Proactively convert crops to bring high economic value

(GLO)- In recent years, unstable agricultural prices and the harsh impacts of climate change have made people's lives difficult. Faced with this reality, many businesses and farmers in the Tay Gia Lai region have boldly switched to suitable crops with high economic value.

Bold change

Gia Lai is one of the provinces with the advantage of fertile agricultural land and a climate suitable for many different types of crops. In particular, the western region of the province focuses on producing long-term industrial crops with high economic value such as: coffee, rubber, pepper, passion fruit, fruit trees, sugarcane, vegetables, etc.

Faced with unstable agricultural prices and increasingly severe climate change, many businesses and farmers have proactively converted ineffective crop areas to crops suitable for domestic consumption and export markets to bring the highest value.

Farmers in Ia Phi commune convert old coffee areas to grow melons, bringing high economic efficiency. Photo: ND

About 3 years ago, due to low coffee prices, many farmers in Ia Phi commune proactively demolished old, low-yield coffee gardens and switched to investing in building greenhouses and drip irrigation systems to grow melons.

In 2023, Mr. Hoang Van Vinh (Ia Sik village, Ia Phi commune) decided to destroy more than 1 sao of coffee to switch to growing melons in greenhouses. After nearly 3 years of sticking with the new crop, he not only recouped his investment of more than 200 million VND, but also had a good source of income.

Accordingly, every 65-70 days, Mr. Vinh will harvest a batch of melons. The selling price ranges from 20,000-30,000 VND/kg depending on the harvest time. “Mellow melons are short-term crops, so the care is easier than other crops. Each year, melons are harvested up to 4 times; the consumption market is stable, no need to worry about prices. Each year, after deducting investment costs, I earn about 200 million VND in profit,” said Mr. Vinh.

Similarly, after many years of researching market demand for exported bananas, in 2020, Hung Son High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company (An Phu ward) boldly invested in converting ineffective rubber areas to grow South American bananas for export in Kon Gang and Ia Bang communes.

From the initial 200 hectares, the Company has now expanded to more than 400 hectares of banana plantations for export to many countries around the world . The economic efficiency is many times higher than before.

South American banana processing area for export of Hung Son High-Tech Agriculture Joint Stock Company. Photo: ND

Mr. Nguyen Quang Anh - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company - said: The western region of Gia Lai has fertile land, contiguous plots, and the climate is favorable for banana trees to grow.

After many years of converting ineffective rubber plantations to South American banana plantations in Kon Gang and Ia Bang communes according to GlobalGAP standards, which are strictly controlled from seed selection, planting, care, harvesting, etc., the Company's banana products have been present in many countries such as China, Korea, Japan, Russia, Australia and the Middle East. Currently, the average revenue reaches 800 million VND/ha/year, higher than many other crops.

Increase value per unit area

According to the provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection (Department of Agriculture and Environment), since the beginning of the year, the whole province has converted about 13,108 hectares of ineffective crops to crops with higher economic value such as: sweet potatoes, vegetables, beans of all kinds, corn, peanuts, sesame, tobacco, forage grass and fruit trees.

The converted area is mainly from rice land that is often drought-prone; cassava, sugarcane, cashew, pepper, coffee, rubber, etc., which are ineffective, contributing to increasing land use value and farmers' income.

Many conversion models have brought about clear results such as: South American bananas on rubber land, ineffective cashews (profit of 450-500 million VND/ha) and Japanese sweet potatoes on rice land (profit of 140-145 million VND/ha/crop)...

Many ethnic minority households in Ktu village (Kon Gang commune) have "changed their lives" thanks to intercropping durian in coffee gardens, helping to increase the economic value of a plot of land. Photo: ND

Mr. Nguyen Kim Anh - Head of the Economic Department of Kon Gang Commune - said: In recent years, taking advantage of land advantages, many farmers and businesses in the commune have proactively converted ineffective and low-yield crop areas to grow crops with high economic value such as South American bananas, Japanese sweet potatoes, etc., bringing good results.

In particular, after the merger, the commune has many models of crop structure conversion that bring high economic value such as: planting durian intercropped with coffee gardens or macadamia intercropped with coffee in some ethnic minority villages, bringing in annual income of 1-3 billion VND/ha.

Applying scientific and technical advances in caring for Japanese sweet potatoes on replanted rubber land in Ia Phi commune. Photo: ND

“In addition to crop conversion, the Commune People’s Committee is currently orienting farmers to focus on producing key crops according to export standards such as: GlobalGAP, Organic, UTZ coffee… to increase product value. Along with that, focusing on preliminary processing and processing of key agricultural products, aiming for clean agriculture.

In addition, for rubber areas in the replanting stage, short-term crops such as peanuts, passion fruit, Japanese sweet potatoes, etc. should be intercropped with, following the principle of short-term growth to support long-term growth to improve economic efficiency per unit area" - Head of the Economic Department of Kon Gang commune added.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/chu-dong-chuyen-doi-cay-trong-mang-lai-gia-tri-kinh-te-cao-post570737.html