According to agricultural experts and farmers, the operation of the model, the first piloted in the 2013 winter-spring crop, together with the application of new cultivation methods with machines, helped increase rice productivity by 7-10 percent and reduce fertiliser and pesticide costs by 10 percent compared to the traditional cultivation method.
Around 400 farmer households in the commune have got involved in this model, which covers an area of 60 hectares.
A distinctive feature of this model is that in addition to reducing the volumes of sowed rice seeds, pesticide and fertiliser and increasing rice productivity, quality and economic efficiency, all farming stages are mechanised and farmers’ products are purchased.
However, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development noted that the implementation of the model in Quang Ninh is not easy due to its mountainous topography, which poses many challenges to production mechanisation.
Therefore, it needs a high consensus of all farmer households who work on the same field on variety, cultivation time and process to ensure safe and economical production, said the department.
At present, Quang Ninh province is further studying the success of the model in Hung Dao commune so that it can be expanded to other localities.
