These "farmer engineers"

Drawing from their own farming experiences, many farmers in Phu Tho have come up with creative ideas, manufacturing and improving various types of agricultural and industrial equipment and machinery with high applicability, contributing to reducing labor, increasing productivity and improving the quality of crops and livestock.

The use of agricultural machinery is an effective trend to increase the value of agricultural production. However, machines manufactured by companies are often large, cumbersome to operate, and unsuitable for small-scale, scattered, and decentralized agricultural production, resulting in high costs and expenses for farmers. Stemming from this inadequacy, in 2020, farmer Hoang Kim Phung (Zone 1, Thanh Ha commune, Thanh Ba district) researched the mechanism and operating principles of traditional tillage machines and experimented with installing some new equipment on the tilling frame, increasing the machine's efficiency by enabling it to perform two additional tasks: plowing, furrowing, and creating raised beds.

Leaders of the Thanh Ba District Farmers' Association presented the first prize in the 2024 Phu Tho Provincial "Farmers' Technical Innovation" competition to Mr. Hoang Kim Phung.

In reality, traditional tillage machines only plow and loosen the soil; furrowing must be done manually or with a machine, resulting in low labor efficiency. After implementing the idea, adding two or three plows (for harrowing and furrowing) facilitates industrialized planting and seed sowing, applicable to all types of farmland. The equipment and components are also detachable and can be moved to different locations.

Mr. Hoang Kim Phung stated: In traditional farming, harrowing, furrowing, plowing, and tilling the soil on one sao (approximately 1000 square meters) of land takes about 8 hours. In the same amount of time, using an improved harrowing machine, it's possible to harrow, furrow, and plow 10 sao of land, reducing the economic efficiency by 28 labor days per hectare. This helps farmers save time and costs, creating favorable conditions for timely production.

Farmer Hoang Kim Phung's improved harrow helps farmers save time and production costs.

Thanks to its effectiveness and high practical application, farmer Hoang Kim Phung's solution, "Combined harrow, plow, and furrowing machine," won first prize in the 2024 provincial-level "Farmers' Technical Innovation" competition.

The "bumper harvest - low prices" phenomenon is common when farmers haven't grasped the market or mastered science and technology. Furthermore, products produced using traditional methods sometimes fail to meet the necessary quality and price requirements to compete in the market. Concerned about how to enhance the value of local agricultural products, Mr. Pham Ngoc Doanh (Zone 3, Van Lang Commune, Ha Hoa District) researched and developed the idea of ​​a "Technique for processing and packaging freeze-dried green pumpkin tea." Its application in production has initially yielded positive results.

Van Lang green squash is cultivated according to VietGAP standards and processed using industrial methods, which helps increase the product's value.

Van Lang commune has over 100 hectares of land planted with green squash, with a stable yield of 4,000 tons per year. This is considered a potential advantage for the locality in developing green squash cultivation; however, the product's output is always unstable in terms of price, the quality is inconsistent, and the economic efficiency is not high. The green squash tea (winter squash tea) produced by the people using traditional methods requires a lot of time, depends on weather conditions, and factors such as nutrition and food safety are difficult to guarantee, leading to disadvantages in the market.

The freeze-drying method for zucchini helps preserve its aroma and nutrients, while ensuring food safety and hygiene.

In 2020, Mr. Pham Ngoc Doanh, as a member of the Duy Khanh Agricultural Construction and Transportation Service Cooperative, collaborated with local households to cultivate green squash according to VietGAP standards on over 30 hectares to establish, manage, and develop the collective brand "Van Lang Green Squash". Simultaneously, to ensure a stable market, in 2023, Mr. Doanh visited, learned from, and researched local farms, developing a solution for "producing freeze-dried green squash tea" to enhance the value of agricultural products. Mr. Doanh's solution aims to change traditional planting and processing methods, creating a safe, highly nutritious green squash tea product, increasing labor productivity, and enhancing product value.

The freeze-dried winter melon tea product won third prize in the "Farmers' Technical Innovation" competition in Phu Tho province in 2024.

After being put into practical production, the freeze-drying method for zucchini has proven effective, preserving its aroma and nutrients, saving labor costs, being independent of weather conditions, ensuring food safety and hygiene, and extending its shelf life. This method helps create jobs for local workers and increases the value of agricultural products by approximately 200% compared to their value before processing.

Although winning a high prize in the 2024 provincial-level "Agricultural Technical Innovation" competition, according to Mr. Doanh, the technique for processing and packaging freeze-dried green pumpkin tea, while initially addressing the issue of linking agricultural product consumption and deep processing, still has drawbacks. These include the time-consuming method and the need for cooking equipment. In the future, it is necessary to upgrade the "Freeze-Dried Green Pumpkin Tea" product to a more advanced solution: "Freeze-Dried Green Pumpkin Tea in filter bags," increasing the product's convenience and market reach.

The 2024 "Farmers' Technical Innovation" competition in Phu Tho province, organized by the Provincial Farmers' Association, received 32 outstanding technical solutions selected from 11 district-level Farmers' Associations. The solutions submitted to the competition were considered quite diverse, covering many fields such as: mechanics and processing; crop cultivation, biology and environment; livestock and aquaculture... These dynamic and creative farmers are contributing to changing the habits of manual, small-scale, low-productivity production towards a modern agricultural system. These people are like beautiful flowers blooming in the garden under the care of the farmers of the ancestral land.

Hoang Giang

Source: https://baophutho.vn/nhung-ky-su-nong-dan-219891.htm