“Our cooperative specializes in growing clean bio vegetables, cultivating according to organic standards. Every tomato and bell pepper in the cooperative's garden is a vegetable that does not use pesticides, ensuring safety for farmers who directly care for them as well as consumers using agricultural products,” shared Ms. Nguyen Thi Luong - Director of Lien Ket Like Farm Cooperative, Lien Ket village, Phu Son commune, Lam Ha.
Located right next to the Da Dang River, a gentle river in the dry season and surging in the rainy season in the highlands, farmers in Lien Ket village are used to growing vegetables on a small scale, vegetables for family meals as well as for sale in the markets in the village and commune. When doing business on a large scale, finding an outlet for large vegetable output, people have to find a new direction. Therefore, in 2021, farmers in the village joined together to find outlets for commercial vegetables, forming a cooperative.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Luong said: The cooperative has 9 official members, with the main crops being bell peppers and tomatoes grown in greenhouses. Initially, farmers built greenhouses with the goal of having a place to dry coffee beans during the harvest season, which coincided with the rains at the end of the dry season. However, the greenhouses were only used for 1 month, which was too wasteful compared to the investment. So the farmers came up with the idea of growing tomatoes in greenhouses for the remaining time.
“Fortunately, from the very beginning, when deciding to grow tomatoes, our members were aware that growing vegetables in greenhouses must ensure clean vegetables to protect the environment. Therefore, we have linked up with agricultural businesses to get advice on safe vegetable growing techniques,” Ms. Luong recalled. The boldest thing the cooperative members have implemented is applying Biopro technology, using natural enemies to preserve the tomato growing environment.
Ms. Nong Thi Hong Van - technical officer of Funo Fertilizer Company, the enterprise providing technical support to Lien Ket Cooperative, recalled that when building greenhouses, farmers of the Cooperative followed the planning, did not use inorganic fertilizers or pesticides. “From the beginning, the Cooperative cooperated with Dalat Hasfarm Company to release natural enemies in the tomato garden. These natural enemies kill red spiders, thrips as well as control harmful insects, helping the Cooperative's garden to be safe for vegetables, without having to use pesticides. The methodical planning and application of biological techniques from the beginning helped the environment in the gardens to be very clean and green, and the tomatoes and bell peppers to be very clean,” Ms. Van informed.
Not only releasing over 20 types of natural enemies to eliminate harmful insects, the garden of Lien Ket Cooperative also grows many flower pots, hanging in the beds to attract harmful insects. In the garden, using hanging boards, insect trap tape, sulfur lamps to prevent diseases... Comprehensive pest prevention measures in the organic direction have helped balance the garden's environment, without the need to use pesticides, even biological pesticides. "Every month, we harvest tons of tomatoes and bell peppers to supply to businesses exporting to Japan. The Japanese market is very difficult, if pesticide residues are detected, the contract will be canceled. Therefore, we remind each other to clean vegetables, following the instructions of technical staff", Ms. Nguyen Thi Luong shared.
In many greenhouses, when the coffee harvest season comes, the cooperative destroys the last tomato vines of the season to return the ground to the drying yard. After the coffee beans are bagged, the ground husks are brought to the cooperative’s fertilizer processing plant, composted with yeast into loose, decomposed organic fertilizer blocks, and returned to fertilize the tomato and bell pepper gardens. This integrated agricultural production model has helped farmers maximize profits as well as address environmental issues, aiming towards green, sustainable agriculture.
Source: https://baolamdong.vn/trong-rau-xuat-khau-ben-dong-da-dang-389728.html
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