Farmers get higher profit when switching to organic rice cultivation. (Photo: VNA)Soc Trang (VNA) – Farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Tranghave got higher profits since they switched to organic rice cultivation.
LucrativeST24, one of the world’s top three varieties, has been chosen to be planted ina total area of 90 hectares in My Xuyen and Tran De districts and Nga Nam town.
Among farmers growing the organic rice variety in the locality, Nguyen NgocTrieu, in Ward 1, Nga Nam town, said that he grew two ST24 crops each year, andfollowed strict requirements of organic agriculture, including no use ofchemicals, compound fertiliser and genetically modified breeding, carefultracking of the farming, and having organic cultivation certificate, amongothers.
His 1.5-hectare rice field yielded up to 5 tonnes per hectare, and Trieupocketed more than 30 million VND (1,300 USD) each crop, doubling the amount hegot when cultivating rice with traditional method.
Ho Quang Tri, a local entrepreneur, has developed an ST24 rice production area onmore than 40 hectares in My Xuyen and Thanh Tri districts and Nga Nam town.Particularly, his farms are certified to meet US and European standards, andthis is an important move for the province to form and branch out organicagriculture.
In 2018, Soc Trang province grew 351,800 hectares of rice, including 177,500hectares of specialty rice, with an output of 1.05 million tonnes.
In the context of global integration, organic rice production is an inevitabletrend as food safety and hygiene is among the overriding priorities. Besides,organic cultivation helps promote sustainable agriculture while affirming the qualityof Soc Trang rice in both domestic and foreign markets.-VNA
VNA
