Soc Trang: Organic rice cultivation yields good results

Soc Trang (VNA) – Farmers in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang have got higher profits since they switched to organic rice cultivation.

Farmers get higher profit when switching to organic rice cultivation. (Photo: VNA)

Lucrative ST24, one of the world’s top three varieties, has been chosen to be planted in a total area of 90 hectares in My Xuyen and Tran De districts and Nga Nam town.

Among farmers growing the organic rice variety in the locality, Nguyen Ngoc Trieu, in Ward 1, Nga Nam town, said that he grew two ST24 crops each year, and followed strict requirements of organic agriculture, including no use of chemicals, compound fertiliser and genetically modified breeding, careful tracking of the farming, and having organic cultivation certificate, among others.

His 1.5-hectare rice field yielded up to 5 tonnes per hectare, and Trieu pocketed more than 30 million VND (1,300 USD) each crop, doubling the amount he got when cultivating rice with traditional method.

Ho Quang Tri, a local entrepreneur, has developed an ST24 rice production area on more than 40 hectares in My Xuyen and Thanh Tri districts and Nga Nam town. Particularly, his farms are certified to meet US and European standards, and this is an important move for the province to form and branch out organic agriculture.

In 2018, Soc Trang province grew 351,800 hectares of rice, including 177,500 hectares of specialty rice, with an output of 1.05 million tonnes.

In the context of global integration, organic rice production is an inevitable trend as food safety and hygiene is among the overriding priorities. Besides, organic cultivation helps promote sustainable agriculture while affirming the quality of Soc Trang rice in both domestic and foreign markets.