Together with farmers to change farming habits

Cu M'gar district has many advantages in terms of land and climate resources, but to get rich from agriculture, farmers need to change their farming habits and produce responsibly to improve efficiency and develop sustainable agriculture.

With a total natural area of ​​82,450 hectares, of which agricultural land is over 73,400 hectares, Cu M'gar district possesses soil advantages to develop industrial crops such as coffee, pepper, rubber and fruit trees.

The district currently has 37,726 hectares of coffee, 4,800 hectares of pepper, and more than 3,000 hectares of fruit trees, most of which are intercropped in coffee gardens. Annually, the output of coffee beans is about 80,000 tons, pepper is about 4,826 tons, and about 45,000 tons of various fruits. Agriculture plays a key role, providing the main source of income for the people.

Farmers of Cu M'gar district participate in a training course on sustainable farming techniques and visit the orchard.

However, according to Mr. Nguyen Cong Van, Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, agricultural production in the locality is facing many challenges and limitations. Typically, the situation of small-scale, fragmented farming, with an average of about 1.2 hectares/household, in which many households only have a farming area of ​​0.5 - 1 hectare, including many plots; worryingly, the abuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides is quite common...

The consequences lead to land degradation, water pollution, the environment, directly affecting people's health and the quality of agricultural products. Meanwhile, the import market has increasingly strict requirements on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, combating deforestation and responsible production, etc., creating even more pressure on the district's key agricultural products.

Therefore, to create higher value products and ensure sustainable agricultural development, farmers must change production practices and reorganize production to protect the health of producers and consumers.

Contributing to gradually solving this problem, in 2021, the Production Program combined with resource conservation and social security in Cu M'gar district (also known as the Compact Cu M'gar program) was implemented.

In the period of 2021 - 2025, 37,726 hectares of coffee, 4,800 hectares of pepper, and 3,000 hectares of various fruit trees participated in this program. The goal is to form a large-scale sustainable raw material area in Cu M'gar district by 2025 and is part of the overall goal of "Large-scale sustainable raw material area in Dak Lak province" supported by the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH).

Farmers in Cu M'gar district participate in a training course on sustainable farming knowledge organized by the Compact program.

Through the program, 505 sub-lecturers who are agricultural extension workers of communes and farmer group leaders have been trained, 86,319 farmers have participated (of which the proportion of women participating is 37%); 3,208 farmers have been organized to visit, learn, share through successful production models, and signed a commitment to "not buy, sell, or trade banned pesticides or herbicides containing the active ingredient Glyphosate" with 100 business agents in the area. In addition, the program also supported 823,200 coffee seedlings, 369,518 intercropped plants of various types for farmers; formed production chain linkages, supported the establishment of new and sponsored 12 sustainable agricultural cooperatives...

Mr. Y Wen Knul in Cuor Dang commune has 1.5 hectares of coffee mixed with pepper. Previously, his family mainly used chemical fertilizers to fertilize the plants, making the soil more barren, infertile, and the plants grow poorly. After attending a training course organized by the Compact Cu M'gar program, he changed his farming methods. Now he knows how to manage weeds, manage mulch instead of "removing weeds from the roots", knows how to apply water-saving irrigation, reduce post-harvest losses, and implement safety measures at work, contributing to more sustainable and responsible production.

 

The results obtained from the Compact program not only change the way of thinking and working of many farmers but also have a strong impact on creating competitive products, forming specialized, concentrated production areas with certification, and improving people's lives.

 

Vice Chairman of Cu M'gar District People's Committee Nguyen Cong Van

Dr. Tran Thi Hue, lecturer of Plant Protection Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Tay Nguyen University, affirmed that raising awareness and practicing farming in agricultural production, such as: changing habits from "weed cleaning" to "weed management, cover management"; reducing the abuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, increasing the use of organic fertilizers; applying reasonable intercropping models, water-saving irrigation... are the premise to help farmers save input costs and increase profits. This change greatly affects sustainable growth in agricultural production, ensuring socio -economic development while still conserving land and water resources.

Promoting the advantages of the locality, the district's agricultural sector continues to diversify crops appropriately; disseminate and support farmers with advanced farming methods to help them be more proactive in production, reduce costs and increase income for growers. At the same time, promote the organization of training courses, seminars to exchange experiences between farmers and scientists, as well as support farmers in accessing markets, consuming products, building traceability records, applying growing area codes to help agricultural products easily access high-end markets.

Source: https://baodaklak.vn/kinh-te/202506/cung-nong-dan-thay-doi-thoi-quen-canh-tac-b510fad/