The application of high technology in production of cantaloupe in An Thinh Phat Vegetables, Fruits and Medicinal Plants Production and Supply Cooperative (Phu Cu)

According to the Rural Development Department, in the past 5 years, newly established agricultural cooperatives have boldly applied high technology in production and consumption of agricultural products. As of February 2021, there are 44 agricultural cooperatives applying high technology in agricultural production. The main fields of application are: Extraction, grafting and propagation technology of fruit trees; technology for growing mushroom embryos in cold houses; safe manufacturing technology according to good agricultural practices (GAP); greenhouse, net-house and membrane-house technologies with semi-automatic control systems; the technology of intensive aquaculture in high-tech ponds. Only after a short time in operation, in these cooperatives, not only the production efficiency has increased to 25-30%, but also the labor force has decreased by 30-50%.

Nam Han Mushroom Production and Breeding Cooperative (An Thi) is one of the pioneering cooperatives in applying high technology, actively producing commercial mushrooms in all stages, including the most difficult stage of multiplication and culturing mushroom embryos. Mr. Pham Van Kha, Director of the cooperative, said: “The cooperative was established in 2017, maintaining nearly 10 thousand square meters of hi-tech mushrooms in a closed house. In order to modernize production and apply new technologies in stages, the cooperative has bravely invested in machinery and equipment with a total budget of nearly 2 billion VND, such as: Automatic material reversing machine, automatic lighting and watering system, temperature and humidity monitoring system, … ”. Thanks to boldly applying high technology in production, the cooperative can produce mushrooms all year round, even in hot weather. The edible mushrooms strongly consumed by the markets are as follows: Straw mushrooms, oyster mushroom, brown oyster mushroom, white oyster mushroom ... which are produced under the process of food safety and hygiene, for many years the cooperative have stably sold products for Hanoi market with the output of 3-5 tons / month.

The application of high technology in agricultural production has been carried out by An Thinh Phat Vegetables, Fruits and Medicinal Plants Production and Supply Cooperative (Phu Cu) for many years. The cooperative applies high technology in growing melon and cantaloupe in a net-house according to VietGAP process, bringing fresh, good quality and safe products. 100% of the cooperative's production area has been applied with high technology, from seed selection, seeding, germination to commercial plantation. Thanks to always paying attention to clean and safe production, productivity and reducing labor force, the investment in building net houses, membrane houses and watering technology is of top priority. It can be seen that high technology is applied from soil preparation, mixing materials to trees plantation; fertilization; automatic watering; tracking growth; adjusting the light and temperature ... The workers in the co-operatives' membrane houses and net houses are mainly responsible for pruning excess branches and leaves and harvesting, the rest of the stages are basically automated.

Comrade Le Van Thang, Director of the Provincial Rural Development Sub-Department said: In the coming time, through programs, models and projects of all levels in the field of cooperative development, the sub-department facilitates agricultural cooperatives to invest in modernizing equipment and facilities to access, transfer and receive new and advanced science and techniques into production, especially the ones related to seed production processes and technologies on preliminary processing, preservation and processing of agricultural products, creating a breakthrough in products productivity and quality; at the same time, it encourages cooperatives to actively learn and apply new technical advances to production, produce according to the GAP process in the direction of saving and using input resources reasonably and effectively to reduce costs, increase productivity, food safety quality and environmental protection.