Agricultural production restored after Covid-19 epidemic

Kien Giang provincial People's Committee has developed an action plan on food safety in order to create favorable conditions for individuals and organizations in the agribusiness field

Farmers actively sow vegetable seeds to serve Tet market

With the efforts of both the political system and the people, up to now, the Covid-19 epidemic in Long An province has been basically controlled, production and trade have been gradually restored in a "new normal" state.

Production is restored step by step 

The fourth Covid-19 epidemic broke out in the southern provinces and cities, and localities had to implement long-term distancing. This greatly affects the production and consumption of agricultural products, disrupting and changing the supply chain of goods. However, since Long An controlled the epidemic and implemented the Government's Resolution 128/NQ-CP on temporary regulations on safe, flexible adaptation, and effective control of the Covid-19 epidemic, the Provincial People's Committee has announced the level of Covid-19 in the province, gradually established the "new normal" state.

The head of the Division of Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) of Can Giuoc district - Ngo Bao Quoc informed: “In the past, agricultural products were mainly purchased by traders coming to the garden, but due to the epidemic situation, traders did not purchase or purchase is very slow, agricultural products reach the time of harvest but cannot find output. Accordingly, from mid-August to September 2021, due to the influence of the epidemic, the vegetable growing area decreased sharply, to just over 900 hectares; At the same time, there are more than 100 tons of shrimp and over 64,700 poultry in stock. Since the Covid-19 epidemic is under control, markets, processing factories, industrial parks and clusters have reopened, so the purchasing power increases, the prices of agricultural products are more stable. New season shrimp and vegetable seed to prepare for the Lunar New Year market. As a result, up to now, vegetable growing area is over 1,400 hectares, vegetable output in October is over 123,000 tons, reaching 83.7 percent of the plan; Nearly 100 percent of shrimp farming area after harvesting, they stock new crop shrimp”.

The fourth outbreak of the epidemic, Mr. Duong Thanh Quang's family, living in Long Phung commune, Can Giuoc district, had to extend the shrimp crop to 4 months, because no traders came to buy or buy at very low prices. At that time, he only fed shrimp in moderation to wait for the price to increase. After the disease is controlled, production and business activities return to the "new normal" state, the price of shrimp is stable (black tiger shrimp size 40 - 50 heads per kilo from 150,000 to 190,000 VND per kilo), his family cleaned the pond and released the new crop of shrimp.

Loc Troi Agricultural Service Company Limited is one of the largest agricultural enterprises in the Southern region. Only the summer-autumn crop 2021, the company associates production and consumption with Long An with more than 8,000 hectares of rice, mainly in the Dong Thap Muoi region. It is expected that the company will continue to sign a cooperation agreement with Long An about 10,000 hectares in the 2021-2022 winter-spring rice crop.

Mr. Truong Van Day (Loc Troi Agricultural Services Co., Ltd.) said: “Since Long An deployed and implemented Resolution 128/NQ-CP, the company has implemented many training courses on transferring science and technology or visiting the field rice with farmers to as well as mobilizing farmers to join production cooperation with the company. In general, the company's production and trade are almost back to normal".

Consumption is still facing difficulties 

Besides the achieved results, at present, it is still difficult to consume some agricultural products such as cassava, lemon, etc. According to the statistics of the Sub-Department of Cultivation, Plant Protection and Management Quality of provincial agricultural products, in the past week, the province has about 120 tons of seedless lemons in Ben Luc district and over 2,800 tons of cassava in Thu Thua and Ben Luc districts.

The backlog of agricultural products among farmers is mainly cassava

Deputy Director of the Agricultural Service Center of Ben Luc district - Nguyen Van Co said: “The cassava area of the district is mainly concentrated in the communes of Binh Duc, Luong Hoa, Tan Hoa, etc. Currently, there are 90 hectares of cassava has reached the harvest stage, but no traders have come to buy it. Previously, the market for cassava consumption was mainly in Tay Ninh, Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City, etc. However, due to the complicated situation of the Covid-19 epidemic, it affected production and trade of businesses in these localities, traders do not buy".

Mr. Le Minh Thien (hamlet 4, Tan Thanh commune, Thu Thua district) choked: “My family grows 4 hectares of cassava, which is in the harvesting stage, but no traders come to buy it. When cassava does not harvest timely, they can only be cut down, but traders do not buy them because the its tuber become large and have no starch. In the past, my family grew sugarcane, then at a loss, we switched to growing cassava, now we have a similar situation with sugarcane".

Currently, the markets are open again, so the consumption of agricultural products is more convenient

The consumption of agricultural products is slow while the prices of feed, fertilizers and pesticides increase, so many farmers are afraid to reproduce. For example, the prices of some key fertilizers for rice: NPK, DAP, Urea increased 2.5 times over the same period in 2020. Currently, DAP fertilizer costs 1.2 million VND per bag, Urea 840,000 VND per bag, NPK 870,000 VND per bag, Potassium 515,000 VND per bag, etc. The increase in feed prices and agricultural inputs causes the input costs of farmers to increase, which requires the involvement of all levels, industries in stabilizing prices and transferring science and technology.

Mr. Ta Tan Thanh, living in Dong Thanh commune, Can Giuoc district, confided: “In the past, my family raised 3 shrimp ponds, with an area of about 3,000 square meters. Currently, the Covid-19 epidemic is still complicated; At the same time, the price of feed increased, so I only grew shrimp in 2 ponds. The number of fish is less, but the investment cost is still equal to 3 shrimp ponds. I hope all levels and sectors take measures to stabilize the prices of feed, fertilizer, medicine, so on so that farmers can feel secure in production".

It can be seen that the province is gradually returning to the "new normal" state, but it is still facing difficulties in the consumption and production of agricultural products along with increased input costs, etc., so some farmers do not dare to reproduce 100 percent. Deputy Director of Department of ARD - Nguyen Chi Thien informed that the province always pay attention to strengthening connection and diversification of consumption channels to support farmers to consume agricultural products, especially key agricultural products with large output.

Currently, the province's agriculture sector continues to coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to monitor and closely follow the situation of prices and goods circulation, in order to promptly direct the implementation of measures and plans, both promoting production, ensuring the supply of goods in the province and promoting the expansion of markets for domestic product consumption and export.

At the same time, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development continues to grasp the difficulties of farmers, proactively develop appropriate plans and plans in the new situation to ensure the promotion of production, especially in the field of preliminary processing and preserving agricultural products in order to improve the quality and value of agricultural products. On the other hand, the province's agriculture sector will strengthen information and forecast work so that people can be proactive in preventing and fighting diseases on crops and livestock, ensuring efficient production.