For Yen Thanh land to be green and fertile

(Baonghean)Yen Thanh currently has 54 farms, certified by the District People's Committee according to new criteria, and 209 family farms, mainly crop and livestock farms. Farm economy has created a positive shift in agricultural production, contributing to promoting the district's agricultural economy to develop in a diversified direction, creating jobs for farmers, contributing to hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and legitimate enrichment...

Yen Thanh is a semi-mountainous plain district with an abundant labor force, relatively favorable for the development of collective economy, especially duck and pig farms in the plains and integrated farms along the hills. Therefore, developing collective economy is the shortest way for people to eliminate hunger, reduce poverty, and stabilize their lives. From determining the correct role of collective economy development, in recent years, along with the general policy mechanism of the whole country, Yen Thanh district has encouraged and oriented people to form specialized and concentrated collective economy areas, such as: raising ducks in the deep plains: Long Thanh, Khanh Thanh, Vinh Thanh, Lien Thanh, Nam Thanh, Hop Thanh, Phu Thanh... Integrated collective economy in the hillside communes: Dong Thanh, Phuc Thanh, Lang Thanh, Tan Thanh, Ma Thanh, My Thanh, Cong Thanh, Son Thanh... attracting many people to boldly invest and expand collective economy development. Among the 54 farms in Yen Thanh, most of them raise ducks and pigs. That shows that people know how to take advantage of natural conditions and are sensitive to new production.



Mr. Ngo Tri Ha's duck farm, Nam Thanh commune - Yen Thanh.

I have heard many times from the District Youth Union about the orange farm of the Secretary of the Dong Thanh Commune Youth Union - Nguyen Khac Son, but today I had the opportunity to "see it for myself". There were many impressions that I could not have expected before the 14-hectare orange garden located deep in several steep limestone mountains. This is a place that the locals call Ba Len area, because around this land there are 3 limestone mountains, creating a tripod position.

Before my eyes was a vast field of oranges that had been harvested twice. The oranges were arranged in long, straight rows, a vast and beautiful orange farm never seen before in Yen Thanh. Nguyen Khac Son excitedly chatted: "Look, the four of us together contracted this orange farm since 2010 through the owner Trinh Xuan Giao. At the time of contract, the oranges were 4 years old. According to the contract, in 2011 we paid the owner 1 billion VND, the following year 1.2 billion VND. Hearing the story, everyone said we were reckless, if we were not careful we would not be able to sell our entire fortune and "husband" someone else. On Yen Thanh land, it is said that the 14-hectare orange farm is very strange! "Have the courage to get rich", we calculated carefully, 10,000 orange trees, of which 7,000 are Xa Doai orange varieties, 3,000 are Van Du orange varieties, if well cared for, it will bring high income. So the predicted harvest yielded 50 tons of fruit, sold at the garden price of 13,000 VND/kg; in 2011 we harvested more than 160 tons, earning over 2 billion VND. It is expected that this year Today, orange production will increase compared to last year. Honestly, the reason we dare to do it is because Mr. Binh has many years of experience in growing oranges."

Son led me up a few steps. Sitting on the floor of a high hut built in the middle of the farm, looking out in all four directions, easily observing the entire Ba Len area. Son excitedly pointed to the East, introducing me to the projects that they had just completed. Around the farm there was a wide moat, almost deeper than a person's head, with careful fences to prevent bad guys and to prevent soil erosion, when it rained heavily, water poured down from above. 14 hectares were planted with only oranges, no other plants were allowed to be planted, for fear of pests and diseases. On the lowest part of the land, a pond was dug, both to water the oranges and to raise fish, and another part of the land was fenced off to raise wild pigs. These projects were expected to require an investment of about 400 million VND.

From afar, a man of medium height was walking quickly through the iron gate of the farm. Son introduced himself as Mr. Nguyen Huu Binh - the owner of this orange farm. Meeting Mr. Binh, the first impression was that he was an approachable person, his voice was always loud and quick. Mr. Binh was open: "Born in 1958, from Dai Son (Do Luong), but started growing oranges in 1981, at Xuan Thanh Farm - Quy Hop.

In 2006, he returned to Dong Thanh to "cooperate" with his friend Trinh Xuan Giao to grow oranges, after many discussions. He jokingly said, "I had to live alone" once again to live with oranges. It was also a fate with the profession. The land he bought was 2 hectares, and Mr. Giao had 15 hectares next door. Because of his many years of experience in growing oranges, Mr. Giao cooperated with me to grow them together. After 4 years, the entire 17 hectares of land became a dreamlike orange farm. In 2010, due to Mr. Giao's circumstances, he assigned me to manage it. Seizing the opportunity to "plant trees until the day of picking fruit", I invited 3 more people, Nguyen Khac Son, Nguyen Van Tam and Nguyen Huu Phuc, to join in.

