Ethnic people in border areas grow Thai melons to escape poverty

(Baonghean.vn) - Imported passion fruit and melon trees are gradually taking root in the border commune of Hanh Dich, Que Phong district, Nghe An. Along with that, native crops and livestock such as upland melon, gourd duck, yellow flower tea... are being deployed into specific models. Although these are initial pilots, they open up the hope of escaping poverty for this difficult border area.

Improved Khang Dan rice growing model in Pom Om village.

Ms. Lo Thi Thao is one of five households that have tested the improved Khang Dan rice variety, which was deployed in the 2016 crop season in Pom Om village (Hanh Dich commune - Que Phong). The new variety has the advantage of maturing 20 days earlier, and the rice quality is stickier and tastier than the old Khang Dan variety. The model is currently supported by the Nghe An Province Plant and Animal Breeding Center to deploy the first production crop in Hanh Dich commune. The initial test area is 10 hectares, currently deployed for the people of Pom Om and Cham villages. These two villages grow the most rice in the whole commune. The people here really like the new varieties to improve the yield, which is only an average of 52 quintals/ha.

Showing us the ripening terraced fields in front of her house, Ms. Lo Thi Thao excitedly said: “This is the first time my family has grown improved Khang Dan rice. The rice has more grains and ripens faster than every year. If this crop is successful, we will continue to grow improved Khang Dan rice.”

There are only about twenty days left until the harvest season in the village. The flood a dozen days ago did not wash away the rice in the fields. Mountainous people depend on the forests, streams and rivers for their livelihood, so a short-term variety with a suitable agricultural calendar can help people avoid the forest floods that usually appear at the end of August every year.

The heavy rice grains are showing the initial effectiveness of the new rice variety.

Also in Pom Om village, a model of growing passion fruit, a non-native variety, is being implemented. “Plants that are favored by the market such as passion fruit can create a sustainable long-term livelihood for the villagers to escape poverty.” That is the explanation of the 32-year-old Vice Chairwoman of the commune, Luong Thi Dao.

when taking us to visit Mr. Lu Thanh Khue's passion fruit plantation model on a dirt mountain range near Pom Om village. He is one of the first people to grow passion fruit in Hanh Dich land, although in Que Phong district, Tri Le commune has also grown passion fruit for many years.

Mr. Lu Thanh Khue and his wife are taking care of their passion fruit garden, which is about to harvest its first crop.

For nearly 20 years, Mr. Khue and his family have reclaimed nearly 4 hectares of hilly land. Initially, they only used it to grow rice and raise cattle. For the past 2 years, he has quit his job in the commune to work on a farm. In early 2016, the commune implemented a passion fruit growing model, and he boldly tried it. Having seen passion fruit vines growing wild in the fields, he thought this land was suitable for this type of plant.

Sure enough, after only 5 months of planting, the lemons have begun to bear fruit. Although the government did not promise to buy all of the products when implementing the model, Mr. Khue said that passion fruit is popular in the market. Each kilo costs about 12,000 VND. If sold to the processing factory in Tri Le, it would cost about 10,000 VND per kilo.

Passion fruit bushes full of fruit promise a bright future for agricultural producers in poor communes.

Ms. Luong Thi Dao - Vice Chairman of the commune shared: "In addition to the cultivation models, applying new plant and animal varieties, the commune government also pays great attention to developing indigenous seedlings such as duckweed, upland melon and yellow tea flower, a specialty only found in Que Phong land.

In addition to the models of growing passion fruit, improved Khang Dan rice, and piloting local and imported melons, the commune is also implementing the planting of sticky rattan for people in Cham, Pom Om, and Pa Co villages. If the model is successful and can be replicated, this will be a source of raw materials to develop the traditional rattan weaving profession that has existed for a long time in the Thai community.

Through monitoring, Thai melons in Khom village are currently growing the best. The melons bear fruit more consistently than melons imported from other localities. In the near future, Thai melons can be grown in many villages in the commune. As for the rattan, all 12 hectares in the commune are growing well. This mountainous area is the homeland of wild rattan, so the people also support the model when implementing the sticky rice variety.

People of Hanh Dich commune harvest cucumbers.

“Currently, the border commune of Hanh Dich is making efforts to focus on achieving new rural status in 2017, including Pom Om village. However, this is not an easy task because the poverty rate in Pom Om still accounts for over 60% of the total number of households,” the Vice Chairwoman of the commune worried.

Que Phong is one of the poorest districts in the country, Hanh Dich is a difficult border commune in the district. Efforts to develop the economy of a border area where the people are not really active are a difficult thing. The economic models being implemented are only pilot projects, but they open up hope of escaping poverty for small villages along the poetic Nam Viec River.

Vi - Phuong