The golden time to reduce the cost of growing rice in the Mekong Delta [Part 2]: Gradually changing the way of production in a new direction

What are farmers doing to adapt?

In the rice field preparing to sow the autumn-winter season 2022, Mr. Phan Thien Khanh from Dinh Khanh B hamlet, Dinh Mon commune, Thoi Lai district, Can Tho city told us that about 2 years ago his family moved from sowing 3 rice crops/year to 2 rice crops/year, due to high production costs, profits are not much, even destruction or loss.

In order to not be dependent on market fluctuations, Mr. Khanh has developed a plan to reduce the cost of farming. He did not sow the summer-autumn rice crop, instead of spending time drying the soil, letting it rest. This approach also contributes to reducing the amount of fertilizer by 5-10 kg/work (1,000m2) in the following crop. "Most farmers in Dinh Mon commune, about 50% do not cultivate the summer-autumn crop," said Khanh.

According to his experience, in order to save costs, it is necessary to synchronously apply for scientific and technical advances from the first stage of tillage to the final stage of harvesting. “If simply calculating the price of fertilizer increases, then reducing fertilizer, this approach is not called a solution to reduce costs. Reducing costs is having to apply for scientific and technical advances, "said Mr. Khanh.

Mr. Khanh's cost-reduction process starts from the sowing stage, he conducts sparse sowing to save seed; next is a balanced fertilizer application, helping the rice to fall less; at the same time reducing the number of chemical fertilizers, rice plants also have fewer pests and diseases, reducing the number of sprays; thereby reducing production costs.

Sharing his personal views on the traditional way of making rice, Mr. Khanh added: "In the past, there was no scientific and technical progress, farmers followed the custom, as long as the yield was high, it was fine, no charge. how much pocket money. Now scientists and technicians train people, they are very aware of reducing costs in production."

Mr. Khanh added that he will continue to cultivate rice until the end of the winter-spring crop 2022 - 2023 to "remove" costs, then he will plan to convert and renovate all 1.5ha of rice land to growing perennial crops: durian, papaya, liver melon...

According to the reporter, in the context of constantly increasing prices of agricultural materials, farmers in the Mekong Delta are forced to reduce input costs by combining many methods and synchronous technical packages in farming.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh Trang, in Tan Hoa commune, Chau Thanh A district, Hau Giang province, growing rice is already the family's traditional profession, it is impossible to give up rice because of high fertilizer prices.

Mr. Trang calculates that, for this 2022 summer-autumn rice crop alone, the production cost is more than 2 million VND/worker, nearly doubling every year, of which the cost of fertilizer has accounted for more than 30%. Therefore, in the past few years, local rice farmers have chosen the method of sowing sparsely with about 15 kg of seed per work, a reduction of 35-40% compared to the traditional method.

Besides, in the structure of rice varieties produced in each season, farmers also focus on selecting rice varieties that are currently popular in the market such as OM 18, OM5451 to improve product value.

As for Mr. Nguyen Danh Dung in Thanh Phu commune, Co Do district, Can Tho city, he also actively participates in the programs "3 decrease, 3 increase" (3G3T), "1 right, 5 decrease" (1P5G), program IPM, international standard sustainable rice production practices (SRP) under the Sustainable Agriculture Transformation Project (VnSAT) to contribute to lowering the cost of rice production.

Many programs to reduce the cost of rice production have been put into effect

Along with finding solutions to regulate fertilizer prices in the market, localities in the Mekong Delta are promoting the implementation of many programs and projects to direct farmers to progressive solutions to reduce production costs, specifically: is to reduce the number of seeds sown, reduce chemical fertilizers, reduce pesticides.

In Can Tho City, according to the statistics of the Sub-Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of the city, the production cost of winter-spring rice crop 2021-2022 increased quite high to 2.7 million VND/worker while in 2021 the cost of rice production is only 1.9 million VND/work; 2020 is 2 million VND/work.

According to Ms. Pham Thi Minh Hieu, Head of the Can Tho City Plantation and Plant Protection Sub-Department, the reason for the high production cost is the increase in the price of chemical fertilizers. In order for farmers to proactively regulate production costs, as part of the Sustainable Agriculture Transformation Project (VnSAT), the City's Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection has set a goal of increasing profits by 20% for farmers. rice production through the application of 3G3T, 1P5G techniques, contributes to reducing production costs, increasing productivity and product quality, and reducing negative impacts on the environment by reducing the amount of irrigation water, fertilizers and pesticides in rice cultivation.

Currently, the rice area applying the 3G3T process is increasing year by year. If in 2016 it was 8,005ha, by 2022 it has increased to 28,138ha. Thereby, the program brought many outstanding results, specifically in 2022, on average farmers have reduced 80kg of seed/ha, equivalent to about 44% compared to before the project. In terms of fertilizer, it also reduced 40 kg of pure nitrogen (urea) fertilizer. The number of times spraying pesticides is also reduced to 3 times/crop. Fortunately, the statistical yield in the winter-spring crop 2021 - 2022 is not much different, averaging from 6.7 to 7.7 tons/ha. The profit growth rate is 33% compared to farmers outside the project.

For Hau Giang province, Mr. Bach Van Son, head of the Sub-Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection of Hau Giang province, said that the recent increase in fertilizer prices is also a favorable condition to help farmers in Hau Giang province in particular and The Mekong Delta, in general, applies the 3G3T process, promoting people to reduce varieties. Currently, through agricultural extension programs, the provincial authorities have built many programs to reduce the number of seeds sown, and support transplanters for farmers, including mobilizing businesses to join cooperate to help farmers reduce costs. manufacturing charges. Since then, the average sowing density of Hau Giang province ranges from 120 - 150 kg/ha, of which 90% is of high-quality rice varieties.

In Soc Trang province, with local characteristics, there are many different ecological regions, so the implementation of cost reduction also depends on the conditions of each region. The long-standing sweetening area is favorable for production, farmers do rice 3 crops/year. Some areas are sweet, but due to alum contamination, rice cannot be grown in the flood season, so farmers switch to cultivating 2 crops/year. There are areas, alternating 2 crops/year or 3 crops/year, if conditions are favorable, people will do 3 crops/year, if not favorable, cultivate 2 crops/year. In saline areas, farmers can rotate 1 rice crop and 1 shrimp crop.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Phuoc, Director of Soc Trang Province's Sub-Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection shared: "In the past time, Soc Trang province has carried out many propaganda programs to farmers about 3G3T application models. , 1P5G, 1P6G, alternating watering and drying... to reduce production costs for farmers, in which, the industry pays special attention to reducing the number of chemical fertilizers, increasing the number of organic fertilizers and biological products to increase the rice's ability to absorb nutrients, ensure that the rice has a stable yield but the production cost is minimized.

According to industry statistics, farmers in Soc Trang province, sowing from 80 - 130 kg of rice seed/ha, about 50 - 70 kg/ha compared to before the implementation of cost reduction programs, the percentage of farmers applying 60-70% of the province's rice area, the rice area used by farmers with organic fertilizers is nearly 2,000 hectares.

Ms. Pham Thi Minh Hieu, Head of Can Tho Plantation and Plant Protection Sub-Department, said that in the program under the VnSAT project, farmers are advised to reduce the amount of seed sown to 80-100 kg/ha. Farming shop farmers without mechanized support, farmers find it difficult to meet the requirements.

In addition, in order to improve the value of rice products, keeping a production diary is also a method to ensure traceability and store associated records to ensure the requirements of the export market. However, the actual implementation for farmers did not meet expectations when they had not formed the habit of fully recording the information required by the program.