29,000 farmer households in the Mekong Delta province of Song Trang benefited from the Vietnam Sustainable Agriculture Transformation (VnSAT) project funded by the World Bank, heard a conference to review the project in the locality on December 28, VNA reported.

The sub-project in Soc Trang (VnSAT Soc Trang) is invested by the provicial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, and implemented by the VnSAT Soc Trang management board.

Soc Trang is one of eight provinces in the Mekong Delta region selected to implement the VNSAT project, implemented in 30 communes in the region including districts of Ke Sach, Long Phu, My Tu, Chau Thanh, Thanh Tri and My Xuyen.

Soc Trang farmers harvest organic rice. Photo: NDO

VnSAT Soc Trang was implemented on a total area of 29,000 ha of rice land in 30 communes, with total investment of over VND 330 billion (over USD 13.6 million).

Commenced since 2016, the project focused on supporting and investing in farmer organizations through cooperatives, providing training courses, organizing workshops and seminars, building technical transfer models, enhancing communication activities, providing equipment and supporting infrastructure development for local farmers.

Talking about the project, Truong Van Hung, head of Hung Loi Agricultural Cooperative, Long Phu district, said that compared to the previous farming model, the amount of seed used for sowing is 80-100kg/ha, the amount of fertilizer used is 80-100kg/ha. Fertilization does not exceed 100kgN, and the number of times of using pesticides is also reduced by 2-3 times compared to before.

According to Huynh Ngoc Nha, Director of the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the project aims to contribute to realizing the province's agriculture restructuring project, thus increasing income for local rice farmers. It also helps improve the competitiveness of the rice industry and reduce negative impacts on the environment.

A drone is used to spray pesticides on rice fields in Soc Trang. Photo: VNA

Addressing the conference, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Truong Quoc Nam praised efforts made by technicians and local farmers to complete the project, saying that the project has contributed to bringing great economic efficiency to the local agricultural sector.

Farmers in the project areas have adopted advanced technical solutions, and farming knowledge to reduce manufacturing costs and increase the quality of rice, profitability, and competitiveness.

Soc Trang’s ST25 rice variety was twice honored as the World’s Best Rice, helping the locality reach strong growth in rice export. Soc Trang earned USD 400 million from exporting rice in 2023.

Nam underlined the need for the locality’s agricultural sector to maintain the results of the project, and implement other programmes and projects to develop and expand high-quality rice areas, thus creating a premise for Soc Trang to join a project of planting one million ha of low-emission high-quality rice by 2030 launched by the Government.

The results achieved after a long journey of efforts by professional agencies, local authorities, and farmer organizations in the region, has contributed to shaping Soc Trang province's further vision in synchronous solutions to improve the competitiveness of homeland rice and grains; so that local rice products can reach more markets; reduce production costs and improve economic profits for farmers according to the goals set by the project.

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