Sugarcane farmers overcome difficulties thanks to growing sugarcane

Cultivating nearly 5 hectares of sugarcane, instead of growing and selling to sugar factories, in the past three years, Mr. Pham Van Chi in Tan Phuoc Hung commune has switched to growing sugarcane for sale to make soft drinks (sugarcane for sale: after harvesting, tie each bundle of 10 sugarcane stalks and weigh them). Because according to Mr. Chi, sugarcane sold to sugar factories is cheap, sometimes even losing investment capital. While growing sugarcane for sale, farmers can grow three crops in two years, making it much more profitable. When harvesting, traders bring their own workers to the fields to cut down sugarcane, thanks to which, after deducting all expenses, Mr. Chi earns a profit of more than 30 million VND per crop of sugarcane for sale on an area of 5 hectares of sugarcane.

“Selling sugarcane by the dozen is more expensive than selling it to a sugar factory. When selling, we don’t have to hire people to harvest it, while selling sugarcane to a sugar factory requires labor costs of 250,000-300,000 VND/ton for cutting, transporting, and carrying. On the other hand, when selling sugarcane to a factory, the sugar content must be measured to calculate the purchase price. If the sugar content is low, farmers won’t make a profit, so people here have almost switched to growing sugarcane by the dozen,” said Mr. Chi.

Farmers in Phung Hiep commune grow sugarcane and sell it to traders for a good income.

Having just harvested 6 hectares of ROC16 sugarcane to sell as juice, joy was evident on the face of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhan in Hiep Hung commune. For the past two years, instead of growing sugarcane to sell to sugar factories, Mrs. Nhan's family has only grown sugarcane to sell as juice. With the current selling price of 2,000 VND/kg, after deducting all expenses, Mrs. Nhan earns a profit of 8 million VND/hectare.

Ms. Nhan said: “For the past few years, the local sugar factory has not been operating, so sugarcane growers have faced many difficulties, not only because of the pressure of sugarcane being submerged by floodwaters, but also because they have to find a place to sell their sugarcane. Therefore, recently, people have switched to growing sugarcane in dozens of tons, which both improves their income and has a favorable output. Thanks to growing sugarcane in dozens of tons, many farmers in this area have a better life than before.”

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Can Tho City, large sugarcane growing areas such as Phung Hiep, Tan Phuoc Hung, and Hiep Hung communes (in the former Hau Giang province) currently have about 2,000 hectares specializing in growing sugarcane for sale and pressing to make soft drinks (accounting for more than 60% of the local sugarcane growing area), purchased by traders to supply sugarcane granaries in provinces and cities.

In addition to securing profits, selling sugarcane in dozens of rows also has many advantages over selling raw sugarcane. In particular, if farmers can apply the technique of preserving the roots, the investment cost will be reduced by about 30% compared to new planting. At the same time, in the situation of lack of harvesting workers and increasing labor costs, switching to growing and selling sugarcane in dozens of rows helps farmers save on sugarcane cutting costs. In fact, many years have shown that growing sugarcane in dozens of rows has 2-3 times higher income than growing raw sugarcane for sale to sugar factories, so the amount of sugarcane planted in the above communes has also decreased significantly compared to before.

Mr. Le Hoang Minh in Hiep Hung commune said: “In the past, I grew raw sugarcane to sell to sugar factories, but when it was time to harvest, the price was low, the sugarcane had to wait many days to be weighed at the factory, the sugar content was not high, and traders forced down the price, so every year I lost money. In recent years, I have switched to growing sugarcane to sell dozens, with a selling price of 1,500-1,900 VND/kg, so now my family's economy is better.”

Selling sugarcane in dozens is helping farmers earn a better income than selling raw sugarcane, which has been maintained in Phung Hiep, Tan Phuoc Hung, and Hiep Hung communes for many years. This is an effective solution to overcome difficulties for sugarcane growers here in the context of the sugarcane purchase price not being improved and the mobilization of sugarcane growers to switch to other crops has not had a specific direction.

Article and photos: DUY KHÁNH

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/nong-dan-vung-mia-go-kho-nho-trong-mia-chuc-a191218.html