Can Tho (VNS/VNA) - More rice farmers in Can Tho city have switched toother crops or have rotated the cultivation of rice with other crops toincrease income and cope with drought.

Farmer Tran Ngoc Thoi in O Mon district’s Truong Lac ward, for example, turnedhis 1ha of rice field to Ido longan two years ago.

He harvested longan early this year and had a yield of 8.8 tonnes, with aprofit of 200 million VND (8,600 USD) from the first crop. Profits from longanare three times higher than from rice, he said.

Most rice fields in Truong Lac ward had switched to high-value fruit likedurian, longan and jackfruit, he said.

Other farmers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta city rotated the cultivation ofrice and other short-term crops to save irrigation water.

Le Thanh Phong, who owns 2.1ha of rice field in Thot Not district’s Thuan An ward,said he would switch to sesame and watermelon for the summer-autumn cropbecause of prolonged hot weather and the high location of his field.

In last year’s summer-autumn crop, he grew 0.6ha of sesame and earned a highprofit of 35 million VND (1,500 USD) a crop. 

Thot Not is estimated to have 580ha of sesame and vegetables this year, up 50haagainst last year, according to the district’s Economic Bureau.

Nguyen Thi Mai, deputy head of the bureau, said the district had helped farmersrestructure their crops properly to save irrigation water, and adapt tounfavourable conditions. The restructuring would improve income for farmers,she said.

The city last year turned 2,292ha of rice fields into fruit and other crops,according to the city’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Theprofit is two to four times higher than rice.

The city has 19.53ha of fruit and 13,249ha of vegetables, up 6.8 percent and 7percent, respectively, against 2018.

Many farmers in the city have also developed urban agriculture and expandedfruit orchards that offer tourism services. The city has 37 fruit orchards thatoffer tourism services, mostly in Phong Dien, Cai Rang and Thot Not districts.They grow mostly durian, mango, milk apple and rambutan.

The city has encouraged farmers to restructure their crops toward increasingvalue and quality for sustainable agriculture.

It has also encouraged farmers to join cooperatives or cooperative groups,which can work with companies that can guarantee outlets for farmers.

Truong Van Kiem, deputy head of the Can Tho Cooperative Alliance, said thatunder the collective farming model, farmers were supplied quality plant seedsand breeding animals, and provided cultivation techniques and diseaseprevention and control methods.

“Most participating farmers have stable guaranteed outlets so they are notreducing prices to traders.”/.