Linking organic coffee growing to develop tourism

DAK NONG With the advantage of being located right next to Ta Dung Lake tourist area - a 'Ha Long Bay in the Central Highlands', this organic coffee garden becomes an attractive destination for tourists.

DAK NONG With the advantage of being located right next to Ta Dung Lake tourist area - a 'Ha Long Bay in the Central Highlands', this organic coffee garden becomes an attractive destination for tourists.

The coffee garden is located in B'Sre A village, the owner is Mr. Nguyen Viet Tien, 58 years old. This is also one of more than a dozen effective agricultural models cultivated in an organic direction to serve experiential tourism in association with Ta Dung Tourism Cooperative (Dak Som commune, Dak Glong, Dak Nong ).

Ta Dung Lake tourist area (Dak Glong district, Dak Nong) is a natural masterpiece, which has become an attractive destination in the Central Highlands in general and Dak Nong in particular over the years. Not only that, this land is also very suitable for growing high -value crops such as durian, mangosteen, macadamia, pepper, coffee, etc. Seizing this advantage, Ta Dung Tourism Cooperative has gathered many local farming models to link up to develop tourism. Mr. Tien's coffee garden is one of them.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Tien (left cover) introduces the organic coffee model to Mr. Ho Gam (right cover), Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Dak Nong province. Photo: Hong Thuy.

Mr. Tien said that this Robusta coffee garden has a total area of ​​6 hectares, is 12 years old, and has been cultivated according to organic processes since it was first planted. “At first, I only understood that it meant not using inorganic fertilizers or chemical pesticides, simply because I grow coffee for myself, my family, relatives, and friends to feel more secure when using it.

I also understand that exposure to many toxic chemicals from fertilizers and pesticides will affect my health and that of my family. Without health, there is nothing. I do not use fertilizers and pesticides indiscriminately for productivity and profit because the benefits outweigh the harms, not to mention the soil quickly degenerates and loses its color.

It was not until the guys from Ta Dung Tourism Cooperative came to see me and asked me to cooperate in developing tourism and talk more about the organic farming process that I understood what organic is. It turns out that I have been applying more than 80% of the farming process they mentioned for a long time," Mr. Tien said with a smile.

Mr. Vo Duy Quang, Director of Ta Dung Tourism Cooperative (in photo) said that the cooperation with gardeners to develop tourism has initially been effective. Photo: Hong Thuy.

Mr. Tien shared that because he also did some other jobs, this coffee garden did not receive much investment. Initially, he bought organic fertilizer from the company at a fairly high price. Meanwhile, because he did not use inorganic fertilizer, the productivity was not high, and there was no profit. After researching and learning about the process of composting organic fertilizer from microorganisms and consulting with agricultural experts, he bought microorganisms to compost cow, chicken, and goat manure to fertilize the plants.

“I only cut the grass around the base of the tree to clean it and absolutely do not use herbicides because this is a layer of carpet that retains moisture very well for the soil and is also a favorable environment for insects to grow. As for pests, I only occasionally use the company's biological products to spray, and I also spray very limitedly. Because the tree is healthy, its resistance is also good, in the garden there are many types of beneficial insects that grow, they will destroy harmful insects,” said Mr. Tien.

Mr. Tien said that before linking up with Ta Dung Tourism Cooperative, although his coffee was of high quality, he still only sold it to traders like all other traditionally cultivated coffee.

“Last year, a business from Ho Chi Minh City came here for a tour. They saw my farming process and took coffee samples to test. Not long after that, they asked me to sign a contract to purchase all the coffee products in the garden at a price 1.5 - 2 times higher than the market price. However, they also bound me with many terms, basically, I had to maintain the farming method, and not use inorganic fertilizers or pesticides to increase production because of high prices. If the quality was not as good as the original, I would have to pay the contract and be heavily fined. Of course, I accepted everything because even without them, I would still be farming like that. That shows how much people value clean products nowadays,” Mr. Tien excitedly said.

Mr. Ho Gam - Chairman of Dak Nong Farmers' Association (right) highly appreciated the organic coffee farming model and tourism linkage. Photo: Hong Thuy.

What makes Mr. Tien happiest is that he is on the right track in the farming process. Although his coffee garden in the previous crops was not invested in and cared for properly, the trees are old, showing signs of aging, and the yield is low, with the last crop only reaching more than 2 tons/ha, Mr. Tien is still satisfied. Because the value of organic farming is clearly seen when the business guarantees to buy at a high price. Therefore, despite the low yield, the profit is still not reduced.

"The initial steps show the effectiveness of the association between Ta Dung Tourism Cooperative and gardeners to develop tourism. For a sustainable association, gardeners must ensure the farming process according to the initial agreement, clean and beautiful gardens, clean and sustainable farming processes, and products in the garden must ensure high quality as committed. That is the immediate benefit, but in the long term, as Mr. Tien said, organic farming is good for health, the environment and has stable output...", said Mr. Vo Duy Quang, Director of Ta Dung Tourism Cooperative.

Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/lien-ket-trong-ca-phe-huu-co-phat-trien-du-lich-d410730.html