Organic medicinal herb growing area of Thien Phuc Agricultural and Medicinal Herbs Cooperative, in Minh Lap commune (Dong Hy). |
Ms. Tran Thi Binh, Director of Thanh Dat Agricultural Cooperative in Phu Do Commune, Phu Luong, started switching to organic tea production in 2019. Through training courses, she learned how to use organic fertilizers made from soybeans, leftover food, and ripe fruits, along with buying organic fertilizers from outside to fertilize tea plants. Initially, the tea plants could not adapt quickly enough, causing many areas to die and productivity to decrease significantly, but Ms. Binh persisted in applying it.
Currently, Thanh Dat Agricultural Cooperative has 5 hectares of tea (out of a total of 13 hectares) cultivated in an organic manner. Although production has gradually stabilized, the product consumption market is still a major obstacle. Consumers have not really recognized the value of safe tea products, and still have the mentality of comparing prices with regular tea. Meanwhile, clean tea production requires more care, and the product price is also higher.
According to Ms. Binh, there is a paradox in the market: when there is delicious, safe tea, there is no outlet; buyers do not know where to find it, and producers do not know who to sell to...
In the same locality as Ms. Binh, Mr. Hoang Van Tuan, Director of Phu Do Safe Tea Cooperative, soon understood the harmful effects of spraying herbicides, pesticides, and chemical fertilizers, so he chose organic production from the early days of establishing the cooperative. But when he started working, he found there were too many obstacles.
According to him, the biggest difficulty at present is the fragmented production area, which increases costs, makes it difficult to apply science and technology, and makes it impossible to form large-scale raw material areas. The lack of land planning is also a major obstacle if one wants to develop products for export or exploit experiential agricultural tourism.
Phu Do Safe Tea Cooperative has 5 hectares of organic farming for over 5 years, its products have been recognized by users and won high prizes in international tea competitions. However, this area has not yet been certified organic by a professional unit because the area is scattered and not concentrated.
Besides, the production awareness of a part of local people is still limited. Production capital is also one of the major obstacles for cooperatives in particular and tea growers in general.
Not only tea production, many other farmers are also applying the circular agriculture model. The green agricultural and forestry cooperative of Mr. Nguyen Xuan Huynh, Quan Chu town, Dai Tu, established in July 2024, on the basis of a cooperative growing pink bananas, is an example.
Green Agriculture and Forestry Cooperative, in Quan Chu town, Dai Tu, develops crops and livestock according to a closed, circular model; chickens are raised with bran ground from agricultural by-products. |
Mr. Huynh said: I use probiotics on agricultural by-products to create fertilizer for plants, grind them into bran to feed chickens, fish, and pigs; the manure from chickens and pigs is processed into organic fertilizer. A closed circle helps save costs, reduce waste and is environmentally friendly.
The cooperative currently has an area of 30 hectares growing bananas, grapefruit, longan and raising chickens, fish, and bees, of which 15 hectares are produced according to organic standards. According to Mr. Huynh, the difficulty for those doing safe, organic farming is that the procedures for applying for VietGAP, organic or geographical indication certification are still complicated, time-consuming and costly, while the subjects are taking care of the output themselves.
“I hope that support policies need to be more substantial. Instead of just supporting inputs such as seeds and fertilizers, we should focus more on outputs, helping farmers connect to markets and consume products,” said Mr. Huynh.
In reality, for organic agriculture to develop effectively, the government and specialized agencies must play a guiding role, creating a foundation by building a systematic raw material area, thereby forming a product value chain and supporting brand building.
Functional sectors and local authorities need to support the planning of concentrated raw material areas, promote land consolidation, long-term land lease or grant stable land use rights so that cooperatives can confidently invest. At the same time, there should be preferential mechanisms on capital, taxes and fees for organizations and individuals to switch to clean and sustainable production.
Having lived abroad for nearly 15 years, Mr. Huynh understands that sustainable agriculture cannot be done alone or spontaneously. Only when a synchronous organic ecosystem is built, where farmers, businesses, managers, scientists, consumers and the media participate and benefit together, can organic agriculture develop sustainably and spread widely.
Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202504/de-nong-dan-vung-buoc-ra-khoi-loi-mon-2ae01e9/
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