The Story of the Fences in Noong O

(Baonghean) - To overcome the situation of cattle and buffaloes roaming freely, destroying crops, affecting environmental sanitation, making it difficult to control diseases and theft, recently, people in Noong O village, Huu Lap commune (Ky Son) have effectively implemented concentrated confinement areas.

Quickly tying knots in the fence around his family's cattle grazing area, Mr. Luong Van Phom said: "Now, in the forest and in the fields, everywhere is filled with corn and cassava. My family raises two male buffaloes. If we don't zone the grazing area, they will destroy corn and cassava of other families and we won't have enough money to pay compensation." Ms. Kha Thi Lien said: "In the past, because there was no management or monitoring, when an epidemic occurred, it was very difficult to control and contain it. Since the grazing area was zoned, the epidemic situation has decreased significantly, and people are very excited."

It is known that in order to change the habit of free-range cattle grazing, the "core" of the village has met many times to discuss and develop a plan to organize cattle and buffalo raising under management by zoning the grazing area; at the same time, promulgate specific penalties suitable to the actual situation of the locality, thereby disseminating the policy so that people can clearly understand and implement it together. Up to now, in Noong O, every family has a cattle and buffalo grazing area in the forest, the large families have a separate area, the small families share 3-4 houses with fences for grazing. The materials are mostly made from bamboo, the families with conditions buy additional barbed wire for reinforcement.

Mr. Luong Van Phom fenced off his family's cattle grazing area.

Mr. Luong Van Man, the permanent police officer of Noong O village, happily said: The situation of letting cattle roam freely in the past caused many problems related to security, order, and environmental sanitation, sometimes leading to conflicts between households that required the intervention of the police and village chiefs to resolve. However, since the families have zoned off grazing areas, the above problems have not arisen anymore, and the people are more united and close-knit...

It is worth mentioning that, unlike before, when cattle and buffalo were left to roam freely for months without anyone paying attention, now, in addition to the fact that each household takes turns visiting and supplementing food every few days, the Noong O people have been conscious of preparing food, building barns, and protecting cattle and buffalo from cold and disease. Talking to us, village chief Kha Van Ban said: The whole village has 99 households, with 500 Thai ethnic people. In recent years, thanks to a clear understanding of the Party and State's policies, the villagers in addition to focusing on growing crops have also promoted livestock farming to develop the economy. The villagers' awareness of livestock farming has been raised. In the summer, especially during the harvest season, they confine their cattle in the forest, and in the winter, they herd them back to their gardens to protect them from the cold. Therefore, the cattle and buffalo are healthy, the total herd is stable, up to now the whole village has more than 200 cattle, with one small household and 5-6 large households.

Thus, with just a simple and not too costly method, the grazing of buffaloes and cows in Noong O has become systematic, contributing to stabilizing the farming method as well as preventing diseases and theft... I think this is a method that other localities need to learn and replicate.

Quang An