Tan Phu District restores agricultural production

​Grapefruit is one of the promising products of Tan Phu District

Affected by the epidemic

With 1.5 hectares, intercropped with trees such as pink pomelo, Thai jackfruit, Coconut, etc. planted in the family garden, these days, Mr. Le Van Lam, a resident in Phu Loc Commune has been busy with branches pruning, fertilizing, spraying to prepare for the upcoming harvest. Because during the months of implementing social distancing, to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic, this orchard was almost ignored, partly because agricultural products could not be sold, partly because of difficulties in buying agricultural materials to take care of the garden, the trees indicated the signs of significant depletion. Mr. Lam hopes that, when all activities are restored under new normal conditions, the garden will be taken care of again to prepare for the upcoming harvest. At that time, the domestic consumer market, especially the provinces and cities in the East, the West and the North of Vietnam will consume the fruits significantly. The export market will be restored, the prices of agricultural products will increase higher so that farmers can have a source of income to compensate for the period of "loss of revenue" caused by the epidemic.

In order for farmers to have an effective and safe way to restore their orchards, and save costs, Mr. Huynh Trung Tinh, Vice Chairman of the Phu Loc Commune Farmers' Association, said that the local authorities have actually recorded a number of farmers' gardens and fields to know about the real situation. This a way to encourage the farmers to increase the use of organic fertilizers, which are quite abundant because a number of farms and stables raising pigs and goats in the locality and surrounding areas are quite a lot due to the social distancing. Mr. Tinh said that the use of organic fertilizers and micro-fertilizers both reduces production costs and improves the soil, helping the orchard grow sustainably.

Along with Phu Loc farmers, the people in some other communes such as Phu Thinh, Ta Lai, and Phu Xuan, etc. have been urgently restoring their gardens to prepare for the coming harvests with the higher yields. It is known that since the Covid-19 epidemic broke out again, localities have implemented social distancing to prevent epidemics. Consequently, the transportation of commodities has faced many difficulties, leading to a sharp drop in prices of agricultural products. Even if these kinds of fruits could not be sold, the amount of fruit in the garden is huge, causing economic loss and difficulties for local people.

Seeking markets when the epidemic is over

Noting through the actual survey on the general production situation in the district, Mr. Nguyen Nhat Hong, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tan Phu District said, despite the Covid-19 epidemic affected many places with the complicated situation, Tan Phu District has well control it, the number of Covid-19 infections is minor. Although the locality has also created favorable conditions for farmers to take care of gardens and fields, it is limited due to the common influence from many sides. Many orchards were significantly affected, especially some crops, such as citrus trees, Thai jackfruit, etc. having the harvest season at the time of social distancing leading to the difficulties for transportation, regional consumption markets were disrupted.

Recognizing the declined market after the social distancing period, Mr. Hong said that currently, fertilizer prices are increasing, while farmers had not had incomes for many months, this will affect the recovery of production of farmers due to higher costs of many things. Despite many difficulties, households still focus on reproducing to prepare for the upcoming harvest. When the transportation and circulation of goods get better, the purchasing power is forecasted to gradually stabilize and increase again.

In order to help the farmers to reduce difficulties, the District’s Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is developing a plan to advise the District People's Committee to implement programs and policies to support farmers to restore their production on the right schedule, effectiveness, and quality. At the same time, develop mechanisms and policies to support high-tech production models, models of organic and safe agricultural products, the use of fertilizers, organics, microorganisms, etc.

Vi Quan