Preserving village culture in building new rural areas in Hung Phu

(Baonghean)Hung Phu commune is located on the Lam River, about 15 km south of the center of Hung Nguyen district. It has a natural area of ​​over 426 hectares, of which nearly 150 hectares are agricultural land. The people are hardworking and diligent, giving the commune many advantages.for the development of agriculture and aquaculture.

However, entering a new stage of development, the majority of the workforce is untrained, and the application of scientific and technological advancements in intensive farming remains limited, resulting in low productivity and labor efficiency. Furthermore, the dilapidated and underdeveloped essential infrastructure is a major obstacle to the modernization of agriculture and rural areas in the commune.

Given the above situation, when embarking on the New Rural Development program, the commune's Steering Committee identified propaganda and mobilization as an extremely important task, thoroughly adhering to the principle of "The people know, the people discuss, the people do, the people inspect" to maximize democracy and effectively mobilize the people's resources. As a result, in the five years from 2012 to 2016, Hung Phu commune mobilized nearly 107 billion VND, of which the people contributed over 48 billion VND, to successfully implement all 18 criteria (the commune was exempted from the rural market criterion).

Hung Phu Commune Administrative Center. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Hung Phu commune has prioritized allocating significant resources to the transportation and irrigation sectors. This includes investing over 22 billion VND to construct 4.5 km of commune-level roads, 3.39 km of village-level roads, 6.77 km of alleyways, and upgrade 13 km of main internal field roads; building an additional pumping station to increase the total pumping capacity to 2,000 m3/h; and reinforcing 5 km of primary, secondary, and tertiary irrigation canals and nearly 5 km of drainage canals; thereby ensuring irrigation water for production and the needs of the local population.

Another priority that Hung Phu commune is concerned about and determined to invest heavily in is cultural institutions. Because the existing cultural facilities are deteriorating and require significant new investment, this is the group of criteria that the commune is most concerned about and has invested the most effort in. Therefore, when building the New Rural Area, the commune must prioritize the planning and construction of a new administrative center. Along with renovating and upgrading all 8 village cultural houses, the commune has leveraged resources to invest nearly 10 billion VND to build a fairly large new administrative center, including a two-story office building with 20 offices; a multi-functional cultural center, grounds, and a standard sports field.

Recess time for students at Hung Phu Kindergarten. Photo: Nguyen Hai

The upgrading and commissioning of cultural institutions from the commune to the hamlets not only brings practical benefits to the people but also creates a new look for the locality, contributing to the restoration and preservation of traditional cultural values. Hung Phu has two national-level historical and cultural relics (Lam Thanh Mountain historical site and the temple of the scholar Bach Lieu) and one provincial-level cultural relic. Thanks to the early planning of residential areas, today Hung Phu is not only known as a land with many historical relics and scenic spots, and a place with many successful students in Hung Nguyen district, but also as a new rural commune with a strong identity of the rice-growing region of Nghe An.

Currently, in the field of public health care, the commune also focuses on building a team of doctors and medical staff who are strong in expertise and rich in medical ethics. Despite many shortcomings, in 2011, the commune invested 10 billion VND, of which over 9.5 billion VND came from support from higher levels, to upgrade the facilities of the health station. After being recognized as meeting the National Criteria for Health in 2015, the station has become a model for providing primary healthcare to people in Hung Nguyen district, averaging over 4,000 patients examined annually.

Harvesting herbs and spices by farmers in Hung Phu commune. Photo: Nguyen Hai

To create more jobs and increase people's income, Hung Phu organizes many production training courses and seeks funding to support production models, creating more jobs. Along with expanding the area of ​​large-scale model fields to increase income per unit area, through mobilizing people to consolidate land plots and convert farmland, the commune encourages people to diversify crops, strongly develop household and farm economies; and encourages people to borrow capital from banks or credit funds for business and labor export. As a result, in addition to rice, Hung Phu has nearly 30 hectares of specialized vegetable and spice cultivation, generating hundreds of millions of dong in income per year; and has dozens of construction teams and over 70 laborers working abroad.

Despite being a predominantly agricultural commune, 30% of its nearly 1,500 workers have stable employment in agencies, units, and factories within the commune and surrounding areas. Over the past five years, average income has nearly doubled, reaching 26 million VND per person in 2016; the poverty rate has decreased from 13% to 3.9%.

The peaceful charm of Hung Phu's new rural village. Photo: Nguyen Hai

Looking back at the process of building new rural areas in Hung Phu commune, although starting with only 8 criteria, the implementation process sometimes faced difficulties and challenges. However, with timely support from the province and Hung Nguyen district, the efforts of the entire political system, and the consensus of the people, the commune successfully completed the task of achieving the new rural area status on schedule.

Entering a new phase, Hung Phu is determined to overcome difficulties and limitations, continue to mobilize the people's strength to maintain and improve the quality of the criteria already achieved, and strive to make Hung Phu a strong new rural commune in terms of economy, rich in identity, and with a cultural space of the Nghe An countryside.

Pham The Son

(Chairman of the People's Committee of Hung Phu Commune)