A sugarcane farm in Tây Ninh Province.— VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Tân

TÂY NINH — Sugarcane farmers in Tây Ninh Province are increasingly mechanising and developing linkages with other stakeholders, steadily improving their incomes.

The support policies offered by the province and sugar companies have helped farmers increase yields and the sugar content in their sugarcane, enabling them to invest more in growing sugarcane.

The south-eastern province has weather and soil suitable for growing sugarcane and is one of the country’s largest producers of the crop.

Nguyễn Hữu Nghị, among the biggest sugarcane farmers in the province, said this year he spent more than VNĐ10 billion (US$420,000) on machinery and facilities used at all stages.

He also increased his sugarcane growing area by 100ha to 310ha.

He used to hire around 100 workers and they would manually harvest 150 tonnes a day.

He now hires 15 workers to operate harvesting machines and they harvest 300 tonnes, Nghị said.

If the weather is favourable this year, he hopes to earn VNĐ16 million ($670) per hectare, he said.

Thái Bá Hoà, deputy director of the Thành Thành Công-Biên Hoà Joint Stock Company, said farmers have changed their thinking about growing methods and adopt a variety of them, besides embracing mechanisation.

So now from 60 tonnes per hectare per crop they have increased their yield to 85 tonnes by using machines, he said.

They also use organic fertilisers to improve soil fertility, and his company encourages them to intercrop to further improve it, Hòa said.

They used to use chemical fertilisers, which reduced fertility, he said.

But mechanisation is expensive and not suitable for small farmers, and so the company invests in machinery, irrigation and farming techniques and provides loans to them, he said.

Along with local authorities it has helped small farmers pool their fields to create large-scale farming areas of 100-300ha.

Sugarcane farmers in the province used to suffer losses and many switched to other crops.

Nguyễn Đình Xuân, director of the province Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the sugarcane growing area reduced by 50 per cent between 2019 and 2022 because of low sugar prices and the effects of imported sugar.

This year the area has increased slightly, to 6,400ha, mostly in Châu Thành, Tân Biên and Tân Châu districts, he said.

The province’s yield is 70-80 tonnes per hectare and 70 per cent is harvested by machines, he said.

The price of sugar is increasing, and the province’s sugarcane growing area too is expected to increase [further], he added.

Sugarcane is its key agricultural product and has helped many households escape poverty in recent years. — VNS