Organic circular economy with rice – fish – duck model

All the more enthusiastic when it comes to young farmers, most of them are from the 8X, 9X generation and have initially achieved success on the path they have taken. They are qualified and have a passion for clean and modern agriculture. They quit their corporate jobs to return home and start farming businesses. These positive factors help Dong Thap agriculture to regain vitality.

For example, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan (33 years old) from Phu Thanh A Township, Tam Nong District, Dong Thap Province has a master’s degree in crop protection. Mr Tuan has worked for many pesticide companies in Mekong Delta and HCMC for many years, but out of love for his homeland, he returned to his hometown to join forces with 8 other farmers in the community with a production area of ​​20ha… Model of Rice – Fish – Duck in which Mr. Tuan’s family has been involved on more than 7 ha.

Currently, Mr. Tuan is the one who directly takes care of the fields of the model, which has been bringing good results for more than a year, helping to increase the profit by 20-30% compared to traditional rice cultivation.

Mr. Tuan said that in the last winter-spring rice harvest, thanks to the application of the rice-fish-duck model, he reduced the cost of rice production by about 30% compared to the traditional method. Thanks to the understanding of the important times of the rice, he took the initiative in pest control. In addition, the use of cluster seeders helps to reduce the seed rate from 140 – 160 kg/ha to 60 – 70 kg/ha and follow the biological direction. In the field, he combines duck and fish stocks, which both saves labor and kills pests, increasing income.

The rice production model according to the rice-fish-duck model in the last winter-spring harvest of 8 households in Phu Thanh A commune has a yield of 6.5-7 tons/ha and was obtained by Import-Export Joint Stock Company Approved foods are characterized by the fact that all products are purchased at a price several hundred Dong/kg or more above the market price. Besides, the households also have an additional income from raising ducks and fish amounting to tens of million dongs/ha/crop.

At present, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan is also the founder of No.10 Cooperative Group, which specializes in the production of Rice Fish Duck Models, growing only 2 crops of rice per year to supply organic rice company orders.

According to Mr. Tuan, in the near future he and the farmers of the 10th cooperative group will expand the acreage for many people in the community to participate in the model and move towards building a cyclical organic model. In addition to the income from rice, ducks and fish, the cooperative group will use post-harvest rice straw to plant straw mushrooms and use the straw after loading the mushrooms to make organic fertilizer for plants.

Leaving the lecture hall to bring the durian tree back into the acidic soil

A farmer in Tram Chim town, Tam Nong (Dong Thap) district, who brought the soil for analysis, was successful with a model of growing durian on land long used for rice. This is Nguyen Thanh Tam (38 years old), an engineer specializing in aquatic pathology who used to teach at Can Tho University.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tam said it took him two years to improve the soil before planting durian in the acidic rice soil. In April 2018, Mr. Tam started planting the first durian trees covering an area of ​​1.2 ha (215 durian roots of Ri 6 and Monthong varieties). Currently, Mr. Tam’s durian garden is organically grown and is in harvest season with a production of 12 tons of fruit, bringing in hundreds of millions of dongs in revenue.

Regarding the decision to plant a specialty crop, which is still quite foreign to Tam Nong’s land, Mr. Tam said it was not reckless but entirely reasonable. Thanks to his acquaintance with the teachers of Can Tho University, he brought for analysis the land of his home garden where durian was grown. The results show that this is a very suitable land for growing fruit trees, if it is only rice cultivation, it is too wasteful. In addition, the information he received on planting techniques and the economic value of durian trees in the land of Ngu Hiep (Tien Giang) inspired him to grow durian in his hometown of Tam Nong.

After two seasons of fruiting, many people appreciate the quality of the durian he grows thanks to its sweet, dry and smooth segments, according to Mr. Tam. He was all the more excited when he was on the right track.

There are over 100 hectares of durian in Tam Nong (Dong Thap) district. To share techniques and learn from each other’s durian growing experiences, Mr. Tam and 21 other farmers joined the Durian Career Team in Tram Chim City, led by Mr. Tam. The trading group operates on a monthly basis and is set to develop into a durian association.

Farmer Nguyen Thanh Tam not only grows durian but also has a plan to plant Do Bau on Tam Nong’s alkaline soil for agarwood with a desire to take advantage of this land’s resource advantages to help farmers in the home of the world to get rich.

About the turning point in choosing a career from lecturer to farmer, working with fields and gardens day and night, Mr. Tam said that farming is his passion and knowledge from the lecture hall is his more confidence. Experienced and knowledgeable farmers will grasp the risks of natural disasters, epidemics and markets and respond well to them, especially they will discover new things to take farming to new heights.

New inner power of pink lotus earth

According to Mr. Tran Thanh Nam, Chairman of Tam Nong District People’s Committee, Tam Nong is the cradle of organic agricultural production in Dong Thap Province. Especially in recent years, young intellectuals engaged in agriculture have been increasing in the area. Not only do they choose farming to pursue a career, but also to help their relatives become rich and tap the local agricultural potential. This young force is a new, strong and vibrant inner force that promises generations of professional farmers for the land of the pink lotus.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Le Minh Hoan, has repeatedly stated: The current agricultural profession can no longer follow the harmonious laws of nature, “look at the sky, look at the earth, look at the clouds”, because agriculture Many challenges are faced by climate change, extreme weather such as the greenhouse effect, depletion of water resources…

In order to improve the position of farmers in society, farmers need to get out of the thought pattern that only “work hard to compensate for intelligence” and instead develop, assert themselves and actively integrate into the community with confidence. In addition, the whole system must have many programs to support and train farmers in the new period. thinking “every district is a fortress”; “All the house lights are on, all the fields are working” must be radically changed, because only if they unite will the farmers no longer find themselves in a weak position.

“All changes are difficult at the beginning. But we often think too much about the cost of change and less about the cost of not changing. The inevitable trend is going from the traditional production model to green and ecological production without harming the environment…” stressed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Le Minh Hoan.