Dong Hieu Farm was the place honored to welcome Uncle Ho to visit on December 10, 1961, on the occasion of his second visit to his homeland. In just 3 short days from December 8-10, 1961, with a busy schedule, Uncle Ho spent a lot of time visiting the farm and encouraging people of all walks of life to overcome difficulties, contributing to the successful construction of socialism in the North, effectively supporting the liberation of the South and the reunification of the country.
Going back in history, Dong Hieu Farm was established on the area of coffee plantations of the French capitalists in the past. Because the land of Phu Quy (abbreviated name of Phu Quy Chau, including 3 districts of Nghia Duong, Que Phong and Thuy Van before), is the most fertile red basalt land in Indochina. Since the beginning of the 20th century, French colonialists have been eyeing this land to occupy land to establish plantations. The Decree dated October 15, 1890 of the Governor General of Indochina allowed each colonial capitalist to occupy 500 hectares of land at a time. In 1913, two French capitalists established the first plantation in Phu Quy, in the area east of Hieu River, including: Vonte established Tien Sinh, Nai Sinh, Tram Lui plantations; and Muttong established Yen Tam plantation in Dong Du area (these are plantations located entirely within the Dong Hieu Farm established by our government).
After the success of the August Revolution in 1945, the plantations were handed over to the revolutionary government, and were collectively called the Plantation Management Board. At the end of 1947, the Plantation Management Board changed its name to Nghe An Migrant Reclamation Department and in 1949 changed it to Phu Quy National Farm. In 1955, it was officially changed to Phu Quy National Farm.
Entering the 3-year period of economic recovery (1958-1960) after 9 years of resistance against the French, the Party and the Government had a policy of developing the state-owned economic sector as the leading force of the entire national economy. In that context, to accelerate the speed of agricultural economic development in the new period, on March 24, 1956, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry issued a Decision to establish 2 Dong Hieu and Tay Hieu farms, taking the Hieu River as the boundary. The establishment of Dong Hieu State Farm marked a new step in the development of socialist agriculture in Northern Vietnam.
After the separation, in addition to expanding the coffee growing area, with the help of Soviet and Cuban experts, Dong Hieu Farm introduced other industrial crops grown on the red basalt hills such as rubber, tobacco, oranges, etc.; as well as breeding pigs, meat pigs, cows, etc. into raising.
In the years 1960-1961, in harmony with the uprising movement of the people and soldiers in the South, after the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam was established, Nghe An Party Committee launched the campaigns "An Ngai uprising", "Lam Tra rising waves". Especially responding to the policy of developing the state-owned economic sector of the Party and Government, Dong Hieu Farm achieved many outstanding achievements in land reclamation, expanding the area of tree planting, developing livestock, planting new perennial crops... becoming the "flagship" in agricultural production of the block of state-owned farms in the socialist North, and was awarded the title "Dong Hieu Red Sesame". This is also the reason why Dong Hieu Farm was honored to be chosen by Uncle Ho as the next stop after visiting Vinh Thanh Cooperative, Yen Thanh District.
Returning to the event on December 10, 1961, in about 7 hours (from 8:30 to 15:30), from the time the helicopter with the registration number 5951-0 carrying Uncle Ho landed at Dong Hieu Farm Stadium (now Dong Hieu Primary School), Uncle Ho visited many places, kindly asked about the production situation and people's lives, encouraged people of all walks of life to overcome difficulties, contributed to the successful construction of socialism in the North, and effectively supported the liberation of the South and the reunification of the country. This was a momentous event not only for the cadres and workers of Dong Hieu Farm, but also for the Party Committee, Government, and People of Nghia Dan District, now Thai Hoa Town in general...
During this time, we (PV) had the opportunity to visit the relic complex commemorating the event of Uncle Ho visiting Dong Hieu Farm (including Dong Hieu Farm Stadium, Dong Hieu Farm Guest House, Uncle Ho's Fish Pond, Coffee Lot 119). Although the landscape and artifacts have changed a lot compared to more than 60 years ago, the stories about Uncle Ho still exist. Currently, the farm's traditional house still preserves many valuable images and documents about Uncle Ho's visit. In particular, in the traditional house of Dong Hieu commune - formerly the farm's guest house - where Uncle Ho took a nap, there are many valuable artifacts such as the bed Uncle Ho slept on, the bowls and chopsticks Uncle Ho ate, the clothes Uncle Ho wore, the flower blanket Uncle Ho covered himself with during his nap; the stick Uncle Ho gave to the farm staff, and the microphone at his talk...
