In the past years, Dong Van district has implemented many solutions to change crop structure for improving production efficiency. Especially, initial conversion from corn and rice to off-season cabbages has brought high economic efficiency for growers.
The implementation of the model has been done under the technical guidance, ensuring the reasonable amount of fertilizer. Off-season cabbages are in accordance with VietGap standards. After 3 months since planting, the average yield reaches 20 MT/ha (the actual productivity of the model reaches 27 MT/ha). With the selling price of VND6,000/kg, the total revenue is VND 120 million per hectare. After deducting all costs of fertilizer and labor, the profit gains over VND 60 million per heatare. Compared to growing corn, off-season cabbages generate the higher four-time income.
After the success of the model, the district has encouraged growers to expand the production area of off-season vegetables. In addition, the district has supported part of the capital for seeds and fertilizer and connected to the market. As of March 2018, Dong Van district has more than 35 hectares of off-season vegetables.
However, the cultivation area of off-season cabbages district is not much compared to potential capacity. Moreover, farmers still grow in small areas and do not follows the technical process. Especially, off-season cabbages after harvesting are not really stable, mainly selling in neighboring districts in Ha Giang province.
According to a governor, growing off-season cabbages is hard because growers have to follow technical standard, but economic efficiency is much higher. Also, the cultivation of off-season cabbages restricts many pests and diseases due to unfavorable ecological environment. Moreover, less use of pesticides during the growth and development of plants will produce clean products for consumers.