, we primarily think about the health of the producer. The latter is in line with market trends, because consumers must be able to use products that are not harmful to their health.

Another benefit is the price difference between conventional and organic produce, which improves farmers’ income. Producing organic products is difficult, retaining customers is more difficult, and maintaining reputation is more difficult. Therefore, we will work closely with the members of the cooperative and perform well in development management,” Truong said.

Mr. Tran Van Phuong, deputy director of the Binh Phuoc Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that linking to the production of pepper according to international standards is a trend of pepper-growing households. Since no chemical fertilizers and medicines are used, the production cost of pepper has been reduced significantly, the resale price is much higher than traditional products.

Largely through the production process, farmers said organic farming has helped protect their health by no longer having to come into contact with and use chemicals. At the same time, thanks to the use of organic production processes, the environment is also cleaner…

“The Binh Phuoc Organic Agriculture Cooperative is a very necessary production model that needs to be replicated in the province. In order to develop pepper sustainably, achieve productivity and high quality, and meet the strict demands of the market in the integration phase, the local agribusiness encourages farmers to pay attention and replicate the production model. develop sustainable pepper material areas, do not follow the movement, meet the needs of association with processing enterprises, product consumption…” recommended Mr. Tran Van Phuong.