Pham An Agricultural Cooperative links production, solving the problem of "good harvest, low price"

Pham An Agricultural Products Production and Consumption Service Cooperative (Pham An Agricultural Cooperative) is one of 63 typical cooperatives nationwide in 2024, voted by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union. The cooperative was established in 2020, with 7 members. As of October 2024, the number of cooperative members has increased to 20 members, divided into 3 production areas in the village: Tram, Voi, 9; production area is about 70 hectares.

The cooperative has a charter capital of 1 billion VND. Production and business lines: Growing vegetables, tubers and fruits such as: Bitter melon, peanuts, watermelon, cucumber, squash, pumpkin, tomato, eggplant, chili, lemongrass...; raising honey bees, breeding bees and producing honey.

Talking to Dan Viet reporter, Mr. Pham Van Toan - Director of Pham An Agricultural Cooperative said: The Cooperative was established on the basis of the Lemongrass Growing Professional Association and converted into a Cooperative according to the provisions of the 2012 Cooperative Law. The main production area is in Hung Thi commune, currently the Cooperative is organizing production according to VietGAP standards; of which, there are 30 hectares of vegetables, tubers, fruits and 40 hectares of lemongrass.

According to Mr. Toan, thanks to the production of vegetables, tubers and fruits according to VietGAP standards, the members and associated households are very excited. Because all products of the cooperative have contracts to purchase with businesses and small traders at major wholesale markets. These include: T9 Vietnam Company, Minh Hai Production Trading & Import Export Company Limited, Long Bien market wholesale (Hanoi), Tho Tang market wholesale (Vinh Phuc)...

"Over the past 4 years, the cooperative members have actively encouraged members and farmers to cooperate with the cooperative, sign a commitment to ensure food hygiene and safety, and implement labor hygiene and safety measures, and produce according to VietGAP processes associated with environmental protection and human health protection... Therefore, the cooperative has guaranteed the products produced by the farmers, with stable prices, so the story of "good harvest, low price" has almost disappeared. Thereby, helping farmers have a stable source of income and peace of mind in production", said Mr. Toan.

Linking production with Pham An Agricultural Cooperative, farmers have good income.

Following the Director of the Agricultural Cooperative Pham An to visit the bitter melon and lemongrass growing model of the members, we saw more clearly the economic efficiency when the Cooperative and households cooperate in production.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Huu, village 9, Hung Thi commune said: By participating in the cooperative, members from small-scale production households will reduce production costs, improve quality, selling prices as well as build brands for products. On the other hand, members also have favorable conditions in accessing new scientific and technical advances, linking with businesses in the supply of input materials and consumption of output products.

"After 3 years of growing bitter melon, my family found that the economic efficiency is higher than other crops. Each year, we produce 2 crops. The economic value of this plant per hectare after deducting costs is nearly 100 million VND in profit," Mr. Huu shared.

Mr. Pham Van Toan - Director of Pham An Agricultural Cooperative said: If well cared for, 1 hectare of bitter melon can bring in an income of 160 - 180 million VND/year. After deducting expenses, people can earn a profit of over 120 million VND/year.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Bui Thi Quynh's family in Tram village, Hung Thi commune started growing lemongrass in 2014. From 2020 to now, when joining the cooperative, her family has been able to participate in technical training courses on growing lemongrass and other vegetables, tubers and fruits.

According to Ms. Quynh, currently the members of the cooperative are growing dwarf lemongrass. Compared to the lemongrass (lemongrass - PV) variety that people used to grow, which took 6-7 months to harvest, the dwarf lemongrass (high-yield lemongrass) variety can be harvested after more than 3 months of planting. The economic efficiency is much higher than other crops such as peanuts and corn. Besides, growing lemongrass makes people healthier, does not require spraying pesticides and does not require much care.

Director of the Agricultural Cooperative Pham An added that the dwarf lemongrass variety has large roots, soft, crispy stems, and little fiber, so it is currently popular in the market, especially in restaurants and kitchens in industrial parks.

