Illustrative image (Source: bacgiang.gov.vn) Bac Giang (VNA) – Thenorthern province of Bac Giang has rolled out various measures to enhance thevalue of its agricultꦬural sector, including promoting circular economy,expanding organic farms and encouraging the use of organic fertilizers infarming activities.
According to the provincialDepartment of Agriculture and Rural Development, the province has applied aclosed production cycle to make full use of by-products and wastes fromlivestock for cultivation and vice versa.
Alongside, the province has stepped up mechanisation in agricultural production, especially in stages with lowdegree of mechanisation such as planting, fertilising, and pesticide spraying toreduce input costs and improve competitiveness of agricultural products, while strengtheninginspection of agricultural materials and replicating effective digitaltransformation models.
Bac Giang has focused onsupporting local farmers in selling their products, especially 'thieu' litchi, makingwell preparations in varieties and materials serving rice production in theupcoming crop, and building plans for the production of the winter crop inparallel with taking care of fruit farms and maintaining livestock production,especially chickens and pigs.
The province has also braced forthe stormy season to ensure the operation of irrigation work and dyke system,thus protecting farms.
The department reported that inthe first six months of this year, the province faced great difficulties in markets, especially in China, one of the major export markets of Vietnam due tothe country’s application of “Zero-COVID” policy. At the same time, theRussia-Ukraine conflict has resulted in the crackdown of supply chains andpushed input material prices up.
Statistics showed that in theperiod, fertilizer prices increase 30-50%, while the prices of pesticides rose 10-20%,and that of animal feed was up 15%-20% over the same period in 2021, leading toa hike in production costs and an increase in the prices of agriculturalproducts, affecting farmers' plan on investment and livestock re-herding andaquaculture production.
In that context, the localagricultural sector has proposed a number of policies to support agriculturalproduction and assist farmers by helping them obtain good agricultural practicecertificates, providing with financial support to make analysis of pesticideresidues in litchi, and supplying them with equipment and animal vaccines.
Besides, Bac Giang has held trainingcourses for farmers to apply effective methods to reduce input costs and takeadvantage from available raw materials as feed in livestock.
As a result, many effectivefarming models have been multiplied, including the use of drones in sowing andspraying pesticides in Tan Yen district, which saves 61% of labour costs and20% of pesticides compared to conventional practices, and a model of riceproduction applying System of Rice Intensification (SRI) with an area of 28,000hectares, reducing the costs of input materials by 20-30% and increasing productionefficiency by 20-25% compared to traditional production.
In the first half of 2022, BacGiang continued to develop concentrated commercial agricultural production inline with production and selling chains, increasing incomes for local farmers.In the last winter crop, the province earned 1.9 trillion VND (79.55 million USD),up 8.8% year on year.
In the spring crop this year, theprovince recorded an average rice production of 6 tonnes per hectare and evenover 7 tonnes per hectare in farms cultivating high quality rice varieties.
Meanwhile, the province alsoenjoyed a bumper litchi crop with over 180,000 tonnes, meeting the requirementsof many foreign markets.
Bac Giang has showed good controlof diseases on livestock, resulting in high productivity, especially in chickenproduction.
The province’s agricultural sectorrecorded a growth of 2.7% in the Jaꦉnuary-June period, with the production scalereaching over 19.9 trillion VND, fꦇulfilling 50.9% of its target for the wholeyear./.
