Helping the people of Chieng village grow clean vegetables.

(Baonghean)Based on the provincial assignment for each provincial department and agency to assist one particularly disadvantaged commune in western Nghe An, the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee selected a model of guiding and assisting people in growing green vegetables in Chieng village, Tri Le commune, Que Phong district, as a trial for winter vegetable cultivation. To date, after more than three months of implementation, the model has been successfully implemented. Furthermore, the model serves as a role model for ethnic minority communities in mountainous areas to learn from and consider changing their farming and business practices.

Mr. Ngan Van Thich (80 years old) – one of the households selected for the model, shared: "Initially, when the Management Board held a meeting to encourage us to receive vegetable seeds to plant, I discussed it with my wife and thought we would just receive a few seeds to plant for fun, without thinking about how the vegetables would grow so well as the officials instructed and introduced. I am very grateful to the Party, the State, and the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee."

Mr. Vi Van Duc, a representative participating in the vegetable farming model and also the village head, said: "Initially, mobilizing the villagers was very difficult, but thanks to perseverance and the exemplary leadership of our own families, the vegetable fields are now lush and green. Families are even earning 50-60 thousand dong each day during the lean season, which is truly valuable and beyond our wildest dreams…"



The people of Bản Chiềng village are tending their vegetable gardens.

For the people of Chiềng village, since birth and throughout their lives on this land, families have primarily relied on their fields and gardens, cultivating cassava, corn, and rice to make a living. If they do grow vegetables, they do so by tilling the soil and sowing a few Mông mustard seeds in the fields to get some greens to eat, but due to the dry soil and lack of water, the Mông mustard plants cannot grow. The land is left fallow, and green vegetables are scarce…

However, since the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee invited experienced vegetable farmers from Quynh Luu to cooperate with the local government in providing guidance, after 3 months, for the first time, Chieng village has over 1 hectare of green vegetables, including kohlrabi, cabbage, watercress, mustard greens, coriander, lettuce, etc. Some households not only grow them for personal consumption but also sell them. Because the vegetables are organic and grown by relatives and acquaintances in the village without pesticides, not only acquaintances but also more and more customers are coming to buy them.

The village of Chiềng currently has 76 households and 362 inhabitants, with a poverty rate of 77%. For generations, the people have mainly relied on slash-and-burn agriculture for their livelihood. The village has a small amount of rice paddy land, but it is only used for one crop per year, with the rest left fallow. Poverty has plagued the village year-round. However, since the introduction of the vegetable farming model, the long-abandoned rice paddy land has been revitalized. Wherever people go, they introduce and talk about the clean vegetables from Chiềng village. The vegetable farming model, selected as a pilot project by the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee (now handed over to the district and the Commune People's Committee for continued guidance), has proven that farmland, including rice paddies in mountainous areas, can be used for winter crop cultivation to provide employment and increase income for the people.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Yen, Deputy Head of the Provincial Ethnic Affairs Committee, said: "Since the Committee was assigned to assist Que Phong, the leadership has been concerned because many programs and models, including clean vegetable farming, have been introduced. While it's true that vegetables can be grown anywhere, growing them, especially in open fields, is difficult for ethnic minority communities. People in the highlands are accustomed to only cultivating two crops and then resting. Therefore, the Committee chose to grow vegetables in open fields to demonstrate that vegetables can still be grown in mountainous areas. The model is simple but very practical and important, helping people to follow suit. Growing a third crop of vegetables not only increases income but also helps people change their mindset and farming methods on their own land to achieve sustainable poverty reduction."

According to Dam Thien Huong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Tri Le commune: "Based on the successful model of growing clean vegetables in Chieng village, the commune will soon direct and guide the people to replicate it in other villages where land is currently uncultivated, in order to improve the lives of the people."

Nguyen Hai