Raising awareness among farmers about sustainable agricultural production

The program "Connecting and Loving" was held on May 30 and 31. Ms. Vu Lan Huong - Project Manager of Care Organization in Vietnam - said: The program is part of the project series "I am happy to sow - Sustainable agriculture for changes - She Feeds the World Vietnam" implemented by Care Organization in Vietnam in coordination with the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center and PepsiCo Food Company.

In Gia Lai, the project was organized in two communes, Ia Tiem and Ia Bang, with the aim of improving sustainable agricultural production capacity, access to production resources and market access for more than 200 small-scale farmers, especially ethnic minority women. With the theme: "Sustainable Agriculture - Regeneration - Gender Equality", the program aims to contribute to creating a playground as well as providing knowledge, changing people's awareness of gender equality as well as practicing sustainable production and environmental protection.

Ms. Vu Lan Huong - Project Manager of Care Organization in Vietnam talks about the meaning of the "Connection-Love" Program. Clip production: Hong Thuong

At the program, Ms. Nguyen Mai Chi - Director of External Relations of PepsiCo Food Company also informed: PepsiCo Food Company specializes in manufacturing potato sack products according to international standards.

Currently, Gia Lai is one of the Company's potato growing areas with a stable area of over 200 hectares per year. Through practical implementation, potatoes grown in Gia Lai yield about 40 tons/ha and the starch content is higher than other domestic raw material areas. The Company is planning to expand the potato growing area in Gia Lai province in the near future.

Therefore, the organization of the program "Connecting - Loving" not only aims to show gratitude to the people of the raw material area in Gia Lai province but also aims to provide basic knowledge related to sustainable farming for farmers in the area. Thereby, creating a premise for expanding the clean raw material area for the Company in the near future" - Ms. Chi informed.

Ms. Nguyen Mai Chi - Director of External Relations of PepsiCo Food Company emphasized the organization of the program for expanding clean material areas for the Company in the coming time. Clip production: Hong Thuong

To make the program effective, the Organizing Committee has deployed people to participate in the program with 2 main contents: Sports competition and interaction with the audience. In the sports competition, people participate in the following subjects: tug of war, volleyball, sack race, riddles and games: "Family is suddenly happy", "Family understands each other" and "Our children are very good". In the content of "Interaction with the audience", people answer questions given by the Organizing Committee related to the program's theme.

The highlight of the program is that most of the competition and exchange content revolves around questions and answers about gender equality, sustainable agricultural production and environmental protection such as: what is regenerative agriculture, what are examples of recycling in agriculture, what to do to protect the environment...

People of Ia Tiem commune participated in assembling pictures and answering questions from the Organizing Committee of the "Connecting-Love" Program. **Photo: Hong Thuong**

In Ia Tiem commune, the program attracted a large number of people to participate in the competition and cheer. The atmosphere became more exciting when people participated in answering nearly 100 questions from the Organizing Committee on issues related to gender equality, sustainable agricultural production and environmental protection.

Ms. Ro Mah H'Lam (Nu village, Ia Tiem commune) shared: "My family has 3 sao of coffee and 1 sao of rice. Thanks to participating in the project "I am happy to sow - Sustainable agriculture for changes - She Feeds the World Vietnam", I was able to borrow 10 million VND and receive training in knowledge of sustainable plant care. Therefore, when I learned about the program "Connecting - Loving" with the theme "Sustainable agriculture - Regenerative - Gender equality", I took the opportunity to participate to learn more experiences to apply in taking care of the garden".

Similarly, despite the drizzle, people in Ia Bang commune were excited to attend the program and expressed their satisfaction when participating in the Q&A session related to sustainable agricultural production. Mr. Ning (O Yo village, Ia Bang commune) excitedly shared: At the "Connection-Love" program, he learned a lot of important knowledge in sustainable agricultural production. Previously, thanks to participating in the project "I am happy to sow - Sustainable agriculture for changes - She Feeds the World Vietnam", he was able to visit a typical agricultural production economic model in Lam Dong province and learned a lot of experience in production.

"Therefore, in the future, I will apply this knowledge to take care of 7 sao of coffee and 3 sao of rice in an organic direction to create quality products, ensuring favorable product output. In particular, I will practice recycling agricultural waste into organic fertilizer, apply natural intervention measures to limit the use of pesticides; use appropriate fertilizers" - Mr. Ning said.

The Organizing Committee awarded 6 bicycles and more than 300 gifts to students with excellent achievements at the Program. **Photo: Hong Thuong**

Present to guide the teams participating in the program, Mr. Ksor Jar - Secretary and Head of Cham Prong Village (Dak Doa Commune) - shared: Cham Prong has 251 households and is currently cultivating more than 200 hectares of various crops, mainly durian and coffee. The organized program has helped people have the opportunity to participate in games as well as meet and share knowledge in agricultural production. In particular, as an agricultural production area, there is a lot of by-products.

In the coming time, the village will continue to promote and mobilize people to compost fertilizer from agricultural by-products to help plants grow sustainably, limit the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and participate in collecting hazardous waste in the fields to protect the environment and increase production efficiency.

Talking about the importance of the Program, Mr. Pham Huu Phuoc - Director of the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center - emphasized: In the context of increasingly serious climate change, increasingly depleted natural resources, sustainable and regenerative agricultural development is no longer a choice but an inevitable path. Environmentally friendly production models, land regeneration, water saving and promoting agricultural ecosystems are trends that we need to replicate.

Therefore, in addition to creating a useful playground for people to improve their spiritual life, the "Connection-Love" Program also contributes to promoting gender equality in life as well as providing people in the project with more important knowledge to apply practices in sustainable agricultural production and create safe products, increase value, and open up opportunities for product consumption.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/nang-cao-nhan-thuc-cho-nong-dan-ve-san-xuat-nong-nghiep-ben-vung-post325947.html