Sustainable solutions for sweet sugarcane seasons

The high price of sugarcane has contributed to the stability and development of people's lives after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, to maintain the joy for the next sugarcane seasons, businesses and growers still have a lot of work to do.

The South-Central provinces are in the peak period of the sugarcane harvest season in 2021-2022, especially in key sugarcane growing areas such as Ninh Son and Bac Ai (Ninh Thuan Province); Ninh Hoa Town (Khanh Hoa Province); or the mountainous districts of Dong Xuan, Son Hoa, and Song Hinh (Phu Yen Province).

According to Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huong from Ninh Quang Commune, Ninh Hoa Town, Khanh Hoa Province, her family harvested more than 2,000 tonnes from their 40 hectares of sugarcane, earning more than 2 billion VND.

Chairman of the People's Committee of Ninh Quang Commune Truong Van Hien said that in this sugarcane crop year, factories have been buying at approximately 1 million VND per tonne. This is a high price compared to recent years.

At a sugarcane factory

According to Chairman of the People's Committee of Son Hoa District (Phu Yen Province) To Phuong Bac, sugarcane is a key crop which is helping to reduce poverty in the locality. For many years, Son Hoa District has been coordinating with KCP Vietnam Industry Co., Ltd. to mobilise people to plant sugarcane, aiming to build a stable raw material area of 13,000 hectares. Of which, 2,400 hectares of sugarcane have a stable water source for irrigation, with a yield of 100 tonnes per hectare. The remaining sugarcane area is expected to reap an average of 58-60 tonnes per hectare. On average, growers earn 30 million to 40 million VND per hectare.

Deputy Director of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Ba Ninh said that before 2017, sugarcane was a key crop covering about 18,500 hectares, however, in the 2020-2021 crop year, the province only had about 12,500 hectares of sugarcane.

Sugarcane area in Phu Yen also decreased from 26,000 hectares to 21,369 hectares. The area of sugarcane decreased, while the price of sugarcane increased for two consecutive crops, leading to a shortage of raw materials. Before seasonal demand, there was a situation of competition to buy and sell raw materials between factories in the area.

Facing this situation, sugarcane factories and localities are devising strategies to build stable raw material areas, as well as organise joint ventures with farmers. According to a representative of KCP Vietnam Industry Co., Ltd., the company provided non-refundable support worth 40 billion VND for farmers to plant and take care of sugarcane in the 2021-2022 crop year.

The company is trying also to buy sugarcane at a high price to help farmers have more income, so that farmers can see the efficiency and stick with sugarcane. In the 2022-2023 sugarcane crop year, it is expected that the company will continue to provide 50 billion VND as non-refundable support for farmers; continue to invest 350 billion VND with many preferential policies to support sugarcane farmers and sign contracts with 9,000 households; and increase the area of sugarcane under contract with farmers to 19,000 hectares.

Deputy Director of the Khanh Hoa Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Ba Ninh said that at present, Khanh Hoa has formed a fairly sustainable chain of links between factories, farmers and local authorities in sugarcane cultivation. The province will continue to invest in irrigation systems and traffic infrastructure in the sugarcane material area while encouraging people to associate with sugar companies to specialise in and intensively cultivate sugarcane.

In Ninh Thuan Province, in the 2021-2022 crop year, Bien Hoa-Phan Rang Sugar Joint Stock Company has supported farmers with purchase prices of sugarcane in the field of 1.075 million VND to 1.1 million VND per tonne, a sharp increase from the previous year. The company also provided non-refundable support worth 10.8 million VND per hectare for new sugarcane farmers, including: ploughing service, fertilizer lining, seeding, irrigation, and converting from other crops to sugarcane.