Binh Phuoc's agricultural sector is recording a new breakthrough in the field of organic pepper cultivation. In recent years, many farming households have been successful in producing organic pepper, bringing high productivity, good quality and effective environmental protection. Binh Phuoc is a locality with great potential for developing pepper. Currently, the whole province has about 12,953 hectares of pepper with an average yield of 19.69 quintals/ha. With the potential strengths of the local land and climate, along with many years of farming experience, many farmers have proactively changed their production thinking, developing organic pepper, reducing damage caused by pests and diseases, while increasing, pepper brings high income to many pepper growing households. Inheriting and spreading the positive effects of the Sustainable Pepper Supply Chain Development Program, many farmers have now changed their farming thinking from traditional methods to organic pepper production. A typical example is the pepper garden of farmer Vi Linh Duy in Binh Minh village, Nghia Binh commune, Bu Dang district. After more than 3 years of hard work and determination in renewing cultivation, his family has actively approached technical measures and applied organic pepper cultivation methods on the entire existing pepper garden area.
Mr. Duy with his family's organic pepper garden
The entire pepper garden has been invested in and cared for by the family according to organic processes, using organic fertilizers with clear certification of origin, absolutely not using chemical fertilizers or pesticides, including growth stimulants of chemical origin. In addition, according to Mr. Duy, when cultivating organically, it is necessary to pay attention to the ecological environment in the garden. Weeds in the pepper garden should not be sprayed and removed, but only cut neatly with a generator, maintain the vegetation system to keep the soil moist, and design a buffer zone around the garden to avoid cross-infection of pests and diseases and when spraying pesticides affecting the organic farming area.
In the 2023-2024 crop year, his 2-hectare pepper garden will yield 5-6 tons/year, selling at 15-20% higher than the market price. After deducting all expenses, the family earns nearly 750 million VND/crop. His family's pepper garden not only has high productivity, but the products are also certified to meet organic standards, eligible for export to the European, American and some other markets.
Mr. Duy with his family's organic pepper garden
Linking to produce cleanly according to international standards is a trend among pepper growers. Because of not using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, the cost of pepper production has decreased significantly, the selling price is much higher than that of clean pepper and regular pepper before, especially through the production process, farmers said that organic farming has contributed to protecting farmers' health, farmers do not come into contact with or use chemicals, so they will not be affected by these toxic chemicals. At the same time, thanks to the application of this technical process, the environment is also cleaner; very good for human health.
To develop sustainable pepper, contribute to improving productivity, product quality and environmental protection and bring high productivity and quality, meeting the strict demands of the market in the integration period, the agricultural sector needs to encourage farmers to pay attention to and replicate the pepper production model according to organic and biological standards; develop sustainable pepper material areas, meet the needs of linking with businesses in processing, and stable product consumption for farmers./.
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Phuoc