Turning wild plants into… specialties
One day in late June in Ba commune, a light rain fell among the lush green tea hills. The humidity of the mountains and forests mixed with the light, sweet aroma of the tea trees. When we arrived, Mrs. Dau Thi Tuyen (56 years old) was rushing back from the tea garden. She quickly brought the trays of tea that were drying outside into the house. On the porch, a tea processing machine was operating at full capacity, with two or three people helping to continuously feed the fresh tea into the machine. Making a pot of strong Ra zéh tea to invite guests, Mrs. Tuyen told many stories about the land and people here. Especially about the early days when her family started their business with tea trees.
“Ra zéh is what the Co Tu people call the tea tree. In the past, some people from the North came here to work on the fields, and picked gold from the fields to use. The tea tastes bitter, but when you drink it, it has a sweet taste deep in your throat. My husband and I later dug up some and brought it back to try planting in our garden,” Ms. Tuyen said.
Continuing his wife's words, Mr. and Mrs. Tuyen said: When they brought the tea tree home to plant, they only thought it was for fun. After a period of care, the tea garden had green leaves, so they cut them to drink and gave them to some neighbors. Then some people started asking to buy them, so he decided to expand the tea garden from three acres of rice fields. After the first year, the tea garden began to develop steadily, with many young and green leaves. Since the second year, the couple has harvested two to three crops a year, about more than a ton of dry tea.
“The first crop usually yields less, but by the second crop of the year, the yield is stable. If taken care of well, you can harvest three to four crops each year. In addition to its delicious taste, tea vine is also good for treating stomach and intestinal diseases. From the tea garden, my husband and I earn about 80-90 million VND per year, not to mention the fruit garden including Thai jackfruit, green-skinned grapefruit and dragon fruit. Thanks to that, we have food, savings, and can take care of our children to study well,” Ms. Tuyen listed the crops and sources of income for her family.
Seeing the effectiveness of her family's business, many households in Ba commune also started growing tea to develop the economy. Up to now, throughout Ba and Tu communes, there are thousands of green tea gardens. In recent years, the establishment of Tu Commune Agricultural Cooperative, with main products from tea, has contributed to purchasing and consuming output products for people. Along with expanding production, Dong Giang tea brand has been certified as a 3-star OCOP product, inspiring many people to get rich.
The tea brand has spread to many households in the communes of Dong Giang district. Up to now, many households have been converting their fields with difficulties in growing crops to grow Ra Zeh tea. Typically, Mr. Tran Minh Quang's household (Ba commune), Mr. Lam Van Thong's household group (Gadoong village) has about 1.8 hectares; or Mr. Pham Quoc Phong's household group (Pa nan village, Tu commune) has up to 2 hectares...
Mr. Pham Kim Thong, Vice Chairman of Ba Commune, shared: The locality currently has about 10 hectares of tea vine, which is bringing stable income to many households. From wild plants, people have turned them into branded specialties, which have now contributed to hunger eradication and poverty reduction for the locality.
High income from new economic models
As one of the pioneers in bringing durian to grow on the gravel soil of the Kon River, Mr. Nguyen Van Quy now owns dozens of durian trees that are growing well, waiting for harvest. Besides durian, Mr. Quy also grows dwarf bananas, oranges and many other fruit trees. Under the shade of the fruit trees, he has set up chicken farms with hundreds of chickens.
Mr. Quy said: Realizing that durian trees have high economic value, his family boldly invested. After a period of care, the durian has grown very well, promising a large fruit season. With the model of growing fruit trees and raising local chickens and pigs, his family has a fairly stable source of income. In the near future, we plan to expand the planting of durian, bananas and some more fruit trees.
Also in Song Kon, talking about typical examples of rising up in production, many people mentioned Ms. Zo Ran Thi Nho (Pho village). Thanks to taking advantage of the loan capital, she changed her way of thinking and working on the same land where she grew crops. Thanks to that, her family was on the list of people escaping poverty in 2022. Previously, her family mainly depended on agriculture, but thanks to the encouragement of authorities at all levels, she boldly borrowed capital to invest in livestock farming. With profits from livestock farming, she invested more money to open a food milling factory... from there she rose to become rich.
According to Mrs. Zo Ran Thi Nho, previously the family's main income depended on several hectares of acacia planted on the hill, lacking in the past and lacking in the future. Since being encouraged by officials, she has borrowed 60 million VND in policy capital to invest in barns to raise pigs and cows for breeding. After a period of raising animals, the older children gave birth to younger children, and the family's income has gradually increased. In addition, on the acacia land, she and her husband planted some more fruit trees, maintained the acacia garden, and developed a milling facility... to have income from many sources.
In Ba commune, Mr. Alang Ngoi's household is known as one of the first households to implement the deer farming model. In previous years, his family raised buffalo and cows to serve the farming work. However, when learning about the successful deer farming model for velvet in some localities, he boldly invested in barns to develop the economy by starting a business with 5 deer purchased from Ha Tinh .
According to Mr. Ngoi, it was a bit difficult to raise the deer at first because they were not used to it. However, after a short time, the deer developed normally and started to produce velvet. Food for this species is also easy to find, mainly elephant grass and leaves. A few tens of millions of dong is enough to invest in a barn, and the economic value from the deer will be much higher than raising buffalo and cows.
"With the current number of retirees, each year the family earns 50-60 million VND without worrying about output. The female deer continue to reproduce, so the income will likely be higher in the coming years," said Mr. Ngoi.
Mr. Nguyen Huu Sanh, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Dong Giang district, said: Currently, many households in the area have successfully applied many production models, in which some households have dared to think and change when introducing new crops and livestock into production and have initially brought about efficiency. Typically, developing tea cultivation in Ba and Tu communes; raising black pigs, goats, and free-range chickens in A Rooi and A Ting communes; developing fruit tree cultivation in Song Kon commune, Ba commune, Prao town, etc.
“In the coming time, the District Farmers’ Association and local authorities will continue to encourage people to develop many new production models that bring high efficiency. In particular, the Association will continue to launch movements for good farmers from breadth to depth, and at the same time spread good models to other households to develop the economy and strive to reduce poverty,” Mr. Sanh added.
Source: https://baodantoc.vn/ve-noi-cong-troi-dong-giang-gap-nhung-nguoi-tien-phong-tren-linh-vuc-kinh-te-bai-2-1719826590322.htm
Comment (0)