Cần Thơ City big on co-operatives

A rice field under the New Green Farm Co-operative in Cần Thơ’s Thốt Nốt District has a solar-powered environment monitoring system. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Liêm

CẦN THƠ — Cần Thơ is encouraging the establishment of co-operatives and co-operative groups and providing them the support they need to operate efficiently.

The Cửu Long (Mekong) Delta city has 341 co-operatives operating in agriculture, industry, cottage industry, transport, construction, trade, services and credit services, according to its Co-operative Alliance, the overarching regulatory entity.

Nguyễn Đức Phương, its chairman, said the emulation movement in the field of collective economy and co-operatives in 2022-24 has been ushering in important changes with regard to the development of co-operatives and co-operative groups.

They have expanded in terms of number of members, registered capital, infrastructure, and areas of operation, he said.

In the agricultural sector, for instance, many co-operatives now have more than 100 members, registered capital of VNĐ2-7 billion (US$78,000-270,000) and combined farming areas of 300ha-1,000ha.

The Khiết Tâm Co-operative in Vĩnh Thạnh District produces rice seeds for cultivation and high-quality rice for consumption, and provides services such as ploughing and harvesting.

Nguyễn Ngọc Huấn, its director, said the co-operative has linked up with other stakeholders to grow rice on “large-scale” – referring to pooling – fields to reduce costs and harvest large volumes to meet the requirements of processing and exporting companies.

Its members earn VNĐ2-4 million ($80-160) per hectare per year more than farmers who are not members of co-operatives, he said.

The city aims to have 400 co-operatives, up from the current 341, with 25,000 members by 2030.

It got 10 new ones in the first four months of the year, seven in agriculture and three in transportation.

It has organised courses to improve the skills of co-operative managers and advocate the Co-operative Law and measures to implement digital transformation for co-operatives.

The Co-operative Alliance will assist agricultural co-operatives and co-operative groups in registering for collective brand names and growing area codes, applying good agricultural practices, accessing soft loans, linking up with companies to buy inputs at lower costs but with high quality, and securing sales of their harvests.

The city has 179 agricultural co-operatives, and encourages them to apply modern farming methods to increase yields and quality.

Huỳnh Văn Chiến, director of the Thân Thiện Agricultural Co-operative, said it has 34 members and linkages with nearly 500 other farmers to grow fruits and vegetables.

With support from authorities, it has improved its efficiency and instructed its members and partner-farmers to apply good agricultural practices.

It has invested in infrastructure to provide inputs and tied up with buyers to secure sales of the produce.

The Trường Khương A Co-operative in Phong Điền District’s Trường Long Commune has encouraged its 34 members to apply VietGAP standards to grow durian, milk apple and other fruits since 2017.

It has linked up with companies to buy inputs for its members and secure sales for their output.

Its members earn an average of VNĐ100 million ($3,900) a year. — VNS