Bamboo tree helps eliminate poverty in Dong Van (Que Phong)

(Baonghean) - Dong Van Commune, Que Phong District is the fishing capital of the Western region of Nghe An. During the fishing season, the buying and selling scene is bustling on the wharf and on the boats.

The main wharf (locals call it Bu Kem He wharf) of Hua Na hydroelectric reservoir, Dong Van commune, Que Phong district is always bustling with the market for buying and selling sea urchins this season. Super-long and super-heavy trucks are parked close to the water's edge, transporting sea urchins downstream.

During the fishing season, the main wharf of Hua Na hydroelectric lake is always bustling with a fishing market.

There are currently more than 20 iron boats specializing in purchasing for people.

Currently, on the Hua Na hydroelectric reservoir, there are over 20 iron boats specializing in purchasing and transporting sea cucumbers for people. The family of Mr. Lo Van Tien - Director of Dong Tien Agricultural - Forestry - Fishery Service Cooperative has purchased 3 boats to purchase sea cucumbers, creating more jobs for his children and grandchildren.

Mr. Tien proudly said: Like many other households in the commune, his family was among those relocated under the government's policy to carry out a key national project, the construction of the Hua Na Hydroelectric Plant. As someone who knows how to be proactive, after moving to a new resettlement site to settle down, although the hydroelectric reservoir has not yet filled with water, he still used the compensation money to go all the way to Thanh Hoa to buy an iron boat worth 150 million VND.

At that time, everyone in the village thought he was a “crazy” person. If he had money, he would deposit it in the bank to get interest, instead of buying the boat to make scrap metal! When the hydroelectric reservoir was filled with water, his boat was the first to run on the lake. The number of passengers was insignificant, but the goods of the people going in and out of the lake area all depended on his boat. Many people resettled back to the lake to make a living by growing corn, cassava, exploiting non-timber forest products, etc. all depended on his boat.

The mining season creates jobs for thousands of people from mining to purchasing, loading and unloading... Talking to Mr. Lo Van Tan, one of the young men loading and unloading, he said: The group of 10 people loading and unloading here are all from Dong Van commune. In a day of hard work, the whole group can load 60 tons of coal from the boat to 2 cars, earning 6 million VND. However, there is not much work every day, because these big trucks only come once or twice a week, the rest are mostly trucks carrying 10 - 15 tons.

The work of loading and unloading at Hua Na hydroelectric wharf is very hard, each young man can earn 400 - 600 thousand VND/day of hard work.

Boat owner Lo Van Tam said: A boat can carry 7 tons of snakehead fish. During the process of buying snakehead fish, the boat owner carefully records each batch of scales. The price of buying snakehead fish for the people is 1.1 million VND/ton, then transporting it to the wharf to resell to traders. Doing business together for a long time, creating trust between traders and boat owners, so when the boat carrying snakehead fish arrives at the wharf, based on the list of individual purchases from each person, the workers just load it onto the car, without having to re-weigh it.

A temporary tent of people mining in the heart of Hua Na hydroelectric reservoir

Ms. Quang Thi Loi, a larva harvester, said: During the larva harvest season, my husband and I set up a tent here to harvest larva. Every day, we cut 300kg of larva, selling it for more than 300,000 VND, which helps us make a living. We must not cut larva indiscriminately, but must know how to cut it, choose old trees to cut, and preserve each young tree so that we can harvest them next year.

Mr. Lo Van Tien added: In the reservoir area, there are about 3 thousand hectares of forest with the proportion of bamboo trees accounting for 50 - 70%. Previously, the locality banned the exploitation of bamboo shoots, so the bamboo forest developed strongly. Recently, the OXFAM project has invested in fertilizers, combined with training for people on how to fertilize and care for bamboo trees in 4 villages of Dong Van commune: Pu Duoc, Pu Khoang, Khun Na and Muong Hinh.

Lung trees are used to produce items such as toothpicks, chopsticks, incense sticks, etc. to serve the export rattan and bamboo weaving industry, so lung trees are in high demand. Not only production units in the district but also neighboring districts, Vinh City, and Hanoi come to buy lung trees here. Therefore, every year during the lung tree harvest season, people in the commune, especially resettled people, flock to the lake to exploit lung trees more and more. This is also the local policy to encourage people to exploit lung trees and increase their income. 1 hectare of lung trees can exploit 70 tons of lung trees per year, so every year the Hua Na hydroelectric reservoir supplies the market with tens of thousands of tons of lung trees, and people earn billions of dong.

Dense forests of cypress trees in the Hua Na hydroelectric reservoir area

Mr. Nguyen Ba Hien - Chairman of Dong Van Commune People's Committee, said: The area of ​​forest with cypress trees in the commune is thousands of hectares, which is a condition for people to exploit cypress trees for goods. Every year, the forest rangers inspect, review, and then guide people to exploit cypress trees in cypress forests that are old enough to be exploited.

The locality also has a way to protect its lychee forest by establishing teams to prevent people from exploiting lychee during the bamboo shoot growing season; and prohibiting outsiders from exploiting lychee in the forest area assigned to the locality for management. By exploiting it in accordance with the process, each year Dong Van people earn billions of dong from selling lychee. Therefore, the Resolution of the 20th Party Congress of the commune (term 2015 - 2020) identifies lychee as a tree to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty for Dong Van people.

Xuan Hoang