A 'double' victory from winter crops.

This year's winter crop season benefited from favorable weather conditions, resulting in healthy crop growth, increased yields, and improved quality. This is considered a "double" success, not only in terms of outstanding productivity but also in higher-than-usual prices for vegetables, bringing high income to farmers in Ninh Binh province.

Farmers in Nam Minh commune ( Ninh Binh province) are tending to their tomato plants.

The winter crop was bountiful and fetched good prices.

In the final days of the year, the fields of Nam Duong, Nam Minh commune, appear like a colorful painting. Lush green cabbage patches interspersed with rows of cucumbers and tomatoes bearing yellow flowers, and potato fields stretching their leaves to welcome the early morning sun. Farmers are busy harvesting the thriving kohlrabi and cauliflower crops. Laughter and chatter blend with the cool breeze, creating a lively and vibrant scene.

With nimble hands, farmer Ngo Danh Chau from Bai Duong village, Nam Minh commune, happily shared that it had been a long time since the villagers had such a successful winter crop as this year. The abundance of vegetables, good prices, and a bustling market have brought great joy to the people.

Mr. Chau said that this year's winter crop season has been very favorable. From around October, when farmers planted short-term vegetables, the weather was cool with occasional chilly days, moderate humidity, and no frost. In particular, there were fewer pests and diseases this year, so less care and investment were needed, and the vegetables grew and developed quickly, resulting in higher quality and yield than in previous years.

Mr. Chau's family planted 10 sao (3,600 m2) of winter vegetables, mainly kohlrabi and potatoes. They have now finished harvesting the kohlrabi crop. Mr. Chau estimates that approximately 2,000 kohlrabi plants can be grown per sao (360 m2). Normally, each sao yields about 1,600 kohlrabi bulbs, but this year it yielded about 1,800 bulbs. The price of kohlrabi fluctuated between 4,000 and 7,000 VND per bulb, double the price of previous years.

Mr. Vu Van Giong, from Hamlet 1, Nam Minh Commune, said that his family planted 10 sao (approximately 1,200 square meters) of winter vegetables; of which, 3 sao of kohlrabi have been harvested, and 7 sao of cauliflower are beginning to be harvested. This year, each sao of cauliflower yielded about 1,200 heads. The price of cauliflower sold at the field at this time is 11,000 VND per head. After deducting the cost of seeds, each sao of vegetables brings farmers an income of about 10 million VND.

Nam Minh commune (Ninh Binh province) has approximately 164 hectares of land cultivated with winter vegetables, yielding high economic returns.

Nam Minh commune is one of the localities in the province with a tradition of growing winter crops, concentrated in the Nam Duong and Nam Hung areas, with a production area of ​​over 164 hectares. From the beginning of the 2025 winter crop season, the commune has guided farmers to intercrop short-term and long-term vegetables to optimize land use, shorten production turnover time, and increase value per unit of cultivated land. On the upland fields, farmers prioritize cultivating short-term vegetables such as various types of cabbage, kohlrabi, and cauliflower; on areas with double rice cultivation, they prioritize growing potatoes, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

The Nam Duong Agricultural Production, Business and Service Cooperative is cultivating winter crops on 200 hectares, primarily potatoes. Since the beginning of the season, the cooperative has acted as the main supplier, importing 15 tons of potato seeds to provide to farmers.

According to Mr. Vu Van Nghia, Chairman of the Nam Duong Agricultural Production, Business and Service Cooperative, in recent years, the cooperative has linked with suppliers of seeds and agricultural materials, as well as coordinated with the Provincial Department of Science and Technology to reassess the quality of cultivated land in order to find ways to treat and improve the soil to meet the requirements for introducing high-yield and high-quality crop varieties into production.

Based on the farmers' production experience and the introduction of high-yield potato varieties, each plot of land yields 800 kg of potatoes, resulting in an average income of approximately 15 million VND per plot per winter crop in the commune.

Production oriented towards commodities

Farmers in Nam Minh commune (Ninh Binh province) pack kohlrabi for sale to purchasing agents in the commune.

Recognizing that the winter crop brings high economic value and efficiency, contributing to increased income for farmers, Ninh Binh province is developing the winter crop in a way that links production with product consumption and distribution, based on maximizing the potential and advantages of each region.

The province encourages farmers to apply science and technology, high technology, and organic production processes to ensure food safety and hygiene and protect the ecological environment; and to develop specific plans for each group of crops suitable for each region to increase production value.

Giao Ninh commune has a long tradition of producing vegetables, especially winter crops. With the advantage of sandy loam soil and a convenient irrigation system, in recent years, local people have chosen to cultivate high-quality vegetable varieties instead of traditional ones. Depending on the variety, farmers apply appropriate cultivation methods. For cucumbers, households are now using a ground-creeping method instead of the traditional trellis method. After planting the seedlings, the entire ground is covered with plastic to control weeds and harmful insects. This method saves on investment and care costs and yields higher productivity than traditional methods.

Furthermore, the bold conversion of inefficient salt-producing areas to vegetable cultivation, the application of advanced farming techniques, proactive irrigation, and production following clean agricultural models, aiming for commodity production through linked chains, have created large production areas that meet the market's demand for agricultural products. From this, vegetable production in the locality is considered a highlight of the commune's economy, with an annual production value of approximately 600 million VND/hectare.

In the winter crop season of 2025, the entire commune planted over 560 hectares of winter crops; of which, 340 hectares were planted with potatoes, and the rest with various vegetables and flowers. Currently, short-term vegetable crops, mainly radishes, have been harvested, with an estimated yield of 278 quintals/hectare.

According to Mr. Doan Phi Truong, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Giao Ninh commune, winter crop production is of great importance to the commune's economy. It is the main production season with high economic value and efficiency, contributing to increased income for the people. Many agricultural products of Giao Ninh have created their own brands, such as peanuts, radishes, and potatoes, which have been recognized as OCOP (One Commune One Product) products. This is the foundation for the commune to expand the scale and develop winter crop production towards a sustainable, commercial direction.

With a bumper radish crop yielding 278 quintals/hectare and radish prices double those of previous years, the people of Giao Ninh commune (Ninh Binh province) are very happy.

For the 2025 winter crop season, Ninh Binh province aims to plant approximately 23,000 hectares of various vegetable crops, with 25% of the area planted on land previously used for two rice crops per year. Localities with a tradition of winter crop production in the province have reviewed and inspected areas of alluvial land and early-harvested rice fields with reliable irrigation and drainage, and are organizing the planting of winter crops, especially cold-tolerant crops with large consumer markets, such as potatoes, cabbage, kohlrabi, and leafy vegetables. The province focuses on developing winter crop production according to the "Large Field" model, with planned and linked production to increase value and income for farmers.

Currently, the entire province has planted 20,600 hectares of winter crops, reaching 90% of the plan; of which, over 2,200 hectares of winter crops have been harvested, mainly sweet potatoes, green squash, cucumbers and various vegetables.

To meet market demands and enhance the value of agricultural production, the province has facilitated land consolidation and the application of high technology by organizations and individuals, forming large-scale commodity production areas to meet the raw material needs of agricultural processing businesses in the province. Simultaneously, relevant departments and agencies support agricultural production and business establishments in building brands and trademarks, applying product quality management processes, and implementing traceability systems (VietGap, QR, GlobalGap, ISO, etc.).

At the same time, we will promote the application of technology in the production, preliminary processing, processing, and preservation of agricultural products, integrating information technology and automation to improve productivity, quality, added value, transparency, and competitiveness for winter crop products in particular, and agricultural products of the province in general.

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/thang-loi-keptu-cay-vu-dong-20251216093048460.htm