Thanh Hoa had another good winter-spring crop with high prices for most agricultural products, with the average rice yield reaching 67.5 quintals/ha - the highest level ever. In the first 6 months of the year, the production value of the crop sector reached more than 9,400 billion VND, the livestock sector nearly 5,590 billion VND, the fishery sector nearly 3,490 billion VND... contributing to creating a solid foundation for socio-economic development in the province.

Processing poultry meat for export at Viet AVIS poultry slaughterhouse and processing factory for export in Hoang Hoa district.

From the best rice crop in history

The 2024 spring rice crop has just ended, recording many positive signals in general for the province's crop production industry. In hundreds of communes in the province, there are rice production linkage areas, when harvested, enterprises or cooperatives buy fresh rice right in the fields. In Xuan Minh commune (Tho Xuan), Ms. Mai Thi Hue in Thuan Hau village had a lot of joy from the recent spring rice crop with 1.5 hectares of linked rice fields. This is the area her family accumulated by renting more from households lacking labor or not interested in the fields, then Xuan Minh Agricultural Services and Rural Development Cooperative signed on behalf of the households for Thai Binh Seed Group Joint Stock Company (ThaiBinh Seed) to supply seeds, provide technical support and purchase all commercial rice.

“Last crop, the rice yield reached 70 quintals/ha, my family harvested more than 10 tons of rice. What’s more exciting is that this year Thai Binh Seed purchased at 7,500 VND/kg, 1,200 VND/kg higher than last year, bringing in a total revenue of 75 million VND. If we deduct the costs of renting plows, transplanters and materials, our family still made a profit of more than 50 million VND after only nearly 4 months of cultivation,” Ms. Hue shared.

According to information from the Director of Xuan Minh Agricultural Services and Rural Development Cooperative, Do Thi Hoa, in the last spring rice crop, the whole commune had 700 households that the Cooperative acted as the focal point to sign contracts for production and purchase of rice. The Cooperative accumulated rice into large fields, applying mechanization from land preparation to harvesting, so farmers rarely had to do manual labor, and had the opportunity to rest and do other jobs.

Director of Thai Binh Seed North Central Branch Bui Quang Tuan said: “Xuan Minh with about 50 hectares per crop, is just one of dozens of communes that the company is cooperating with to produce rice. In the last winter-spring crop, the company purchased hundreds of tons of dry rice from Thanh Hoa farmers at 12.5 thousand VND/kg, about 2 thousand VND/kg higher than the market price. This summer-autumn crop, through cooperatives and intermediary enterprises, the company supplies seeds for tens of thousands of hectares of rice in Thanh Hoa, most of which are in Trieu Son, Nong Cong, and Hau Loc districts"...

According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thanh Hoa, in the 2024 winter-spring rice crop, the whole province planted 113,588 hectares, with a yield of 67.5 quintals/ha, exceeding the plan by 3.5 quintals/ha, the highest ever. With a rice output of 766,720 tons, it contributed to bringing the total food output of the province in the first 6 months of the year to 893,717 tons. The production value of the crop production industry also reached 9,405 billion VND, equal to 53.5% of the yearly plan.

Towards the overall success of the industry

In agriculture, the livestock sector in Thanh Hoa has also recorded a "miracle" in preventing epidemics over the past 6 months to reach new milestones. According to Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Van Cuong, since the beginning of the year, 41 provinces and cities across the country have had African swine fever, causing heavy losses. Of which, all 4 provinces bordering Thanh Hoa have had the epidemic, but the province's pig herds are still safe, which is a great success in epidemic prevention.

That is the result of the disease prevention and control work that the province and the agricultural sector have directed resolutely, provided timely guidance, and controlled well, preventing disease outbreaks in livestock and poultry. The system of veterinary staff at the grassroots level and the province's forces are still working hard to fight the epidemic, setting up quarantine checkpoints for animals in border areas. Also during the past time, the first vaccination of livestock and poultry in 2024 in the whole province reached 104.3% of the plan. At the same time, quarantine, slaughter control, and veterinary hygiene inspection have been well implemented.

These efforts have contributed to the stable development of the livestock industry in the past six months, with the output of all kinds of fresh meat reaching 151,268 tons, reaching 50.4% of the plan, up 1.5%; poultry egg output reaching 145.45 million eggs, up 9%; fresh milk output reaching 21,240 tons, up 9.6% over the same period in 2023. The past 6 months were also the time when the price of live pigs increased, reaching from 68 to 70 thousand VND/kg. The total production value of the livestock industry reached 5,586 billion VND, up 4.8% over the same period in 2023.

Also thanks to favorable weather conditions, along with the efforts of the entire industry and people, the total output of aquaculture and fishing in the province in the past 6 months reached 106,892 tons. Notably, in aquaculture, the concentrated farming area of ​​4,200 hectares of shrimp and 1,000 hectares of clam farming are almost disease-free, with high productivity, of which 220 hectares are intensively farming white-leg shrimp, following high technology, reaching a value of billions of VND/ha. This result has contributed to bringing the production value of the province's aquaculture industry to 3,487 billion VND, an increase of 4% over the same period in 2023.

Analyzing the achievements of the province's agriculture, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Van Cuong said: "Because there were no prolonged extreme weather events, natural disasters occurred but did not cause much damage. Meanwhile, the area of ​​the province's main crops increased compared to the plan, of which rice increased by 1,258 hectares, sugarcane increased by 1,400 hectares, and cassava increased by 1,200 hectares. In addition to the highest spring rice yield ever, many agricultural products of the province have quite high prices such as: Fresh rice price at the field is 7,500 VND/kg, 1,000 VND higher than last year; sugarcane is purchased at 1.28 million VND to 1.3 million VND/ton, an increase of 200 thousand VND compared to the previous crop; cassava root price reached 2.8 million VND/ton, an increase of 600 thousand VND compared to previous crops. Therefore, agricultural production in the first 6 months of the year has achieved many unexpected successes. wait, maintain stable development and ensure a growth rate of 3.4%".

Although the production value is not as high as the industrial sector, and the role of creating breakthroughs is not as highly appreciated as that of trade and services, the task of "taking agriculture as the foundation" - taking agriculture as the root for development is still affirmed. The success of agriculture in the first months of the year has created a solid foundation for socio-economic development in almost all regions of the province.

Article and photos: Linh Truong

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