From the application of sprinkler irrigation technology, the 3-hectare coffee garden of Mr. Sil Pop’s family has brought about a worthwhile effect for many farmers in the area to learn.
Sil Pop’s coffee garden applies economical irrigation to reduce costs. Photo: D.L. Garden improvement techniques Sil Pop (36 years old), a J’rai ethnic in Yo 2 village, Ia Ka commune (Chu Pah district, Gia Lai) has a 3-hectare coffee garden in his home garden. He said, this coffee garden family has been nearly twenty years. Initially, the coffee garden was green and had a high harvest due to the new land, moreover the price of coffee at that time was good, so he and many other households boldly invested in the garden. However, for a long time, the orchards have deteriorated due to improper care, the initial selection of varieties is not good, and the price of coffee has continuously plummeted, so there is no money to invest in the garden. “For several years, watching the coffee garden gradually degraded, yielding low, the price dropped to the bottom, my family was sad,” said Sil Pop. In 2018, Sil Pop decided to bring his coffee garden to participate in Ia Mo Nong Agricultural Production – Trade – Service – Tourism Cooperative (Cooperative). By 2019, the VnSAT project will install the sprinkler irrigation system at the root, Sil Pop is the first out of a total of nearly 200 ethnic minority households to participate in the installation of this system. Spending 43,592,000 VND (50% of the project’s counterpart), he bought plumbing, valves, pumps, digging wells… for the sprinkler irrigation system. Under each coffee tree is a water pipe about 40cm above the ground. From here, every time you water, just turn on the switch and the system will bring water to each coffee tree. Sil Pop said: For the first time, just open the power bridge, water for about 5-6 hours is enough. After 10 days of watering again the second phase, just 2 hours is enough water for coffee plants. Depending on the weather each year, watering more or less. “Since the installation of the sprinkler irrigation system, taking care of the coffee garden is very easy. Just open the bridge and then… go play, when it’s time to turn off the bridge, the job is done. It’s not like before, you have to bend your back and drag the water pipe to every coffee tree,” said Sil Pop. According to Sil Pop, since applying the sprinkler irrigation system to the root, his family’s garden quickly turned green again, as if there was a “miracle”. 
Sil Pop next to a lush coffee garden, thanks to the application of sprinkler irrigation technology. Photo: TA Outstanding efficiency Mr. Le Van Thanh, Director of the cooperative said: The application of sprinkler irrigation technology at the root has brought great efficiency to the coffee garden. According to Mr. Thanh, applying this irrigation technology has saved a lot in the process of investment and care for the garden. The first is to save labor: If before, it would take a lot of time to pull pipes to irrigate each tree, unlike now, just open the bridge and finish; In the process of watering, farmers can take advantage of making branches or doing other jobs. Applying this irrigation technology has also saved up to 50% of water according to the previous irrigation method, because the water goes to the root without evaporating or spilling to other places like traditional irrigation. If before, each watering required 450-500 liters of water for each coffee tree, now only half is enough. The amount of fertilizer is also significantly saved because the fertilizer is quantified, put into the water system to bring to each tree, avoiding the case of a lot of roots, less fertilizer, or scattered fertilizer throughout the garden. Then save electricity, save health… “If this system is not installed, this year’s coffee garden will probably be left to die due to a serious lack of water this year,” Sil Pop said. Saving is like that, but the effect brought is a big surprise. According to Sil Pop, in addition to saving labor and investment costs, applying this irrigation technology has significantly improved the quality of orchards: The fruit is larger, stronger and stronger, the yield is superior to the old farming method. . After the first year of applying sprinkler irrigation technology at the root, his garden harvested over 5 tons of kernels/ha. “This crop will probably yield five and a half to six tons per hectare,” Sil Pop said happily. In the harsh climatic conditions, many gardens do not dare to boldly apply science and technology, so the productivity is reduced, Sil Pop’s coffee garden is indeed a model worth learning. Commenting on Sil Pop’s orchard, Mr. Thanh said: “Sil Pop is the member household with the most methodical investment in the coffee garden. Thanks to this right investment, every year, his family’s orchard leads in both yield and quality of fruit. For many years in a row, Sil Pop has been recognized as a good farmer.” According to Mr. Thanh, it was difficult at first to mobilize ethnic minority households to apply this irrigation technology, because people had to “see and then believe”. Since seeing Sil Pop’s application and being effective, many member households who are ethnic minorities have voluntarily followed, bringing positive effects to the orchard. “Sil Pop deserves to be a pioneer in the movement of applying technology to agricultural production of the people of Yo 2 village,” Thanh affirmed. Ia Mo Nong Agricultural Production – Trade – Service – Tourism Cooperative has over 500 member households, with over 700 hectares of coffee. In which, about 190 member households are ethnic minorities. Thanks to learning Sil Pop’s method, up to now, the coffee garden of the people has improved significantly in quality and productivity, which is superior to the backward traditional farming method.
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