Agricultural cooperatives actively strengthen services

Providing input services such as seeds, agricultural materials, plowing, threshing, etc. and ensuring post-harvest consumption are activities that agricultural cooperatives in the province are striving to carry out to accompany members in production, contributing to improving the economic life of households.

Agricultural cooperatives are making efforts to find outlets for their agricultural products. In the photo: Products of cooperatives are introduced at the conference of typical advanced models of the province. Photo: MINH DUYEN

Improve production quality

When the rice is hardening, people are also worried about rats. Accompanying the people, Hoa Tan Dong General Agricultural Service Cooperative (Dong Hoa Town) organizes campaigns to kill rats. According to the cooperative's statistics, on average, the cooperative kills 3,000-4,000 rats each year. Along with that, the cooperative actively encourages people to switch crops to reduce the cost of drought and flood prevention, and increase economic efficiency. According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Van, Deputy Director of this cooperative, from 2020 to now, the unit has converted the dry rice growing area to grow peanuts, corn, grass, etc. In which, the peanut growing area has increased from 1.2 hectares to 4 hectares, earning 21 million VND/ha. The area of grass and vegetables of all kinds has also increased from 2 hectares to more than 8 hectares, creating a stable and nutritious food source for livestock. For the flooded low-lying areas where rice is grown in an unstable one-crop season, people have switched to growing lotus for mirrors. From 2016 to now, the lotus growing area has increased from 1ha to 6ha. On average, each sao of lotus harvests about 300-350kg of fresh lotus, with a price of 10,000-15,000 VND/kg, giving a profit of about 3.5-5 million VND/crop, 3-4 times higher than rice cultivation.

Not only doing a good job of agricultural extension like Hoa Tan Dong General Agricultural Service Cooperative, many agricultural cooperatives also do a good job of plowing, harvesting... helping people reduce labor in the fields. A typical example is An Ninh Tay Agricultural Cooperative (Tuy An district). Currently, the cooperative has 10 combine harvesters, 6 rice blowers, 5 rice threshers, 20 plows; ensuring 100% mechanization of all stages. Mr. Nguyen Hoang Pho, Director of this cooperative, said: To ensure input to help people produce effectively, the cooperative constantly invests in technology innovation. Like the plowing service, 10 years ago, the cooperative had 12 lotus plows and 3 single-axle plows. These machines are old technology, over time the quality of the plowing path decreases, taking 15-20 days to complete the entire 393ha of 2-crop rice area managed by the cooperative. To improve quality, the cooperative purchased 5 more Kubota plows to help plow deeper, loosen the soil and shorten the time to 7 days. Or the harvesting service, in 2007, the cooperative used 4 old machines purchased, so it could only harvest 56% of the total area of the commune. Later, it was improved with Kubota harvesters and combine harvesters, the harvested area reached 100% with a guaranteed time of 15 days, in time for the next crop.

Increase consumption

According to Mr. Nguyen Du, Director of Xuan Phuoc Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative (Dong Xuan District), in the past, people peeled peanuts and pressed oil mainly by manual methods, which was labor-intensive, costly and time-consuming. To increase production efficiency, the Cooperative invested in shelling machines, oil presses and automatic bottling systems. Automating production not only helps people reduce labor but also creates products with high commodity value, supporting better market access.

Hoa Thanh General Agricultural Service Cooperative (Dong Hoa Town) invests in production and brand building to create high-quality products and increase competitiveness in the market. To have high-quality Hoa Thanh rice products as they are today, the Cooperative had to spend 3 years building a production model to find suitable rice varieties, promote mechanization, and link with member households to have a stable production area according to standard technical processes. When there are products, the Cooperative invests in packaging and designs, registers brands, and promotes trade through channels such as fairs, conferences, and digital sales websites.

“Currently, Hoa Thanh high-quality rice products are created from Dai Thom 8 variety, produced on an area of over 20 hectares by 100 member households. The product has been certified with 3-star OCOP at the provincial level in 2022, and is sold at the cooperative store, on the cooperative's website htxhoathanh.com and some pages introducing local products of the province, of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance... In addition to 2 hectares of self-production, the cooperative is capable of purchasing 50 tons of rice/year after harvest for the people", Mr. Pham Duc Hau, Director of Hoa Thanh General Agricultural Service Cooperative, affirmed.

Five years ago, the province's agricultural cooperatives were only responsible for input, that is, effective production management through agricultural extension activities and agricultural production support services. Currently, cooperatives have begun to approach output, seeking to increase the ability to consume agricultural products for members. Although they have not yet guaranteed 100% consumption, this is a commendable effort. In the coming time, along with improving the quality of operations, cooperatives will focus on output services, increasing the ability to consume agricultural products for people.

Mr. Le Thanh Lam, Chairman of the Provincial Cooperative Union

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