Developing sugarcane raw material areas

05/05/2023 13:55

Sugarcane is one of the main crops of the province, receiving much attention for investment and development. However, in recent times, the maintenance and development of sugarcane growing areas in the province have encountered many difficulties.

Our province has suitable natural conditions for developing sugarcane. In recent years, all levels, sectors and localities in the province have paid attention to directing and promptly removing difficulties and obstacles to develop sugarcane raw material areas.

Accordingly, the Department of Agriculture coordinates with Kon Tum Sugar Joint Stock Company and localities to propagate and mobilize people to convert land areas growing ineffective short-term crops to growing sugarcane, introduce new sugarcane varieties, and implement effective sugarcane care techniques to improve productivity and economic efficiency for sugarcane growers.

The price of raw sugarcane is not high yet, and the difficulty in harvesting labor makes people not very interested in sugarcane. Photo: TH

Kon Tum Sugar Joint Stock Company has implemented many policies to encourage and support sugarcane growers such as selecting and supporting farmers to bring new sugarcane varieties with high productivity and quality into cultivation such as: KK3, KK4, CYZ08 - 1609, NSUT10 - 266; creating conditions for sugarcane growers to buy seeds, fertilizers, pesticides in advance and then recover capital after harvesting. At the same time, the Company also provides non-refundable support for land areas currently growing other crops to switch to sugarcane cultivation at a rate of 3 million VND/ha; supports land plowing or hole drilling costs from 3.5 to 4.8 million VND/ha; guides on technical processes for sugarcane cultivation and sugarcane harvesting. In addition, the Company also supports planting and caring for sugarcane using machines and automatic irrigation systems for organizations and individuals who cooperate to grow sugarcane on large fields.

Up to now, the total area of sugarcane raw material in the province has reached about 1,100 hectares, mainly concentrated in Kon Tum city with about 75% of the area, the rest is scattered in Sa Thay, Kon Ray, Dak Ha, Dak To districts. In the 2022-2023 crop year, the total area of sugarcane for harvest is 732.74 hectares, with an average yield of 73.48 tons/ha. The total sugarcane output is 53,841.70 tons, all of which are supplied to Kon Tum Sugar Joint Stock Company.

Currently, Kon Tum Sugar Joint Stock Company has signed a contract to link more than 750 households and 2 sugarcane production cooperatives and committed to purchasing sugarcane at an insurance price for 3 years of 850 VND/kg of clean sugarcane 10 CCS in the field.

However, in reality, the construction and development of sugarcane material areas in our province still have many limitations, and the expansion of the area still faces many difficulties. From 2017 to now, the sugarcane area has decreased by about 600 hectares. Production is fragmented and small-scale, the application of science and technology and mechanization of production is still limited, and there are not many cooperative models linking sugarcane planting and consumption.

With the current sugarcane area and output of our province, it can only meet 12% of the processing capacity of Kon Tum Sugar Joint Stock Company. Photo: TH

Mr. Gia Tan Dat - Head of Sa Thay Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said: A long time ago, the unstable price of raw sugarcane along with the shortcomings in the purchasing and transportation process made farmers no longer interested in sugarcane. Up to now, whenever mentioning the conversion of crop structure, bringing sugarcane into cultivation, many farmers still hesitate. On the other hand, the sugarcane growing process requires high technology, takes a lot of care and harvesting, so it is still difficult for ethnic minorities to implement.

As a leading locality in sugarcane cultivation, accounting for 75% of the province’s raw material area, Kon Tum city also faces many difficulties in maintaining and stabilizing sugarcane acreage. Currently, the city has 825 hectares of sugarcane, but compared to 2013 and 2014, the current area of the locality is only about half.

According to Mr. Phan Thanh Nam - Head of the City Economic Department, although productivity, prices and income of sugarcane growers have had positive changes in recent years, sugarcane is still not really competitive compared to many other crops, especially fruit trees and vegetables. Besides, currently, the labor cost for growing sugarcane is too high and scarce, especially during the harvest season, causing many households to abandon sugarcane.

With the current sugarcane area and output of our province, it only meets 12% of the processing capacity (capacity of 2,500 tons of sugarcane/day) of Kon Tum Sugar Joint Stock Company. To meet the raw material demand for 180 days of processing, the sugarcane output needed in a production season is 450,000 tons of sugarcane, corresponding to a raw material area of 6,000 hectares of sugarcane, with an average yield of 74 tons/ha. Therefore, to maintain operations, Kon Tum Sugar Joint Stock Company must purchase more sugarcane from sugarcane growers in Dak Po, K'Bang, Kong Chro districts and An Khe town of Gia Lai province.

According to the plan, in the coming time, Kon Tum Sugar Joint Stock Company will increase the factory capacity from 2,500 tons/day to 6,000 tons/day. Therefore, the output of raw sugarcane needed to serve the processing needs is 1,080,000 tons of sugarcane, the corresponding sugarcane growing area is 15,000 hectares.

Faced with challenges in the sustainable development of sugarcane raw material areas, recently (March 20), Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Huu Thap and leaders of relevant sectors and units had a working session with Kon Tum Sugar Joint Stock Company to discuss solutions and directions to overcome difficulties. The goal is to gradually expand the sugarcane area, create a stable raw material area (from 2,000-4,000 hectares), ensure service for the production and business activities of sugarcane enterprises and promote crop conversion, contributing to increasing income for farmers and contributing to the socio-economic development of the province.

To restore and develop the sugarcane raw material area, it is necessary to make efforts from industries, localities and businesses so that farmers can see the practical benefits that sugarcane brings. From there, continue to make sugarcane a key crop, playing an important role in poverty reduction, especially in ethnic minority areas.

Thien Huong

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