Changes in Lagoon

The pioneering "red seeds" to escape poverty

Following the working group of the Provincial Party Committee for Mass Mobilization and Nghe An Provincial Youth Union, we came to Pha Lom land (Tam Hop commune, Tuong Duong district) with the desire to bring practical youth projects to the people and children here. Passing the forest road with hairpin bends from the center of the commune, Pha Lom village appeared before our eyes with a simple beauty typical of a Mong village.

Up to now, nearly 90% of the internal roads of Pha Lom have been completed and constructed by the people and local authorities with the unanimous contribution of human and material resources. Photo: Thanh Quynh

Welcoming us with a bright smile, the village chief of Pha Lom Xong Ba Cho said that the whole village has two Mong clans living together, the Xong clan and the Lau clan. Many prestigious people in the two clans are party members trusted by the villagers. Under the leadership of those party members, the villagers have boldly approached new economic models, unanimously abolishing bad customs to gradually move closer to the advances of science and technology in business.

Leading us to the 7-leaf ginseng growing model of Mr. Xong Tong Ca's family (born in 1982), the Head of Xong Ba Cho village could not hide his joy as he shared: “This plant grows deep in the forest, it is very precious, since ancient times, people have used it as a medicine to treat stomachaches. Later, it was discovered that it also has the effect of strengthening the body and treating high blood pressure, so more and more people are looking for it. For many years, this type of plant is no longer abundant, and you can walk all day without finding any roots. Therefore, the locality has mobilized people to preserve and propagate this precious plant to have another way to escape poverty.

Under the encouragement and example of party members, 5 households in the village have implemented the model. Other models such as breeding cows, raising commercial goats, growing red turmeric... have also been gradually and effectively implemented by party members and villagers.

Ginseng growing model of Mr. Xong Tong Ca's family in Pha Lom village (Tam Hop commune, Tuong Duong district). Photo: Thanh Quynh

Sharing about the role of the village Party cell in accompanying the people in building a new life, Secretary of the Pha Lom Village Party Cell Xong Ba Giay said that currently, the Pha Lom Village Party Cell has 24 party members, including party members who have been awarded the 50-year Party badge, which is a support for the younger generations of the people here to follow.

From the very specific actions of the Party members in the Party cell, the people have seen, believed, heard and followed. The thematic resolutions on economic development, crop restructuring, and strengthening security and order in border areas implemented by the Party cell have been effectively implemented among the people. To improve the quality of the Party cell, in recent times, a number of Party members who are commune cadres have been assigned to the Pha Lom Party cell, not afraid of difficulties, going from house to house to "hold hands and show" the people.

For example, comrade Xong Ba No, Deputy Secretary of the Commune Party Committee, attended the Party cell activities with the people. With his experience from the model of breeding cows, the Deputy Secretary of the Commune Party Committee accompanied the people in building barns, forming models of commercial farming such as black chickens, goats, and pigs. At the same time, with the support of the entire Party cell, the people expanded the rice growing area to more than 14 hectares in the Cha Lap and Khe Ngon areas, including many high-yield rice areas. The models of growing red turmeric, passion fruit, etc. also contributed to increasing income to help people escape poverty.

Under the mobilization of the Party Committee, the government and the 9th Youth Volunteer Corps in the area, Pha Lom people have approached many new economic models, notably the red turmeric growing model. Photo: Thanh Quynh

Unanimously implement the proposed resolutions

Walking on the spacious concrete road leading to the village, the village chief said that this is the last 200m of the village road that the local people contributed to, along with 150 union members and youth of the commune, pouring concrete with a road width of nearly 3m. Since 2017, with the support of the Party and the State in terms of cement, the people have donated land, human resources and materials to build all the slippery dirt roads of the village into wide concrete roads.

Youth union members in the village contribute their youth to implement rural traffic projects and community projects in the village. Photo: Tam Hop Commune Youth Union

Along with the joy of completing the concreting of the traffic routes, this year the people of Pha Lom also have another joy of having a new livestock area. Thanks to that, the pigs and cows no longer die from hunger, cold and disease.

Previously, during the construction of livestock farms, many local people's camps were located in section 7 of sub-area 696 of the Tuong Duong Protective Forest Management Board. To protect the local protective forest area, the 9th Youth Volunteer Corps in coordination with the Party Committee, the Tam Hop Commune government, the Tam Hop Border Guard Station, and the village elders, village chiefs, and prestigious people of Pha Lom village worked together to develop a plan to organize meetings to disseminate information about State regulations, the Law on Forest Protection and Development, and the Land Law to the people.

When the people gradually agreed, the working group closely counted the livestock and poultry of each household to make a plan to relocate the livestock farms and bring the livestock and poultry to the planning area in Bai Lac area so that people could stabilize their livestock farming in the long term.

Notably, the couple Lau Ba Phong (born in 1980) and Vu Y Dia (born in 1981) were among the first households in Pha Lom village to agree to move their livestock farm to Bai Lac. Now, the distance from their house to their livestock farm has been shortened to only 3km. Therefore, the travel time from their house to the livestock farm has also been shortened. Thanks to the rich natural food area and the convenience of vaccination and disease prevention, the livestock has gained significant weight. Thanks to that, 9 pigs of the couple have been reserved by traders to be purchased in the near future.

Also a household with a developed livestock model, Ms. Xong Y Nhia (born in 1982) said that since her family moved the livestock farm with a total herd of up to 20 black pigs from Cay Dao slope to Bai Lac, it has been much more convenient in the process of caring for and selling the pigs. Thanks to the large road leading to the livestock area, the consumption of livestock is easier. Thanks to that, traders do not dare to force down prices because more and more buyers are coming.

Thanks to a change in business thinking, the granaries of the people in Pha Lom are always full even in the middle of the lean season. Photo: Thanh Quynh

Party Secretary Le Hong Thai said that Bai Lac slope has an area of ​​about 112 hectares with abundant natural food sources, which has helped the people's livestock grow well. When livestock farming develops, the Mong people are confident to continue implementing other economic models to increase income and improve their lives. Among them, the red turmeric growing model of the people must be mentioned. Up to now, more than 70 Mong households of Pha Lom village have cooperated with the 9th Youth Volunteer Corps to grow nearly 8 hectares of red turmeric.

In particular, 11 households that had to relocate their livestock farms to Bai Lac slope were also supported by the General Team and the commune government to develop an effective turmeric growing model. On average, each hectare of turmeric cultivation brought the people around 150 million VND. Therefore, taking advantage of garden land and hilly land, people have combined the development of livestock and crop farming in parallel. Life is increasingly prosperous, and the villagers have more confidence in the Party, the government and socio-political organizations to unanimously achieve the set goals.