Growing white-skinned, soft-to-eat sweet potatoes, farmers in a commune of Dien Bien province earn 120 million VND/ha

Clip: People in Thanh An commune, Dien Bien district harvest sweet potatoes.

The pioneer brought white sweet potatoes to grow on Thanh An land

Five years ago, after visiting many agricultural models in the Northwest region, Mr. Tong Van Chinh, Phieng Ban village, Thanh An commune, Dien Bien district, decided to try planting white sweet potatoes on his family's rice field.

"At first, I planted sweet potatoes, not thinking it would be successful. But after the first trial crop, this potato variety proved to be very suitable for the climate and soil here. The tubers are large, have high yield, are delicious and have a good selling price. After two trial crops, I decided to use all the fertile land that my family previously used to grow other crops to grow sweet potatoes. To create a specialized area with a brand for Thanh An sweet potatoes, I mobilized many families to participate in growing them," Mr. Chinh shared.

Thanh An sweet potato (Dien Bien) is one of the crops that bring economic efficiency to farmers. Photo: Thu Huong

When Thanh An potatoes became a brand, favored by consumers, but the area was still small and could not meet consumer demand, the Thanh An commune government focused on mobilizing people to switch from growing ineffective vegetables to growing white sweet potatoes.

To date, Thanh An commune residents have expanded the sweet potato growing area to 27 hectares. The growing area is mainly concentrated in Doi Cao village with 18 hectares and Chieng An village with 6 hectares. These are villages with agricultural land located in high areas, making it difficult to grow rice.

Farmers in Thanh An commune choose white sweet potatoes to grow in the winter, bringing in a significant source of income. Photo: Thu Huong

After 4 years of growing winter sweet potatoes, Mr. Tong Van Chinh, Phieng Ban village, Thanh An commune, Dien Bien district clearly sees the effectiveness of this crop.

Mr. Chinh said: Sweet potatoes are drought-resistant crops, one crop only needs to be watered 3-4 times, so it requires less care. The cost of fertilizers is also less than that of corn and rice; only decomposed manure is used, no pesticides are used. The average yield is 11-12 tons/ha. The current selling price ranges from 10,000 - 17,000 VND/kg, depending on the time, which will give people an income of about 130 - 150 million VND/ha, much higher than rice cultivation.

Building Thanh An sweet potato into an OCOP product

In order for the sweet potato brand to have a foothold in the market, the Thanh An commune government is building the Thanh An sweet potato brand into an OCOP product. Sharing with reporters, Ms. Tran Kim Thu, Vice Chairman of the Thanh An Commune People's Committee, said: "We are promoting the building of the sweet potato brand as a typical OCOP product of the commune. The current difficulty is building a stable raw material area. The commune has a plan to develop a sweet potato raw material area of ​​over 50 hectares in areas lacking water and unable to grow rice."

The entire Thanh An commune currently has about 27 hectares of white sweet potato growing area. Photo: Thu Huong

This winter crop, Mr. Chinh's family planted 8,000m2 of sweet potatoes and has just harvested 3,000m2. Mr. Chinh estimates the yield to be over 1 ton/1,000m2. With the current selling price of about 13,000 VND/kg, his family earns about 100 million VND. Compared with growing rice and other vegetables on the same area, growing sweet potatoes gives higher productivity and income.

Mr. Lo Van Linh, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Thanh An Commune (Dien Bien District) said: Currently, we have deployed for farmers to switch from low-efficiency vegetables to sweet potatoes. Thanh An sweet potato brand has been known by many people for its delicious quality. Thanh An sweet potatoes are not only sold to Dien Bien people but also ordered by customers in many other provinces.

In the coming time, the Farmers' Association and the People's Committee of Thanh An commune will continue to mobilize people to expand the area of ​​sweet potato cultivation on fields with limited irrigation water such as Doi Cao, Dong Bien, Phieng Ban villages and Chieng An, Chieng Chung villages... Increasing the planting area from 27 hectares to 35 hectares in 2025.

Thanh An sweet potatoes (Dien Bien district, Dien Bien province) have white, thin, sweet, and soft skin, so they are favored by consumers. Photo: Thu Huong

Sweet potato has become a key crop, bringing economic efficiency to people; contributing to promoting agricultural production development in Thanh An commune.

In order for the "Thanh An sweet potato" brand to have a firm foothold in the market, in the coming time, local authorities and people need to join hands to develop sweet potatoes into a typical local OCOP product. Apply science and technology to make sweet potatoes yield high productivity and output; increase promotion and expand the consumption market for Thanh An sweet potatoes.

Source: https://danviet.vn/trong-thu-khoai-lang-vo-trang-an-bo-toi-nong-dan-mot-xa-cua-tinh-dien-bien-thu-120-trieu-dong-ha-20240311145104461.htm