High economic efficiency, increasing income for farmers

In 2024, the Hanoi Agricultural Extension Center will build a demonstration model of new potato varieties with high yield and quality that adapt to climate change in the winter crop. This includes the new Atlantic potato model, with a scale of 30 hectares (for processing), deployed in Me Linh and Soc Son districts.

Households participating in the model are supported by the Hanoi Agricultural Extension Center with 50% of seeds, 50% of materials and fertilizers. Under the inspection and supervision of the District Agricultural Service Centers and the Department of Agricultural Extension (Hanoi Agricultural Extension Center). All types of materials and fertilizers supported and matched are guaranteed to be sufficient in quantity, meet quality standards and on time, ensuring timely harvest.

The Me Linh District Agricultural Service Center assessed that the Atlantic potato variety has high productivity and economic efficiency. The expected yield is about 21 tons/ha, the rate of grade 1 tubers accounts for 85 - 90%. With the selling price as committed by the enterprise to purchase at 8,600 VND/kg (grade 1), the revenue is from 170 - 180 million VND/ha, after deducting costs, the profit is more than 80 million VND/ha.

According to the representative of Phu My Agricultural Service Cooperative (Tu Lap commune), farmers are very excited because growing potatoes is easy, just need to put the seed tubers down at the beginning of the season and then pick up the commercial tubers at the end of the season thanks to the application of synchronous mechanization in all stages (plowing, making beds, fertilizing, harvesting, spraying pesticides by drones).

Director of Hanoi Agricultural Extension Center Vu Thi Huong commented: compared to corn and soybeans in the winter crop, Atlantic potato variety gives much higher economic efficiency. In addition, this potato variety also has the advantage of round, uniform, smooth tubers, high dry matter content, suitable for industrial processing production, easy to consume.

In addition, winter potato cultivation is not subject to seasonal pressure, making the most of the straw after harvest as fertilizer to supplement organic matter for the soil, creating looseness for potato growth; along with the stems and leaves of the potatoes after harvest, the tubers will become organic fertilizer, adding nutrients to the soil for spring rice cultivation.

Notably, the Atlantic potato model grown at Tu Lap commune (Me Linh district) has been contracted by the enterprise to purchase all of the potatoes at a price of 5,000 - 8,600 VND/kg. This production and consumption linkage has helped farmers feel secure in production, reducing the worry of "good harvest, low price".

Replicating the model, effectively exploiting agricultural land resources

Appreciating the effectiveness of the model, Director of the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Dai requested the Agricultural Extension Center to base on the results, research, and propose the Department to consider and add Atlantic potato variety to the city's potato variety structure; continue to support the model development in the following years. For the two districts of Me Linh and Soc Son, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dai suggested that the Agricultural Service Centers, communes, and cooperatives strengthen the propaganda work about this new potato variety.

Providing more information about production orientation, Director of Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Dai said: In recent years, the implementation of winter and winter-spring potato cultivation in some districts in Hanoi has brought about clear results: increasing crops, increasing planting area, increasing production value per hectare of cultivated land and helping farmers increase their income.

Therefore, the Department continues to direct the Agricultural Extension Center to coordinate with the Institute of Agricultural Biology and related units to deploy models of growing vegetables, tubers and fruits according to VietGAP standards, including potatoes, to contribute to improving the efficiency of exploiting agricultural land resources.

Also according to Mr. Nguyen Xuan Dai, to anticipate the trend of developing high-tech agriculture, urban agriculture, agriculture combined with tourism experiences, creating favorable conditions for businesses and farmers to boldly invest in agricultural development, the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is actively implementing Resolution 08/2023/NQ-HDND of the City People's Council on Regulations on a number of policies to encourage agricultural development in Hanoi.

Accordingly, the Department is coordinating with localities to review needs, guide farmers, cooperatives, and enterprises to access mechanisms and policies; at the same time, grasp difficulties in implementing the resolution to promptly propose solutions to support cooperatives, enterprises, and units in terms of procedures, capital sources, etc.