Synchronous application of new technologies, double productivity

VietGAP’s longan growing area in Dat Do District (Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province) is currently at the beginning of the harvest season. The growers focus on picking longan to ship and pack to purchasing and distribution operations in the domestic market. Export. Trucks loaded with crates of freshly picked fruit whiz from the longan orchards to the packing plants on the new coastal road.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien, Group 21, My Hoa Hamlet, Long My Township (Dat Do District), led us to the yellow rice longan garden where fruits are harvested and excitedly confided in us, “The longan garden of mine Family applies the procedure. VietGAP is organic.” supported by the Southern Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology (IAS). The whole garden now uses only organic fertilizers and biological medicines to ensure food safety, longan sweet quality, thick rice and large and beautiful fruits, so it can be sold at a high price. This morning I just collected about two hundredweight of fruit, traders came into the garden to buy at high prices.

According to Mr. Kien, the longan growers in the Long My community have never had so much joy in harvesting longan as this year. Because farmers adopt the process and grow organically, longan achieves excellent productivity and quality, and is sold at a high price. There are gardens with a full harvest and selling the entire garden at a price of 35,000-40,000 VND/kg. At this price, longan farmers earn between 170 and 240 million VND/ha after costs are deducted.

In the past, Mr. Kien’s family managed the longan garden mainly from experience, often using fertilizers and chemical medicines to allow pests and diseases to thrive. The garden yielded poor productivity and crops and was sold at low prices. In some years, due to the rainy season, even a ton of fruit was thrown away, the longan failed and the traders didn’t buy it.

Currently, Mr. Kien has applied the new technical procedure according to VietGAP on an area of ​​almost 1 ha of yellow rice longan (about 200 trees). It is estimated that over 5 tons of fruit will be harvested this season. It is calculated that every hectare of longan yields a profit equal to 5 hectares of local rice.

Kien’s family’s longan garden is now 8 years old, each tree gives very large figs, uniformly large, yellow skin, smooth, smooth, has a light aroma, sweet taste, is not sour, and does not taste sweet. Tea. According to Mr. Kien’s assessment, when properly applied according to the Southern Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology technical procedure, it saves fertilizer costs, improves garden soil, limits garden pests, and longan ensures good quality. High yields, higher yields and especially an early harvest are sold at a higher price.

Mr. Nguyen Van Tu, director of Long My Commune Longan Longan Cooperative, also noted that due to the application of new technical processes, longan trees have high productivity and high quality, and respond well to customer needs, and are also stable.

“So far, all members of our cooperative have mastered organic farming. Since then, people have organized to connect and support each other in the spirit of the “Three Commonalities,” including working together, buying together, and selling together. “Merchants go to the garden to shop at high prices because of the longan’s good quality, uniformity and beautiful designs, and people are very enthusiastic,” Tu shared.

According to Mr. Tu, his family’s longan garden has now acquired half of the area. With 5 Sao Yellow VietGAP Rice Longan, it is expected to receive 3 tons of fruit in this harvest, the yield will double compared to the years without applying the new technical process. After deducting all expenses, he still has a profit of about 80 million dong.

Double the area and produce organically, organically

Master Chu Trung Kien (Southern Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology), Project Manager of VietGAP Longan Organic Production Model in Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province, said: “Before the project was implemented, local longan farmers mainly rely on experience, In traditional farming, households often use a lot of chemical fertilizers. Research has shown that the amount of pesticide residues in the product is still quite high.

According to Master Kien, there are currently almost 100 hectares of longan in Dat Do district, the production is about 800 tons/year (harvested from June to August every year). After the implementation of the project, most of the longan farmers in the region switched to using processed organic fertilizers and were willing to invest in high-quality imported organic fertilizers as a replacement. Instead of crap, this brought a significant improvement.

In terms of pests and diseases in particular, fruit rot is one of the most common diseases of longan trees, but until now it has been possible to combat it thanks to the application of biological products, from controlling sources of disease in the garden to the use of biological medicines, which has helped Significantly reduce the damage rate from fruit rot and yellow flies (only about 10% compared to 20-30% before).

The project has also helped improve the quality of longan fruit while reducing residues of pesticides, leaving no residue in the fruit. “In fact, in the past, people’s yellow rice longan area was often very badly affected by yellowflies, so we advise them on the management solution and apply the right effective prevention process, thus helping to reduce the harm.” , said Master Kien.

Mr Nguyen Thanh Son, Party Committee Secretary and Chairman of Long My Township People’s Committee said: Thanks to the Southern Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology for helping to change people’s production practices and the use of organic products, Longan has been able to produce high-quality products. better quality and quantity, which has doubled the acreage of this crop locally.

In addition to local propaganda and advocacy, farmers have notably switched to more advanced production and applied science and technology, initially forming a production association, which has now evolved into cooperative communities to produce, buy, sell and consume products together.

According to Mr. Son, the site will continue to coordinate with the technical staff of the Southern Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology to help people organize training courses and transfer advanced production technologies. “The longan rice cultivation model towards VietGAP opens a new direction in promoting the economic potential of the garden and helping local people to develop a stable and sustainable economy,” said Mr. Son.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, the yellow rice longan tree is cultivated in many districts of Dat Do, Xuyen Moc, Tan Thanh and Vung Tau cities. The sandy soils in the province are rich in potassium and a number of other microelements, the weather is favorable, so the local canoe longan has a very characteristic yellow color, thick rice and strong sweetness, superior to other countries. At present, the province’s golden rice boat label is sold in many supermarkets and is popular with tourists, which helps farmers get stable income and grow rich.