The one who sows 'warmth' in the fields of Na Bac

Na Bac people are in the potato planting season.

Value creation chain

When the policy of growing potatoes was introduced in Tien Yen district (old), Ms. Cuc boldly invited 6 more women in the village to establish a clean agricultural production cooperative. In the first crop of 2022, the whole group planted 3 hectares, and after deducting expenses, they made a profit of eighty million VND. The following year, the group increased to 9 members, with an area exceeding 15 hectares. The whole group learned from experience not to plant late, not to harvest early, agreed on a sowing schedule, and managed irrigation water and nutrition properly. The potato fields were healthy, with thick leaves and evenly formed tubers. According to the production schedule, they could be harvested by the 15th day of the first lunar month.

The key point of the model is the linkage of four parties. The Institute of Agricultural Biology provides quality-assured seeds and transfers technical processes. Farmers comply with recommended fertilization. Enterprises guarantee output. The government supports production organization, training, and connection with mechanical services. Thanks to this linkage chain, 70-90% of the standard output is purchased by Orion Vina Food Company Limited at a stable price according to the contract. Small, deformed or cracked tubers are purchased by livestock facilities right in the field, reducing the risk of inventory.

Ms. Tu Thi Cuc and agricultural staff in the middle of a potato field.

Previously, many winter fields in the old Tien Yen district reached 10-12 tons/ha. With Atlantic potatoes and a synchronized process, Na Bac has reached 20 tons/ha and is expecting 22 tons/ha in the new crop. Depending on the price and the standard rate, the average revenue after about 100 days of cultivation reaches 300-400 million VND/ha, giving a profit of 30-40%/year. The number is convincing enough for people to boldly fill the winter with valuable crops.

“Potatoes also improve the soil. The shallow, widespread roots help to aerate, break up crusts, and improve soil structure. After pulling out the potatoes, farmers immediately plant rice. Many fields show a more uniform growth rate, with rice panicles longer and firmer than non-rotated fields. Farmers say it’s a win-win situation, increasing the value of the winter while adding to the yield of the following season,” Cuc happily said.

Each hectare of potatoes brings about 100 million VND.

Not stopping at farming, Ms. Cuc also invested in a high-yield organic pig herd. The family uses their own vegetables and by-products to replace a part of industrial feed. This method reduces the cost of raising livestock, at the same time creates an output for the substandard potatoes, closing a small cycle on a household scale. The family income is stable at about two hundred million VND per year. She said that farming does not make you rich quickly, but it is enough to be warm and sustainable, the important thing is that the children love the land more, and are willing to learn to advance.

Spread the poverty reduction model to the whole region.

From a small group, Ms. Cuc and her cooperative are planning to expand to several dozen hectares right on Na Bac field. The foundation of expansion lies not only in economic efficiency, but also in community organization capacity. Every step has a common schedule, from sowing to caring, from pest control to harvesting.

Potatoes are harvested and sorted for packaging before traders come to buy.

“The first field visits soon became practical classes. Each person was in charge of a part, and those who had experience with downy mildew or leaf curl would share right in the field, the whole group would write it down in a notebook and do it together. When renting plows, ridgers or trucks, the whole group would combine in large batches to reduce costs,” said Ms. Cuc.

The cooperative also builds an electronic field diary for each lot. Each lot clearly records the sowing date, variety, amount of fertilizer, number of waterings, pesticides used, and the date of stopping spraying before harvest. When the enterprise purchases, the lot comes with a traceability code, creating trust and ensuring quality for the processing chain. The near-term goal is to complete VietGAP certification for the entire area. The further goal is to register the collective trademark Khoai Na Bac Dong Ngu to affirm the brand of the growing area.

The social impact is clear. Women have regular jobs during the winter, young people leave their hometowns less during the off-season, and mechanical services and agricultural product transportation have more income. More importantly, people are getting used to the standard production mindset. Instead of each person doing things on their own, everyone follows the process, negotiates output and shares risks. It is these small but regular changes that help reduce poverty substantially, not based on short-term subsidies but on productivity and production discipline.

Not only Na Bac, the model has also spread to other fields in the region. In the 2024-2025 Winter-Spring crop, the area of Atlantic potatoes in the whole district will reach more than 30 hectares. Yen Than and Hai Lang have had their first experimental crop and have recorded an average yield of 10 to 12 tons/hectare.

With the price the company committed to purchase, after deducting costs, each hectare earned a profit of about 20 million VND. The figure was not as large as the core area of the cooperative, but it was enough to encourage expansion of the area and improvement of techniques in the following crops.