Recognizing the great values of the relic, the place that left Uncle Ho's mark on the people of Western Nghe An, in 2006, the Provincial People's Committee issued a Decision to recognize and grant a provincial-level relic ranking certificate to Dong Hieu Farm Guest House - the place that welcomed Uncle Ho on December 10, 1961. On December 23, 2015, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism issued Decision No. 4479/QD-BVHTTDL to rank as a National Monument for the places commemorating Uncle Ho's visit to Dong Hieu Farm.
The most encouraging thing is that in order to promote the value of this relic cluster, contributing to educating the tradition for generations, especially the young generation, the People's Council and People's Committee of Nghe An province have decided to build the Memorial Area of Uncle Ho's visit to Dong Hieu. In particular, on June 29, 2016, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 3051/QD.UBND-XD approving the detailed construction plan at a scale of 1/500 of the Memorial Area of Uncle Ho's visit to Dong Hieu. On October 7, 2016, Decision No. 4855/QD-UBND was issued approving the investment project to build: Memorial Area of Uncle Ho's visit to Dong Hieu.
After many years of waiting, on January 15, 2020, the Provincial People's Committee also issued Decision No. 144/QD-UBND on approving the design of construction drawings and construction estimates for the project: Uncle Ho's Memorial Area visiting Dong Hieu. By April 2020, this project had started construction, and is expected to be completed by 2023. Specifically, this project is built on a planned land area of 10.166 hectares, including items such as: preserving and upgrading the memorial house, stele house; building a square; relic stele house; and many auxiliary systems. The total investment of this project is determined to be more than 54 billion VND.
The relic complex commemorating the event of Uncle Ho visiting Dong Hieu Farm, is located quite close to each other and close to Ho Chi Minh Road - a vital traffic route, intersecting with National Highway 48. This project was started with the expectation of the majority of Thai Hoa town people in general and Dong Hieu Farm staff and workers in particular. According to the decision, this project will expire in 2024. However, looking at the piles of bricks and stones scattered in the main construction area of the project made us feel sad.
Currently, this project is temporarily suspended, while the central square section of the project has just built an unfinished cone-shaped flower platform, many layers of bricks have peeled off. On the side adjacent to Ho Chi Minh road, only one stele house has completed construction but is surrounded by weeds.
Mr. Ho Cong Sam - Chairman of Dong Hieu Commune People's Committee said: According to the design, the project will be divided into 2 phases for implementation. Of which, phase 1 is currently being implemented but not yet completed; the site clearance for about 7 households has been basically completed and for this project to be completed, the headquarters of Dong Hieu Commune People's Committee must be relocated.
What Mr. Sam and the people of Dong Hieu commune hope for is that the project will be completed soon, because if it is left too long, it will be difficult to demarcate and protect the relic sites. Not to mention the preservation of documents and artifacts about Uncle Ho, which the locality has been doing themselves for a long time. If it is left too long, these artifacts will be easily damaged and, most of all, their values will not be promoted.
More worryingly, when we visited the headquarters of Dong Hieu Farm, there was a traditional room where many original images and documents about Uncle Ho's visit were kept, but it was degraded and moldy. In front of the traditional house, there is a statue of Uncle Ho with reliefs and a simulation of Uncle Ho's fish pond, built more than 30 years ago, but has now also degraded. Talking to us, some leaders of Thai Hoa Town People's Committee were also concerned about the project not being completed./.
It can be seen that the investment in the construction of the Uncle Ho Memorial Project to visit Dong Hieu is extremely necessary. With its location, it will contribute to creating a highlight to attract revolutionary tradition education activities; contribute to the development of tourism for Thai Hoa town in the tourist complex of the Northwest Nghe An region, and on the route along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Therefore, it is very necessary to complete the project soon to elevate the relic site, commensurate with the value and historical significance of this land.
In particular, December 10, 1961 - the day Uncle Ho visited Dong Hieu Coffee Farm was also chosen by the Government as Vietnam Coffee Day. Although the coffee trees in Phu Quy have gradually faded away, we still have the right to hope that one day, coffee trees will be restored in this red basalt land, and above all, it has gone down in history, a large-scale event, associated with the origin of Vietnam Coffee Day, in the very land that Uncle Ho visited.