Converting low-yield rice land to other crops

Model of converting ineffective rice land to high-yield aquaculture of Mr. Le Van Tinh's household, Hoang Thanh commune.

In previous years, more than 5 sao of rice fields of Mr. Le Van Tinh's family in village 3, Hoang Thanh commune were located in a low-lying area, often flooded, and had low productivity. Encouraged and guided by the local authorities to convert ineffective agricultural land to aquaculture, Mr. Tinh accumulated an additional 0.5 ha of low-lying land from neighboring households to invest in digging ponds to raise freshwater fish combined with livestock, forming a comprehensive economic model. According to Mr. Le Van Tinh, since the conversion, after more than 1 year of raising traditional freshwater fish, the average yield has reached 4 tons. Together with raising livestock and poultry, after deducting expenses, the profit is nearly 200 million VND/year.

In the first 6 months of 2025, the whole province flexibly converted the area of low-yield, low-efficiency rice land to other crops, reaching 863.7 hectares. Of which, 673.6 hectares were converted to annual crops; 153.5 hectares were perennial crops and 36.6 hectares were rice-aquaculture combined. According to the assessment of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the models of converting from rice cultivation to other annual crops were all more effective than rice cultivation. Typically: The model of growing yellow melon in Yen Dinh commune, Dong Son ward brought in an income of 250 - 300 million VND/ha/year; growing flowers and ornamental plants in Ham Rong ward brought in an income of 200 - 250 million VND/ha/year; growing chili in Tay Do commune brought in an income of 250 million VND/ha/year; growing vegetables in Dong Quang ward brought in an income of 180 - 200 million VND/ha/year. The area converted from rice cultivation to perennial crop cultivation has high economic efficiency, such as: The model of growing ornamental peach trees in Quang Chinh commune brings in an income of more than 400 million VND/ha/year, the model of growing fruit trees in Tho Xuan commune brings in an income of 150 - 300 million VND/ha/year... For the area converted from rice cultivation to rice cultivation combined with aquaculture, it is mostly carried out on low-lying rice land that is often flooded in the rainy season, so the winter-spring rice crop is unstable. Although the economic efficiency is not much higher than growing 2 rice crops/year, households that convert 1 spring rice crop and 1 fish crop have a relatively stable income of 50 - 90 million VND/ha/year.

Determining the flexible conversion of low-yield, low-efficiency rice land to other crops is one of the important solutions to improve the efficiency of rice land use, especially rice areas with lower economic efficiency than other crops. Since the beginning of the year, the Department of Agriculture and Environment has urged and guided localities to promote the conversion of crop structure on inefficient rice land through the crop production plan. However, currently, the remaining inefficient rice areas are mainly in the midlands and mountainous areas with complex terrain, limited traffic, irrigation, etc., so the conversion work faces many difficulties. In addition, most households with agricultural land are still fragmented and small-scale, making it difficult to produce agricultural products in the direction of goods, and the output market for converted products is still unstable, leading to a lack of encouragement for production households to invest in conversion.

To ensure the flexible conversion of low-yield, low-efficiency rice land to other crops effectively, the Department of Agriculture and Environment is actively coordinating with communes and wards to guide, inspect and supervise the conversion of perennial crop structure on remaining rice land to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Law on Cultivation and current legal provisions. At the same time, review and supplement the list of perennial crops that can be converted on rice land in accordance with each development period and the actual situation of the locality. Along with that, relevant units of the agricultural sector coordinate with localities to inspect and supervise the implementation results, promptly handle violations of crop conversion on rice land according to regulations.

Article and photos: Le Hoi

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/chuyen-doi-dat-trong-lua-hieu-qua-thap-sang-cay-trong-khac-256643.htm