Healthy soil, healthy people thanks to organic

After almost 4 years of organic farming, Ms. Do Thi Thanh’s family’s garden in Yen So Village, Phuc Ninh Township (Yen Son District, Tuyen Quang) now has more earthworms than before.Gold helps kill insects…

Ms. Thanh shared that this is the result of the process of cleaning up the country from the model of growing fruit trees towards organic farming. Since Organic Farming Day, she found that the land in her family’s nearly 1.5-acre orange and grapefruit garden was “healthier.” The soil was healthier and more fertile, she explained, because it was more porous and the worms appeared more often.

To achieve the results of making the soil as healthy as it is today, Ms. Thanh spent almost 4 years composting manure to fertilize plants instead of chemical fertilizers; work hard to create natural preparations to kill pests and diseases instead of using pesticides; Each month she hires someone to mow the grass, then the stem of the weeds with which she covers the stump to supplement the source of organic fertilizer under the tree…

It was hard work, but when the pomelo orchard yielded 4,000 fruits a year and the orange orchard 2 tons of fruit a year, she didn’t make much profit. Because her family’s oranges and grapefruit aren’t yet recognized as organic, they’re only being transitioned to organic.

However, Ms. Thanh is somewhat reassured that the selling price of orange and grapefruit products in her garden is still higher than the market price and easier to consume. Like last season, when the market was struggling due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, her family’s pomelos were still being bought by some reputable supermarkets for 15,000 VND/fruit, compared to 5,000-8,000 VND/fruit taller are commonly grown grapefruits; The selling price of oranges is VND 15,000/kg, while ordinary orange orchards reach only VND 7,000/kg.

Ms. Thanh is not only enthusiastic about organic farming, but also is the leader of organic agricultural production team in Phuc Ninh Municipality. The group has 12 members with a total area of ​​about 30 hectares of fruit trees. The households in the group are aware that although they have practiced organic farming in a few years, they have broken even or even lost, but they have all volunteered to participate.

Because the greatest gain is to protect the health of the soil, protect the living environment around the orchard. The next thing is that they first laid the foundation for the development of Tuyen’s agriculture, because everyone is afraid of losses and no one dares to go in the organic direction, agriculture will still rely on fertilizers and chemistry.

The nearly 700 original Dien grapefruit garden of Mr. Vuong Ngoc Mung’s family in Do Hamlet, Thai Son Township, Ham Yen (Tuyen Quang) District is organically grown. Mr. Mung said organic farming will be more difficult in the early years because the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides must be stopped suddenly, causing crops to be sterile, slow-growing and have lower yields. But this is also the phase to restore the soil so that the soil becomes healthy, the environment heals itself, the natural enemies also seem to support the garden owner to kill insects and earthworms to make the soil porous.

In 2021, despite the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the price of pomelos fell to a low level, but Mr. Mung’s family’s garden still sold VND 20,000/fruit, double the market price. The total revenue from his pomelo garden reached nearly VND 900 million, compared to nearly VND 300 million in 2020, but he still enjoys healthy people, healthy soil and ever-fresh environment.

At present, the organic agricultural production in Tuyen Quang has first formed a number of models and continues to spread, but is still fragmented. In addition, the trade connection as a mountainous province is not favorable, which poses many difficulties for the path of organic farming of the pioneers.

The hardest part is consuming organic products

So far, the total area of ​​organic agricultural production in Tuyen Quang Province is 114.4 hectares, of which the organic certified area is 6.2 hectares of rice, 27.5 hectares of tea and 18.3 hectares of organic oranges and 10.2 hectares of organic cultivation includes grapefruit. The converted organic production area is 52.3 ha, of which 35.7 ha are grapefruits and 16.6 ha are oranges.

Tuyen Quang Province noted that the products that make up the brand, as well as the value of Tuyen’s agricultural products, are agricultural products that are certified according to Organic Farming Standards, VietGAP…

Tran Hai Tuyen, head of the Subdivision of Plantation and Crop Protection in Tuyen Quang Province, said organic agricultural production helps models create higher biodiversity by breeding more bees, birds and insects. useful…helps improve water and soil quality. Products from Tuyen Quang’s organic farming, such as oranges, tea, grapefruit, rice, etc., are initially welcomed by the market and valued higher both qualitatively and economically.

In order to promote the development of organic agriculture, Tuyen Quang Province submitted the list of projects to support the development of organic agriculture in the province in 2021-2025, including 83 projects, for approval.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, has recommended that the provincial people’s committee arrange funding for the implementation of the organic farming project in 2022, with a total budget of more than VND 32.4 billion. coordinate with the Department of Science and Technology to advise and implement scientific research activities, application and transfer of technical advances in organic agriculture for organic agricultural production; organized the implementation of 4 provincial science projects and issues related to organic agricultural production with a total cost of over VND 4.5 billion.

The Su Anh Tea Cooperative in My Lam District (Tuyen Quang City) is converting 2 ha of pilot tea to organic farming. Production in organic direction, the cooperative uses only microbial fertilizers, organic products and say no to chemicals to make the soil healthy and sustainable.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Su, director of Su Anh Tea Cooperative, said that the most difficult thing about producing organic tea is market access. Since the selling price of organic tea is quite high, it is suitable for people with high incomes. Therefore, the cooperative will undertake a gradual transformation and conduct market research. Benefits for organic farmers are the Tuyen Quang Agriculture and Rural Development Sector’s accompanying programs on advisory and technical guidance, orientation towards market connection, standards and standardization of products…

So far, Tuyen Quang Province has issued 9 organic agricultural product certificates (according to TCVN/PGS/foreign standards) for orange, tea, grapefruit and rice products. Of particular note is the organic tea product from the Son Tra Tea Cooperative (Hong Thai Municipality, Na Hang District) with a large raw material area of ​​up to 21 ha, which is recognized as an organic standard.

The whole province of Tuyen Quang, which is aiming for 2025, has 56 regions covering 1,200 hectares that produce organic agriculture, accounting for over 1% of the total area of ​​main crops; By 2030, there will be 65 regions covering 2,000 hectares, accounting for over 1.5% of the total area of ​​main crops.