Offering 60 tons of maize seeds to 20,000 households at Đồng Nai and Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu province

Recently, in Dong Nai, Bayer Vietnam Group cooperated with Grow Asia, the National Agricultural Extension Center and the International Cooperation Department (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) to offer maize seed support package for 10,000 smallholder farmers in Dong Nai and to another 10,000 farmers in Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

These support packages were part of a series of activities under the program "Better farming, Better life” - a Bayer Group initiative to help farmers maintain, restore production and protect livelihoods in difficult times. The total amount of maize seeds this batch is up to 60 tons, a high quality maize seed 9919C.

Bayer said that, given the negative impacts caused by drought, salinity intrusion and the Covid-19 pandemic, this initiative aimed to motivate local farmers by providing the necessary resources.

In addition to supporting corn seed, the program also popularized sustainable farming methods, ensuring that output products meet international standards. In Dong Nai and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, the estimated corn area in these two provinces was up to 30,000 ha and was the largest maize growing area in South Vietnam.

Understanding the importance of maize to the Southeast region, the Bayer support packages provide quality corn seeds that can thrive in dry soil conditions without using an irrigation system. .

Previously, the project "Better farming, Better life" was officially launched by Bayer Group in collaboration with Grow Asia, National Agricultural Extension Center in September 2020. The project has provided livelihoods for 100 farm households in Ben Tre and is continuing to expand into the Mekong Delta.

In addition to the corn seed support package, Bayer also equipped farmers with the latest farming techniques through training courses, providing pest management solutions, improving productivity and income. In addition, it also disseminated information about the Covid-19 pandemic, women's health…

There were 2,500 households in each project province that would receive direct training, another 7,500 households would receive training materials, information and farming solutions through online agricultural communication channels and various digital platforms such as Facebook, Zalo, YouTube ...

Instead of going to a classroom, residents would participate in the training sessions via a digital application called myagrolink.net where trainees' information was collected to form a database online to make training activities more effective.

Evaluating this program, Mr. Le Quoc Thanh - Director of the National Center for Agricultural Extension said: The support package is expected to have a positive impact on farmers' livelihoods. For Vietnamese agriculture, maize production has always played an important role. To maintain maize volume for the market, maize production required not only high productivity, low cost, but also high quality and compliance with safety standards.

Accordingly, the Bayer's corn seed support package would bring a competitive advantage to maize cultivation in Vietnam" Mr. Thanh affirmed.