Kim Son From model to organic specialty rice program

Kim Son district is considered the largest rice granary of the province, with more than 16,000 hectares of rice cultivated each year. Recently, thanks to the policies of the province and the district in supporting the development of agricultural economy , the production of specialty rice, in the direction of organic in Kim Son district has been increasingly developed. From small-scale models, it has now become a program of producing specialty rice, cultivating rice in the direction of organic with an area of thousands of hectares each year.

Comrade Vu Van Tan, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kim Son district, said that specialty rice varieties such as sticky rice with areca nut have been cultivated by people in the district for a long time, but on a small scale and spontaneously. In 2010, the area of sticky rice with areca nut was only about 400 hectares.

Regarding organic rice cultivation, the first model appeared in Xuan Thien commune (now Xuan Chinh commune) with an area of 10 hectares in 2018. In the following years, there were some more models in An Hoa, Luu Phuong, Quang Thien communes... but the nature was pilot cultivation with a scale of only 5-10 hectares.

By 2022, after the process of active propaganda and mobilization of all levels, sectors and localities, along with the positive results of previous pilot models, especially the "motivation" from policies to support agricultural and rural development in the period 2022-2025 of the Provincial People's Council with Resolution 32/NQ-HDND; of the District People's Council with Resolution 38/NQ-HDND (now amended and supplemented into Resolution 17/NQ-HDND) , the area of specialty rice and organic rice cultivation in Kim Son district has increased significantly. From small-scale pilot models, they have been replicated and developed into a program of specialty rice production and organic rice cultivation.

Specifically, in 2022, the district's area of glutinous rice cultivation will reach more than 2,400 hectares, and organically cultivated rice will be more than 560 hectares. By 2023, the area of special rice in Kim Son district will exceed 3,000 hectares of glutinous rice cultivation, ST25 rice; nearly 1,200 hectares of rice of all kinds will be cultivated organically.

The effectiveness of the policies not only helps increase the area but also changes the awareness of Kim Son farmers in cultivating rice in a sustainable direction, increasing its value.

Coming to Chat Binh commune, leading us to visit the yellow rice fields, comrade Tran Van Tien, Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, excitedly said: The whole commune currently has more than 330 hectares of rice land, cultivating 2 crops per year, of which about 70% of the area is planted with ST25 rice variety. Although it has only started experimental planting since 2020, with high results in terms of productivity, quality and economic efficiency, ST25 rice variety has been trusted by the people in the commune, expanding the area, replacing other high-quality rice varieties such as Bac Thom No. 7 and LT2, becoming the main rice variety of Chat Binh commune.

In particular, thanks to the support policy under Resolution 38/NQ-HDND dated March 31, 2022 of the District People's Council on approving the Project on agricultural economic development of Kim Son district for the period 2022-2025, since 2022, the commune has formed two organic rice production areas of ST25 rice variety with a total area of 90 hectares.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Khanh's household in Hamlet 7 is one of more than 200 farming households of Cong Thanh Cooperative (Chat Binh Commune) receiving support from Resolution 38/NQ-HDND of the Kim Son District People's Council. Each crop, Mr. Khanh's family cultivates more than 2 hectares of rice fields. The 2023 crop will be the fourth crop of his family cultivating ST25 rice organically.

Mr. Khanh said: The advantage of organic rice cultivation is that the rice plants are strong, the stems are strong, the leaves are thick, and they rarely fall over, so harvesting is easy and avoids loss of yield. In previous crops, my family harvested an average of 2.3 quintals/sao, much higher than growing Bac Thom No. 7 rice and cultivating in the traditional way.

Mr. Hoang Ngoc May, Director of Cong Thanh Agricultural Cooperative, affirmed: After 2 years of implementing support according to Resolution 38 of the Kim Son District People's Council, it has helped change people's awareness of organic rice cultivation. They themselves realize that organic rice cultivation helps ensure rice productivity and output; most importantly, the positive impacts on the ecological environment in the fields have been improved.

Supporting 50% of the cost of buying seeds, organic fertilizers and biological pesticides for 3 consecutive years, or 6 planting seasons, has helped farmers have time to adapt and clearly see the benefits of organic rice cultivation; helping to change traditional thinking and ways of doing things.

In Kim Tan commune, from the support source according to Resolution 32/NQ-HĐND of the Provincial People's Council on regulations on policies to support agricultural and rural development in the province for the period 2022-2025, in the Winter-Spring crop of 2023, the whole commune has over 200 hectares of organically cultivated Huong and Huong Binh sticky rice varieties, out of a total of nearly 400 hectares of agricultural land of the commune. In the crop season, 100% of the area is planted by people with areca nut sticky rice.

Comrade Vu Dinh Chung, Vice Chairman of Kim Tan Commune People's Committee, said: From the 2022 Summer-Autumn crop, the Commune People's Committee has piloted a model of growing areca nut sticky rice in an organic direction. With good results and the consensus and support of the people, in the 2023 Summer-Autumn crop, the whole commune has nearly 60 hectares of organically grown areca nut sticky rice. With the "accompanying" support policies of the province and the district, the commune is oriented to build the brand of organically grown areca nut sticky rice into a typical product of Kim Tan.

Also according to the leader of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kim Son district, in June 2023, the People's Council of Kim Son district decided to amend and supplement Resolution 38/NQ-HDND to issue Resolution 17/NQ-HDND, in which it continued to increase the support level for the cost of purchasing seeds and organic fertilizers from the 2023 Summer-Autumn crop.

That shows the companionship of the District Party Committee, People's Council, and People's Committee with farmers to increasingly expand the area of organic rice cultivation in the area. Especially developing the area of organic specialty rice varieties, aiming to increase the value of cultivation and income for farmers, while creating key products and specialties associated with the brand of Kim Son district.

Thai Hoc - Anh Tuan

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