After receiving the contract, Mr. Binh was most concerned about the product consumption, and the quality of oranges here is not inferior to that of Nghia Dan and Quy Hop oranges. It is expected that in 2011 there will be nearly 200 tons of fruit. That many oranges must be harvested within 1 month. Thus, each day, nearly 10 tons of fruit must be consumed to be assured. The problem must be calculated. For the Nghia Dan and Quy Hop orange areas, that quantity is not a concern, but for the Yen Thanh area, it is a big problem, requiring a plan. But then everything went smoothly, the last 2 orange crops were consumed quickly, at acceptable prices.

In the delta region, the center of the Yen Thanh duck brand, we heard about many duck farms that raise laying ducks, earning billions of dong each year. Mr. Ngo Tri Ha's farm in Son Thanh hamlet, Nam Thanh commune is one of those typical examples. In 2004, Mr. Ha asked the local authorities to contract an area of ​​more than 1 hectare of land along the Dao River to develop the economy by raising fish and growing rice. Seeing that this land could be favorable for raising ducks, he later invested in digging ponds to raise fish and building barns to raise laying ducks. Since then, he has raised and invested in building farms, and now has nearly 1 hectare of fish ponds. By raising fish below and raising ducks above, his farm has brought in a good income every year compared to other areas.

The day we arrived, his farm had 4,000 ducks. Of which, 1,500 were laying eggs, and 2,500 were reserve ducks. Mr. Ha said: "All of them here are super egg ducks. At this time, although 1,500 ducks are in the egg-laying period, they are still at a loss, because I have to invest in 2,500 ducks, I lose 2 million VND a day because I have to buy food for them. But it's okay, in 1 month this flock of ducks will lay eggs, then after each night I will have a profit of 3 - 4 million VND. Raising laying ducks means accepting that. Every year, I stock the entire pond system with monosex tilapia, so almost every week I catch hundreds of kilograms of fish for meat."

Because of the income from fish, there is money to invest during the time of raising reserve ducks, or to invest in additional infrastructure. The amount of duck eggs collected daily, his two sons directly transport to the mountainous districts of Ky Son, Tuong Duong... for consumption. Not only does it increase income, but more importantly, it creates jobs for family members. According to Mr. Ha, to raise laying ducks effectively, it is necessary to choose a location that can exchange water in ponds; not to be subjective about diseases, to vaccinate regularly and feed the ducks with additional supplements; when raising reserve ducks, it is necessary to feed them with vegetables, rice mixed with industrial feed.

In total, Mr. Ha's farm earns an annual income of 1.5 to 1.8 billion VND, creating jobs for 4 local workers, and not polluting the environment. At the end of 2011, the District People's Committee recognized the farm as a duck farm according to new criteria.

Mr. Nguyen Sy Hung - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee said: The potential for Yen Thanh to develop a collective economy is very rich, but people have not exploited much. Especially the hillside area is very favorable for developing a comprehensive farm, in which buffalo and cow farming is the main, but there is no outstanding farm. The reason is that the traffic is not convenient, the capital is low and the disease is continuous, making people not bold enough to invest. The policy of Yen Thanh district is to develop aquaculture farms in the plains combined with poultry and waterfowl. The semi-mountainous area raises pigs, the highland area raises buffalo and cows for sale.

However, the biggest obstacle for farm owners today is that the initial land area for bidding is granted by the commune for 5 years. After that period, if the farm is effective, it will be granted for another 5 years. However, with farm investment, in the first 5 years there is almost no income, or there is income but not much. Therefore, the psychology of farm owners is that the locality will take back the land after the first 5 years, which is a big loss. Of the 54 farms that have been granted farm certificates by the district People's Committee according to the new criteria, most of them are land contracts from the commune for 5 years. Therefore, the district encourages people to voluntarily accumulate land to develop a more sustainable collective economy. Currently, Yen Thanh also has 209 livestock and crop farms, earning hundreds of millions of dong each year. These are developing models, so every year the district will have more farms recognized according to the new criteria. Since the beginning of 2012, Yen Thanh has had 4 farms certified by the District People's Committee.

Xuan Hoang