Make the fields greener

BAC GIANG - Currently, many organizations and individuals have rented and borrowed fields to concentrate land for agricultural production. This form brings many benefits but needs to be organized systematically and tightly to limit risks for all parties.

Greening fallow fields

Due to the shift in labor structure and lack of human resources, some families in Lien Son village, Tan Dinh commune (Lang Giang) are not interested in farming. They rent, borrow or leave their fields fallow. One of the people who has contributed to turning barren fields into fertile land in this area is Ha Minh Nam (born in 1995), from Xuan Huong commune (Lang Giang). In 2017, Nam graduated from the National Economics University. When working, he went to many places and saw that the land had not yet fully exploited its value, many fields were left uncultivated and overgrown with weeds, which was a waste.

Mr. Ha Minh Nam harvests baby melons.

In 2020, he decided to return to his hometown to implement the idea of ​​clean agriculture . On a scale of more than 6 hectares rented and borrowed from local people, he planned and improved the land, implementing the motto "one production area, one crop variety" to help manage and prevent pests effectively, and apply convenient mechanical means. While producing, Mr. Nam proactively connected with businesses and cooperatives to receive support in terms of plants, seeds, and finding outlets for products.

Up to now, all vegetables, tubers and fruits have been contracted for consumption by GOC Food Processing Export Joint Stock Company (Lang Giang) and a number of supermarkets in and outside the province; fresh flowers are sold to wholesale market traders in Hanoi . With this method, each year Mr. Nam earns a revenue of more than 1 billion VND, after deducting expenses, he earns a profit of 200-300 million VND, this amount continues to be invested in rotation. "This season, I planted 20,000 single flower plants. Thanks to proper care, the plants grow well, and are expected to be sold in 20 days," said Mr. Nam.

After renting or borrowing fields, most owners organize effective farming methods, forming high-tech agricultural models that create highlights in local economic development.

Sharing the same idea as Mr. Ha Minh Nam, Ms. Nghiem Thi Huong, Director of Toan Thang Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative (Bac Giang city) rented 2,600 m2 of rice fields and greenhouses from people in Ca village, My Thai commune (Lang Giang) to produce high-tech agriculture with the main crops being: melons, baby melons, squash buds and seasonal vegetables, tubers and fruits. In addition to the above area, she also cooperated with a number of engineers to rent wild ponds to grow lotus combined with developing experiential tourism with shopping for typical agricultural products of her hometown Bac Giang.

In the province, there are currently many models of renting and borrowing fields for cultivation with scales ranging from nearly one acre to tens of hectares. With the goal of sustainable agricultural production, after renting land, some organizations and individuals have invested money to build greenhouse frames, net houses, install automatic irrigation systems, temperature control equipment, apply VietGAP processes... bringing in billions of VND in revenue per year.

Strengthening links

Bac Giang is promoting agricultural production and applying high technology. In order to attract organizations and individuals to invest in this field, the province has recently issued many support mechanisms. Most recently, Resolution No. 26 dated July 14, 2023 of the Provincial People's Council promulgating regulations on policies to support the development of agriculture, forestry and fisheries in Bac Giang province, period 2023-2030.

Ms. Nghiem Thi Huong, Director of Toan Thang Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative, shares her experience in caring for melons.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Environment, in 2024, the provincial budget spent nearly 50 billion VND to support businesses, cooperatives, cooperative groups, and individuals, including spending on land consolidation, leasing production sites, and supporting the purchase of machinery and equipment for production. For example, in Hiep Hoa district, from the provincial budget and the district's budget, the locality supported farmers to concentrate land on over 33 hectares; supported the cost of purchasing 32 plows, 1 preliminary processing and preservation system; 51 hectares of concentrated agricultural production.

The Dai Dong 2 Agricultural Service Cooperative, Danh Thang Commune (Hiep Hoa) received more than 1.1 billion VND from the State. The cooperative mobilized members to concentrate small land into large fields with a scale of 13 hectares for commercial potato production. Concentrated production has many advantages such as applying mechanization in care and harvesting, reducing labor costs. "With an average selling price of 9,000 VND/kg, after deducting costs, last winter crop we made a profit of 320 million VND", Mr. Luong Van Kiem, representative of the cooperative shared.

Although it brings high economic efficiency, through research in localities, there are still fragmented, small-scale fields, even abandoned by people without use. Some people do not cultivate but still want to keep the land. This affects the goal of land concentration of enterprises, cooperatives, and cooperative groups, making it difficult to meet the criteria of minimum land lease period of 5 years, minimum area of ​​2 hectares for the districts: Son Dong, Luc Ngan, Luc Nam, Yen The and minimum 5 hectares for the remaining areas.

According to Mr. Le Ba Thanh, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the province is focusing on developing commodity agricultural production, so it is necessary to concentrate land and expand production scale from a few hectares to several dozen hectares. Therefore, in the context of economic restructuring, shortage of agricultural labor and having other more stable sources of income, when people do not need to use land, they should lease or borrow land, which not only brings economic value to the family but also improves the land, avoiding waste and infertile land. However, in the lease or loan contract, it is necessary to ensure clear legality between the owner and the lessee. Priority is given to implementing advanced investment projects and models, ensuring sustainability, environmental friendliness, and creating jobs for local workers.

Enterprises, cooperatives and individuals need to carefully select production models that are suitable for the local socio-economic development planning or plan; invest in building facilities for effective farming. Increase the connection between models from production to consumption to share experiences and profits. On the part of the agricultural sector and localities, continue to direct specialized departments to speed up the appraisal of project documents. Feasible projects that meet requirements will quickly disburse support capital to help enterprises, cooperatives, cooperatives and production households have more resources to develop production.

Article and photos: Hai Van

Source: https://baobacgiang.vn/cho-dong-ruong-them-xanh-postid420125.bbg