Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Le Truong Luu (second from the left) and leaders of Phong Dien district were inquiring about the sale of chili peppers.
Completing the sowing period of summer-autumn rice crop before June 5
At the meeting, Deputy Secretary of District Party Committee, Chairman of Phong Dien District People's Committee Trinh Duc Hung reported that from the beginning of the year, the district’s agricultural production have yielded positive outcomes. Rice crops have proved to be highly prolific.
The district had completed the winter-spring rice crop harvest, with the average yield of 60.7 quintals/ha (an increase of 1.7 quintals/ha as compared to the set plan). Other staple crops also developed steadily as planned.
For the planting area of summer-autumn rice crop in 2018, District Party Committee, District People's Committee and agencies concerned have been focusing on guiding localities to target 5,120 ha as planned. Up to now, roughly 1,700 ha of soil have been prepared and rice seeds sown on approximately 140 ha. The district aims to finish sowing seeds for the summer-autumn rice crop by June 5 to ensure a harvest by August 30.
In addition, with drastic measures, several linkage models in production of organic rice, new rice varieties, chili peppers for export that meet VietGAP standards, etc. have been widely adopted over the district.
At the meeting, the Standing Committee of Phong Dien District Committee suggested that the Provincial Party Committee would revise the policy of supporting high-tech farming and post-investment support for farmers, especially as regards the output market. Further support should also address the production process under VietGap standards, the improvement of quality of agricultural products, and financial aids for land consolidation. The district also hoped to receive fund allocation for transformer stations and low-voltage lines for farming areas, thus create favorable conditions for locals to focus on production activities.
At the meeting, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Le Truong Luu stressed that Phong Dien authorities should revise their agricultural policies basing on evaluations of the economic values and safety issues of organic rice and VietGap standardized rice products. Simultaneously, he urged guiding, linking, and collaborating activities with concerned partners should be fostered to boost insightful studies on production models and improving seeds’ qualities to raise agricultural yields.
Current policies should also undergo examination for proper modifications. Land consolidation progress in Phong Dien, for instance, has fallen behind as compared to some other localities in the province, so the district should discover the reasons and carry out field measurements to achieve higher efficiency.
Secretary of the provincial Party Committee also recommended the model of growing safe vegetables in industrial zones. A major advantage of Phong Dien District is the vast coverage of sandy soil, hence the need for discovering suitable farming models. The model of shrimp farming on sand has been locally piloted by CP Vietnam Livestock Corporation, so the district could conduct further scientific research based on the available project to spread the production activities as well as improve the output market for the product.
The district has a total of 45 cooperatives. Such an over-sized large number of cooperatives proves to be a setback preventing Phong Dien
from developing agricultural production, and thus the number should be revised and rearranged. Permanent District Party Committee should timely coordinate with the affiliated Party Committees to have suitable rearrangement and operation plan for cooperatives. Phong Dien should hold a leading position among the localities in agriculture.
Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee Le Truong Luu and local authorities are supervising the progress of the solar cell project in Dien Loc commune.
Introducing another company to buy chili peppers from locals
After meeting with leaders of Phong Dien district on agricultural production, Secretary Le Truong Luu along with local authorities and other involving departments directly met with chili pepper farmers in Dien Loc commune to learn more about the situation of chili sale.
Phong Dien district previously helped convince Thien An International Investment Company (Hai Phong) to sign contracts with the local cooperatives for growing high-yield hot chili varieties for export over an area of 15 hectares, of which 8 ha. of bullhorn chili and 7 ha. of long cayenne chili. However, up to now, the company has only traded in two batches, with a total purchase of 33.4 tonnes of fresh chili peppers.
The company's unreliability has worried chili planters over the output of the crop. To tackle this issue, district authorities have worked with the company to terminate the business contract and introduced another company for the purchase of the remaining chili production.
Mrs. Ho Thi Thua, a local in Nhat Dong village, Dien Loc commune said: "My family planted 2 rods of bullhorn chili. Since Thien An International Investment Company did not buy in chili peppers from farmers anymore, we were really in trouble. Many families, mine as well, have to start harvesting our ripe chili. Occasionally, traders came to buy chili, but the price ranged from only 3 to 4 thousand VND/kg, fresh products. Some planters resorted to sun drying chili peppers andgrinding them for chili powder sale, but the measure could not make up for the loss"
Besides encouraging farmers, the Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee urged Phong Dien district and Dien Loc commune to urgently seek other companies to buy chili peppers from locals. According to Mr. Nguyen Dai Vui, Secretary of Phong Dien District Party Committee, another trader namely An Thuan Phat Company (Quang Ngai) had contacted Phong Dien farmers and offered to buy in chilli peppers over the whole district at 5 thousand VND/kg, in fresh form.
Story and photos: Anh Phong