Growing Stevia - a new direction in agricultural development

Stevia is a herbaceous plant, originating from South America, with a high content of natural sweeteners but does not increase blood sugar. In the world , Stevia is commonly used in soft drinks, functional foods, medicinal herbs... In Vietnam, stevia has been planted on a pilot basis in some northern mountainous provinces. Up to now, stevia has been initially planted in the province. With steep mountainous terrain, light sandy soil, neutral pH, cool climate, moderate rainfall..., these are ideal factors for stevia to grow well, with few pests and diseases, no need to invest much in fertilizer, easy to cultivate organically.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ngoc, a member of Thao Duong Vinh Cooperative, said: Through a period of research and study, I realized that stevia is a crop suitable for the potential and soil conditions of the locality. From the end of 2023, the Cooperative decided to invest in building a model of growing stevia in an organic direction. This is a plant suitable for high fields, sandy soil, easy to grow, few pests and diseases, requires little care, low investment capital but can be harvested year-round. Depending on weather conditions, stevia after 50 - 60 days of planting, the plant is 8 - 10 cm high, can be cut to harvest the first crop and continue to care, each year can harvest 6 crops of stevia. Stevia can be harvested for 3 - 4 years.

Stevia planting model of Thao Duong Vinh Cooperative - a new direction in local agricultural development.

After more than 2 years of experimental planting and area development, up to now, Thao Duong Vinh Cooperative has planted nearly 9 hectares of stevia, of which 6 hectares have been harvested. In 2024, the output reached 15 tons of dry grass, and it is expected that in 2025 the output can reach 50 tons. The market demand for stevia is very large, all the dry stevia produced by the Cooperative is consumed, bringing in revenue of more than 1 billion VND/year. Not only bringing income to the Cooperative, stevia also creates regular jobs for more than 50 rural workers. From land preparation, planting, care to harvesting, drying... all can mobilize local labor. On average, each worker has an income of 4 - 6 million VND/month.

According to Mr. Phan Van Quynh, Manager of Thao Duong Vinh Cooperative, the Cooperative currently signs contracts to purchase all output with medicinal processing enterprises in Hanoi . There are times when orders exceed the Cooperative's output, so there is not enough supply. In particular, heavy rains at the beginning of the year have a significant impact on output as well as product quality. With increasing market demand, in the coming time, the Cooperative will propose to the Provincial Cooperative Union to support capital to invest in equipment, build growing area codes and certify clean production to be able to expand product consumption domestically and internationally.

According to Vice Chairman of the Provincial Cooperative Union Tran Anh Dung, Thao Duong Vinh Cooperative is a pioneer in planting stevia on a large scale in the province. This is a model with development potential, which can be replicated in the medicinal material area associated with the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program, and integrated into the plan to develop organic agriculture and ecological agriculture in highland communes. In order to overcome difficulties and support the development of cooperatives, the Provincial Cooperative Union will support and guide the development of production and business plans in the direction of chain linkage as well as support technical training, cooperative management consulting, and connect units with credit institutions to borrow capital to expand production.

The Hien

Source: https://baocaobang.vn/trong-cay-co-ngot-huong-di-moi-trong-phat-trien-nong-nghiep-3178753.html