More farmers in the south–central province of Ninh Thuan are linking with companies to mitigate the risk of price volatility and stabilise production.

Nguyen Diep in Ninh Phuoc District’s Phuoc Thuan Commune is growing the wine grape Syrah under a contract with a company and is paid a minimum price of VND15,000 (64 US cents) a kilogramme.

With this set price, he feels secure about his production and does not worry about price fluctuations.

He has three grape harvests a year and an output of three tonnes per harvest.

He earns a profit of VND10,000 for each kilogramme of harvested grape, he said.

More farmers and companies are linking together to expand the variety of wine grapes.

Ninh Thuan has more than 40ha of grapes, mostly the wine grape Syrah, that are cultivated under farm contracts between farmers and companies.

Farmers who grow other crops such as rice, asparagus, red onion and corn seeds have linked with co-operatives and companies to develop large-scale fields to increase production efficiency and secure sales.

The province has 31 such large fields with a total area of 4,241ha as of last month.

Kieu Ngoc Luy in Ninh Phuoc District’s An Hai Commune has linked with the Tuan Tu General Agricultural Service Co-operative in the same commune to grow asparagus to Vietnamese good agriculture practices (VietGAP) standards.

Under the linkage, the co-operative supplies seeds and farming techniques and installs an efficient irrigation system for his 2,000sq.m field.

He harvests about 20 kilogrammes of asparagus a day and sells them to the co-operative at a stable price of VND50,000 ($2.1) a kilogramme.

Hung Ky, director of Tuan Tu co-operative, said farmers can earn an income of VND15 million ($644) per 1,000sq.m a month.

“Asparagus is not only a plant to help local people escape poverty but also a plant to make them become wealthy,” he said.

With the efficient operation of the co-operative, its membership has increased from 16 when it was established to 62 now, he said.

The province has focused on developing linkages among stakeholders in agriculture production to increase the value of agricultural products and secure sales outlets for farmers in recent years.

It has developed 57 such linkages for producing rice, corn seeds, grape, asparagus, aloe vera, garlic, red chili and other crops.

The linkages have helped increase the yield and quality of agricultural products, according to the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Dang Kim Cuong, director of the department, said the department will consult the provincial People’s Committee to continue having preferential policies for co-operatives, co-operative groups, individuals, and companies to develop linkages in producing the farm products.

The province will support co-operatives to invest in infrastructure and the establishment of new co-operatives, he said.

The application of science and technology in crop cultivation, aquaculture and animal husbandry will be instructed to farmers, he said.

The province will also boost the cultivation of new plant and animal varieties which have high yields.

It will strengthen building brand names for agricultural products and co-operate with relevant ministries and agencies to implement trade promotion activities for selling its agricultural products domestically and for export.

Ninh Thuan, which is the country’s driest province, has 12 specifically identified products, including grape, jujube, asparagus, aloe vera, sheep and goat.

It is the country’s largest producer of agricultural products such as grape, jujube and sheep. VNS