Civil society organizations: Farmer organization
Location: Vietnam
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Ta Thi Nguyen, Ta Thi Nguyen farm owner
Ta Thi Nguyen moved to her parents in law’s land after getting married. Raised in a farm she continued her farming activities and decided to join the SRI-GPM project conducted by ICC to learn something new. She grows two rice crops per year with SRI practices on 0.06ha and grows potatoes in winter. On the 0.1ha left she grows two rice crops per year and vegetables such as sweet potatoes, bell peppers and maize in winter. After adopting SRI-GPM practices she noticed a decrease in pests even though she uses less pesticides and the yields increased by 20%. She was able to sell her production to a higher price than the market and could also improve her farming practices thanks to trainings conducted by ICC.
The ICC in collaboration with Thai Nguyen University and with iE financial support, conducted a project in Thai Nguyen province aiming at building an integrated SRI-GPM model.
The project has been introduced to group of farmers and an on-farm study approach with principles of Farmer’s Field School (FFS) has been applied. The project has tested an approach method of “PublicPrivate Partnership” or “linkage of 4 partners: farmers-technician/scientists-business-public managers” in technological transfer, agroecology transition as well as sustainable rural development in uncertain social and climate changes in Vietnam.
Ta Thi is satisfied to have oined the – project and tries to promote the model in her village and encourage other farmers to join the group and learn about SRI practices. She was able to attend 3 trainings about sowing, weeding and harvesting and benefits from r.hu advices who is always willing to help the farmers improving their technicity.
The farmers involved in the SRI-GPM project observed an average increase of 20% in rice yields. Moreover, they can sell their rice at a higher price than the market. Usually a premium of 1200 dong per kg is applied. A partnership with a private seed company was negotiated by Pr Phu which enables the farmers to sell their whole production ensuring them a stable and better income. 70% of the production is bought and 30% is kept for household consumption. The farmers can also purchase the rice variety they need from this same company at a good price. A partnership was also established with a private company for the potatoes. The company would provide inputs, chec the uality of the final product and purchase the potatoes directly from the farmers. The partnership lasted for one potato season in 2017.