The joy of harvest season
As dawn broke, the sugarcane fields of Tan Dinh commune were bustling with activity for the harvest. In the fields, the rustling sound of cutting sugarcane mingled with the shouts and calls of farmers, creating the familiar rhythm of the harvest season. Farmer Do Van Cuong excitedly shared: "My family planted 3 hectares of young sugarcane, and we've already harvested 1.5 hectares, yielding 130 tons, with a productivity of nearly 87 tons/ha. The high yield and sugar content exceeding 10 CCS make it a bumper crop." Then, Mr. Cuong smiled brightly, a radiant smile after years of uncertain sugarcane harvests.
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| Farmers in Tan Dinh commune are harvesting sugarcane. |
Not far from Mr. Cuong's sugarcane field, a group of workers were busily harvesting. We met Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, the leader of a group of nearly 38 laborers from Vinh Long province, who come here to harvest sugarcane during the season. Each day, the team harvests more than 1 hectare of sugarcane, equivalent to 70 to 80 tons. Each person earns about 350,000 - 400,000 VND per day. "It's hard work, but having a job makes us happy. After the sugarcane season, we'll go back to our hometowns to work with coconuts," Ms. Thuy shared, her hands still moving quickly. A good sugarcane harvest brings joy not only to the growers but also to the hired workers. "The sugarcane is abundant, the sugar content is good, everyone is happy. After harvesting, we even get a little extra bonus from the employer. Our mid-morning meal is also more decent," one of the sugarcane harvesters confided.
Mr. Phan Kien Nghia, a large-scale sugarcane farmer with 70 hectares of sugarcane in Tan Dinh and Tay Ninh Hoa communes, said: “The investment cost is over 40 million VND/hectare. This year, the yield reached about 60 tons/hectare, with a profit of about 20 million VND/hectare. Especially, thanks to the guaranteed purchase by the enterprise, sugarcane farmers don't have to worry about the market.”
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| Farmers in Lam Son commune are harvesting sugarcane. |
Next to Mr. Phan Kien Nghia's sugarcane field, Mr. Nguyen Van Hai, a farmer cultivating 50 hectares of sugarcane, is also busy harvesting. Mr. Hai said that the 2025-2026 crop year was favorable, with harmonious weather helping the sugarcane grow uniformly, especially during the harvest period when there was plenty of sunshine, causing the sugar content to increase by about 0.7 CCS compared to the previous season. Currently, the purchase price is over 1 million VND/ton for sugarcane with 10 CCS at the field, giving farmers a profit of 18 to 24 million VND/ha.
Not only Mr. Nghia, Mr. Cuong, and Mr. Hai, but many sugarcane growing areas from Lam Son, Ninh Son to Tan Dinh, Tay Ninh Hoa are experiencing a bumper crop. The harvesting atmosphere is bustling and lively; people are cutting, people are bundling sugarcane, and trucks are lined up waiting for goods, much more vibrant than in previous seasons. Mr. Tran Lam (Lam Son commune) excitedly said: “It’s been a long time since we’ve had such a joyful sugarcane harvest. This year’s sugarcane is good, with high sugar content, and although it was hard work, we achieved the profits we expected.”
Find ways to adapt
Standing beside his truck, now fully loaded with sugarcane, Mr. Nguyen Van Hai mentally calculated each expense. A bountiful sugarcane harvest was a clear cause for joy, but the worry about costs remained. The current labor cost for harvesting has risen to around 270,000 VND per ton, an increase of 20,000 VND compared to last year. Meanwhile, gasoline, diesel, fertilizers, pesticides, and other commodities have all increased in price, making the profit equation even more challenging.
Not only Mr. Hai, but many sugarcane farmers in the region are proactively adapting. Mr. Phan Kien Nghia said that in addition to cultivating 70 hectares of sugarcane, his family has invested in two sugarcane handling vehicles and four trucks for transporting sugarcane, signing contracts to transport sugarcane for other households in the area, reducing manual labor. "Each time I buy fuel, it costs several hundred to even a thousand liters. Recently, the price of fuel has increased significantly, but the cost of handling and transporting sugarcane cannot increase too much. We have agreed that each side will reduce a little profit, and together we will adapt to the rising prices. We only hope that the price of materials will stabilize soon, reducing the cost pressure on the sugarcane industry," Mr. Nghia shared.
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| Currently, it is the peak season for harvesting sugarcane for the 2025-2026 crop year. |
The cost concern isn't unique to Mr. Nghia. In Lam Son commune, an area with over 1,100 hectares of sugarcane, even though more than half of the area has been harvested with a fairly good yield, production costs remain a major issue. However, the factory's support in transportation has helped farmers reduce pressure. According to Ms. Vo Thi Thuy Tien, Director of AgriS Ninh Hoa Import-Export Joint Stock Company (also Director of Bien Hoa - Phan Rang Sugar Joint Stock Company), this season, AgriS Ninh Hoa has invested in sugarcane cultivation in partnership with farmers in the northern part of the province, covering 4,262 hectares, an increase of over 400 hectares compared to the previous year. To date, more than half has been harvested, with an average yield of 62.3 tons/ha (an increase of about 9 tons/ha), sugar content reaching 10.02 CCS, and a purchase price of 1.07 million VND/ton of 10 CCS. Similarly, in the southern part of the province, with a raw material area of 2,500 hectares, nearly 70% of the area has been harvested so far, with an average yield of nearly 66 tons/ha.
Through our research, we learned that many small-scale sugarcane farmers have chosen to lease their land to other households to form concentrated raw material areas. Increasing scale helps standardize and mechanize the planting, caring, and harvesting processes, thereby significantly reducing production costs per hectare.
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc An, a raw materials officer at AgriS Ninh Hoa, said that this crop season the company is implementing "support packages" for sugarcane growers such as: providing direct financial support (non-refundable) to farmers at a rate of 12 million VND/ha for young sugarcane and 3.1 million VND/ha for ratoon sugarcane; investing in materials and techniques for subsurface plowing; and assigning agricultural extension officers to closely monitor the fields and guide the application of advanced techniques. At the same time, they are supporting the transportation of sugarcane from the fields to the factory, helping farmers reduce fuel costs. These policies aim to ensure that "farmers profit and factories profit," towards the sustainable development of the raw material area.
Amidst fluctuating prices, sugarcane farmers are not truly breathing easy, but through various means, from self-reliance to partnerships with businesses, they are gradually adapting to maintain the "sweetness" of their sugarcane crops. As evening falls, trucks loaded with sugarcane continue to arrive at the factories, and farmers rest by the fields, discussing yields, prices, and plans for the next season...
In the 2025-2026 crop year, the total sugarcane area in the province reached nearly 10,000 hectares. Farmers prioritized the use of key sugarcane varieties due to their drought tolerance, high yield, and high sugar content, such as: MY55-14, K95-84, K88-92, K95-156, Suphaburi 7, KK3... By the end of March 2026, farmers had harvested nearly 6,000 hectares with good yield and quality.
JUDGMENT
Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/kinh-te/nong-nghiep-nong-thon-moi/202604/mua-mia-ngot-7b51884/
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