Quang Nam (VNS/VNA) - Born in Dien Ban town, Quang Nam province, 37-year-old Duong Hien Tu hasdeveloped the area's first organic ecological agriculture system and asustainable farming model over the past seven years to create the AnPhu organic farm brand.

As one of the first farming families in GoNoi, an agriculture-intensive area in the province, they began their adventurein organic farming on 2ha of land as part of a business-farmerco-operative model in 2012.

Farmers who made a living from traditionalagricultural production for years were assigned to follow organicfarming under strict regulations and responsibility-related contracts aswell as market price guarantees.

“It was a real change among traditionalfarmers in the region. They were told to use their skills and set pricesthemselves,” Tu said.

“Each family was put in charge of a segment inthe production chain, including livestock, rice, vegetables and fish.Livestock farms now supply meat and bio-fertilisers for vegetables, whilegarden waste from herb farms is used to feed livestock,” he explained.

He said this helped farmers to reduceproduction costs by 35 to 40 percent for chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

According to Do Huu Vinh, 69, a member of An PhuFarm, organic farming is a tough process because it takes more time.

“Most farmers prefer to chill out after sprayingchemical fertilisers and weedkillers. They leave their farms for days to enjoyweddings, parties and festivals, but organic farming needs dailycare,” Vinh said.

“We switched to organic farming two years ago,and it's fresh and healthy. We stopped using toxic chemicalfertilisers and pesticides. Now it's all about hard work and herb-basedpesticides to clear harmful insects,” he explained.

Healthy farming

Nguyen Viet Binh, a farmer in Dien Phongcommune, said organic farming would be the sustainable choice for thefuture.

“Organic farming can be expensive due to labourcosts, but we can work healthier on chemical-free fields. We can earnmore on a small farm as organic products often sell for twice as muchas chemical-based farms,” Binh said.

“Farmers ensure quality control and organicfarming, while businesses ensure a stable price for safe farm produce. Ithelps reduce the risks from market fluctuations,” Binh added.

Hoang Hung, a biology engineer, believed thatorganic farming would continue to grow as people became more aware of wheretheir food was coming from.

“Housewives look at quality rather thanprice. They want to know where the food they're feeding their children is from,and even visit the farms. This has pushed farmers to switch to organicmethods,” Hung said.

The 23-year-old engineer, who works on a5,000sq.m farm outside Da Nang, recycles garden and livestock wasteto produce bio-fertiliser and bio-pesticides.

“Garden waste is fermented toproduce bio-insect spray, while bees and ants help protectthe farm from insect infestation. Earthworms are alsoto decompose organic waste,” he said.

The organic farm collective helpsbusinesses reduce their initial investments by 20 percent.

“Farmers offer land, seeds, skills,labourers and knowledge of agricultural production, while businessesensure supply chain development, sales, technical assistance and qualitycertification,” Hung said.

Links

Vo Lam Vu, the owner of an organic farm inMang Den in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, said building linksamong organic farms nationwide would help set a firm foundationfor an organic growth wave.

“It’s necessary. One organic farm by itselfcan't meet market demands, while shops need diversity fortheir products, ranging from vegetables, fruit, rice and seafood,” Vusaid.

“Our farm, which turned to organic farming sevenyears ago, supplies on average 1.5 tonnes of safe farm produce – mainly rootsand fruit – to Da Nang alone,” he said.

“Each farm specialises in key products,while others supply aquaculture, rice, or packaged coffeeand tea,” he said.

He explained that organic farms wouldreduce the risks of market changes, while maintaining a stable income forfarmers.

Do Thi Tuong Vy, manager of the An Phu Farm shopchain, said farmers held a 40 percent share in the organic productionchain.

“Each farming family can earn from 12-14million VND a month from organic farm produce. Poor families can also addto their coffers from making traditional cakes, pork and beef pies usingmaterials from organic livestock and rice farms,” Vy shared.

She said a specialised livestock farm andprocessing plant had been built in Phu Ninh districtto supply the central region market.

Vy said the farm had built links with threeother organic farms in the region to promote produce diversity. 

Thai Van Quang, an agricultural expert, saidorganic farming was still seen as an emerging market as awareness ofover-used chemicals and stimulants in cultivation was limited.

Quang said the city, in co-operation withChikujo town and experts from Kyushu University and Saga University,Japan, had launched a pilot project to produce liquid fertilisermade from organic waste from farms and public gardens.

Tu said organic farming would be keyfor An Phú Farm for domestic and export markets in the near future.

He said organic production was not only aboutmaking money; farmers had a social responsibility to deal withserious health problems partly related to over-used chemicals, toxicweedkillers and pesticides./.