Rice harvest on ‘Big model fields’ in An Giang – (Photo: Đ.V.)

(VOVworld) - Statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development show that last year, 6,400 farmers from 12 of the 13 Mekong River Delta provinces are working together to grow bigger fields of rice on 7,800 hectares. An Giang took the lead in the pilot program with 4,000 ha. The initial success shown by An Giang and other provinces in the region have ensured national food security and contributed to 90% of the country’s exports last year. VOV reporter Thanh Tung has more.

Nguyen Van Cuong from Vinh Binh commune in An Giang province says the model of big fields is like breath of fresh air to his local hometown. He says he personally contributed more than 1 ha of farming land to the 1,000 ha rice field run by the An Giang Plant Protection Services Company. The model has proven successful by developing closer links between businesses and farmers. In this pilot project, the rice is being grown in line with Vietnam’s Good Agricultural Practice standards. Farmers who have registered to take part in the model will be divided into groups and must strictly follow the production process. That is how the farmers can evaluate the economic efficiency of every harvest and the quality of the rice. On top of this, most  businesses invest in new varieties of rice, fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, and assign agricultural specialists to help farmers. Nguyen Van Cuong says ‘By joining the program, farmers benefit in three ways. They are able to reduce production costs, access new technology to ensure sustainable growth, and get a guaranteed price for their rice’.

Merging farmers’ agricultural land with each other or with a business is a new model and has proven highly efficient. Under the program, the land still belongs to the farmers’ but it brings in a higher income, minimizes the risks to rice growers and creates a huge supply of rice for export. The model has also made it easier to mechanise agricultural production and set up large rice growing production areas. Huynh The Nang, Vice President of An Giang’s People’s Committee, says ‘The province’s model of bigger fields has attracted a lot of public attention, as they are a breakthrough in terms of developing rice growing zones. The model has partly answered the age old question: how to supply farmers with quality input materials to produce rice, and agricultural production in general, at stable prices’.

The bigger field model was first piloted in the districts of Chau Thanh, Thoai Son, and Tinh Bien last year on 150 hectares and proved to be a great success. Huynh Van Thon, Director General of the An Giang Plant Protection Services Company, says ‘What we really want is a greater demand for the rice our farmers produce. But to be able to do this, we need to make rice cultivation more efficient to increase the rice value. We should also to raise the status of farmers in the country’s agriculture and rural areas’.