Transferring muddy land to grow lotus, income 4-5 times higher than rice

The Center for Agriculture and Fisheries Extension (KN - KN) in Quang Binh has just held a workshop on the model of converting inefficient agricultural land to lotus cultivation in Vo Ninh commune, Quang Ninh district.

With the support of 30% of the cost of buying seeds, fertilizers and 100% of the implementation cost from the Quang Binh Center for KN - KN, the model started to be deployed from April 2022 on an area of 5.1ha. . These are swampy areas, previously raising fish, ducks and growing rice for one crop, but heavily contaminated with alum, so it was less effective…

The model aims to transfer lotus growing techniques on inefficient agricultural production land to improve production efficiency, increase income per unit area, and contribute to the realization of agricultural restructuring objectives. . From there, the ability to grow, develop as well as effectiveness can be assessed as a basis for replication, and at the same time, proceed to build a brand of lotus products along the value chain...

The lotus variety introduced into cultivation is the Hue high-yield pink lotus, which is disease-free, the cuttings have 1-2 fat, strong leaves, the large leaf diameter of the seedling is 30cm, the plant does not have crushed leaves or broken stems or broken underground stems. During the implementation of the model, the technical staff of the KN - KN Center came directly to direct, monitor and guide planting, care and pest control, etc. to ensure the correct technical requirements.

The results from the field workshop showed that, after nearly 4 months of implementing the model, the Hue high-yield pink lotus variety was planted with the number of mirrors reaching 57-60 pieces/10m2, the number of seeds per lotus mirror is high with 26-30 seeds. and the average weight is over 202g/100 seeds; production is estimated at 3 tons/ha.

Through economic accounting, it is shown that, with the current market price of 55,000 VND/kg of unshelled lotus seeds, 160,000 VND/kg of peeled seeds and 7,000 VND/fresh lotus..., each hectare of lotus is grown on land. agricultural production is inefficient, after deducting expenses for profit about 21 million dong, 4-5 times higher than rice cultivation.

Master Ho Thi Thuy, Deputy Head of the Technical Transfer Department (Quang Binh Province's Center for Entrepreneurship - Entrepreneurship), said that in the two years 2020 and 2021, the unit has also implemented inefficient models of rice land conversion. The fruit was planted in the communes of Quang Phuong (Quang Trach district), Son Thuy and Phong Thuy communes (Le Thuy district) and all achieved positive results. Through economic accounting from these models, it shows that with 1 hectare of lotus cultivation on inefficient rice land, after deducting direct production costs, farmers earn a profit of about 33-36 million VND, many times higher. compared with rice cultivation .

For example, Mr. Truong Van Anh's household in Son Thuy commune (Le Thuy district) in addition to income from selling products from lotus trees, also invests in bamboo bridges, huts, creates contexts and rents out costumes to serve guests. Visitors wishing to take pictures in the middle of the lotus lake for 20,000 VND / time, help increase income.

According to the assessment of the Center for KN - KN in Quang Binh province, the transfer of lotus growing techniques on agricultural land is inefficient to overcome the situation that heavily contaminated soil must be abandoned, while also providing much higher income. times that of rice cultivation and can be combined with tourism exploitation.

Source: Nguyen Trong Hieu - nongnghiep.vn