According to Director of the Agricultural Cooperative Pham An, on average, 1 hectare yields over 20 tons/batch. Four batches are harvested per year. With the current price that the cooperative is guaranteeing for people at 8,000 VND/kg, 1 hectare of lemongrass yields over 160 million VND/batch. After deducting expenses, the profit is over 100 million VND.

It is known that the cooperative's lemongrass consumption market is mainly large domestic wholesale markets. Recently, the cooperative has also signed a contract to consume lemongrass with a unit in Guangxi province (China). In late October 2024, the cooperative will export the first container with an output of more than 100 tons/month and will export in the last 4 months of the year.

Pham An Agricultural Cooperative - 1 of 63 typical cooperatives nationwide in 2024

In 2022, Pham An Agricultural Cooperative will supply the market with over 300 tons of vegetables, tubers, and fruits of all kinds. In 2023, it will supply over 400 tons. Thereby, bringing in revenue of over 1.4 billion VND.

In the first 6 months of 2024, the Cooperative signed a contract with T9 Vietnam Company to grow and consume chili peppers for export to the Korean market on an area of ​​5 hectares, with the company's consumption price being 20,000 VND/kg. Currently, the company is continuing to coordinate with the Cooperative to expand the area for the 2025 crop to 10 hectares.

The goal for the next years of the Cooperative is to maintain the existing raw material area, focus on expanding new production areas to ensure VietGAP quality and move towards organic production, aiming to bring to the market the best vegetables, tubers and fruits. Ensure quality for domestic consumers, aim to export fresh lemongrass products abroad.

Regarding beekeeping and honey production, on November 6, 2023, Hung Thi honey products of the Cooperative were recognized by the Chairman of Lac Thuy District People's Committee as achieving 3-star OCOP.

Currently, the number of bee colonies that the cooperative is maintaining for honey production is 2,200, with honey output reaching over 200 tons per year. In addition to honey production, the cooperative also produces bee breeds to serve the southern provinces, exporting about 400 colonies each year.

Along with linking and consuming vegetables, tubers and fruits; raising bees for honey and producing bee breeds to create jobs for members and local farmers, the cooperative also does a good job of social security in the area.

Every year, the cooperative sponsors a poor student in the area with an amount of 2,000,000 VND; supports poor households with money to build houses; on the occasion of Lunar New Year, the cooperative organizes visits and gives gifts to poor households with difficult circumstances in the village and commune with a total amount of over 30 million VND.

It is expected that by 2025, the cooperative will aim to produce vegetables, tubers, and fruits according to organic standards to provide clean products for domestic and foreign markets. Therefore, Director of the Agricultural Cooperative Pham An hopes to receive support from the authorities, guidance on documents and invite more experts to provide technical training for the cooperative.

In addition, currently, the road to the cooperative's production area is mainly dirt road, which greatly affects the movement of people and vehicles transporting vegetables, tubers, and fruits. In addition, production households have to pull electric wires several kilometers to the production area to serve the irrigation system, which costs a lot.

Therefore, the Cooperative hopes that the local Party Committee and government will soon support investment in infrastructure such as concrete roads and power grid systems in the Cooperative's production area to facilitate travel and irrigation. Thereby, reducing production costs and increasing income for people.

In fact, the effective operation of Pham An Agricultural Cooperative has become a bridge connecting farmers with businesses, connecting farmers with farmers to have greater strength, solving the problem of "good harvest, low price". This is an important driving force to promote agricultural economic development, building new rural areas in a sustainable direction in the locality.

In recognition of the tireless efforts in production and business, supporting product consumption for farmers, and doing a good job in social security; in 2022, Pham An Agricultural Cooperative was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoa Binh province; in 2023, the Cooperative was honored to receive a Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister.

In 2024, Pham An Agricultural Cooperative was voted by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union as one of 63 outstanding cooperatives nationwide in 2024. The ceremony to honor and award the title of Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer, praising 63 outstanding cooperatives nationwide in 2024 is one of a series of events within the Program of Pride of Vietnamese Farmers in 2024, scheduled to be held at 7:00 p.m. on October 14, 2024 at the Opera House, No. 1, Trang Tien, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi. The program is expected to be broadcast live on Vietnam Television.