The direction of a specialty region

(Baonghean) -With products such as: Quỳ gourd duck, golden flower tea, bon bo, mu tun, wormwood, passion fruit, Jabonica rice... for a long time, the mountainous district of Que Phong has been known as 'specialty land'. Going up to this border district when the weather has turned to winter, I suddenly feel warm when I know that the people are more aware of promoting the strengths of the locality, and the government has new directions to help people develop the economy...

Local products of the mountainous district of Que Phong, in addition to familiar products, also include unique products. Photo: Ho Phuong

Specialty region

Not long ago, when we had the opportunity to visit Quang Phong commune (Que Phong), we were surprised to see that sometimes people here carry a few chickens, ride motorbikes to Kim Son town, more than 20 km away, to sell. What is even more strange is that after selling their chickens, they buy chickens in the town to bring home to slaughter. When asked, it turned out that Quang Phong chickens are more expensive at 130,000 VND/kg, while chickens in the town are only about 70,000 - 90,000 VND/kg. So by the method of "chicken for chicken", people's meals will be enough for the whole family. This story also shows another more important issue, which is that the quality of poultry in Quang Phong land has been proven in practice.

The two communes of Quang Phong - Cam Muon were formerly the same administrative unit, called Cam Muon. This land lies along the Quang River and has a unique location in terms of geographical conditions, soil and climate. The natural environment has contributed to creating a Cam Muon - Quang Phong area with many typical products. This is the birthplace of the famous Quy duck species in the country, which is included in textbooks. For a long time, people believed that Quy ducks are famous because when slaughtered, they often find mineral gold in their intestines and stomachs.

This is not unreasonable, because the Cam Muon area (including Quang Phong) was once known as the "golden land", the golden navel, in the Northwest region of Nghe An. The Quy duck often forages in streams, so it is understandable that they "accidentally" swallow gold. However, putting aside the somewhat thrilling elements, the Quy duck is indeed a specialty that few waterfowl can match. The Quy duck weighs between 2.2 - 2.5 kg, has a slightly long body, a short neck, very short legs, a belly that often lies close to the ground, and a wide chest. Female ducks usually have golden brown feathers, while male ducks have blue wings and white or light yellow stripes. If you are good at processing, it is difficult for any food to keep up with the Quy duck.

Quang Phong Commune is also known for its species of Artemisia vulgaris. Artemisia vulgaris grows naturally in the forest, mature plants are 50 - 80 cm tall, some are up to 1 meter tall. Mr. Vi Van Thang - Secretary of the Quyn Village Party Cell is the first person to set up a garden to grow Artemisia vulgaris. Mr. Thang said that he started climbing mountains and crossing streams into the forest to pull out natural Artemisia vulgaris for planting at the end of 2014. The Secretary of the Quyn Village Party Cell affirmed that many regions and localities also have Artemisia vulgaris, but in terms of quality, taste, and medicinal properties, they cannot compare to Quang Phong Artemisia vulgaris.

Mr. Vi Van Thang and the bunch of just-harvested artemisia.

From the initial 100m2 of growing Artemisia vulgaris, Mr. Thang has now expanded to more than 1 hectare. Notably, nearly 20 households in the area have come to learn from Mr. Thang's method and bought seeds to plant. Mr. Thang also said that he initially planted Artemisia vulgaris with the desire to both preserve the precious plant species of his hometown and find a way to promote the unique value of this medicinal plant. Currently, Artemisia vulgaris in Quang Phong is very easy to sell. If sold retail, just 1 bundle with 5-7 plants can bring in 50,000 VND.

Mr. Vi Van Thang (middle) introduces the garden of wormwood.

Que Phong district is one of the two highland areas of Nghe An province, but Que land is considered a specialty area. There are nearly 145,000 hectares of forest here with a coverage of 77%. Que Phong area also has the intersection of the most important biosphere reserves in the country, including Pu Hoat Nature Reserve, which has created unique factors, not only having great significance in preserving biological values ​​but also having stature in developing experimental science. In terms of medicinal herbs alone, Que Phong has 372 species of plants that are valuable in folk medicine as well as modern medicine. These include: codonopsis, angelica, dodder, yellow flower tea, bon bo, mu tun, cinnamon, and artemisia... Among the medicinal plants that Que land possesses, the species with great economic value must be mentioned as yellow flower tea.

Multi-layer products. Photo: Ho Phuong

Yellow flower tea is called "quack grass" in the Thai ethnic language. It is a plant that grows on hills and streams. Yellow flower tea in Que Phong was not discovered and announced until 2012. Scientific testing documents show that yellow flower tea contains more than 400 nutritional components and has high medicinal value. It belongs to the camellia family, has a small woody stem, and is 2 - 5m high. Every year, in April and May, the tree begins to sprout, and after 2 - 3 years, the leaves fall. It begins to bloom in November and lasts until March of the following year. The tea flowers are shiny, waxy yellow with a diameter of 5 - 6cm and this is also the most valuable part of this plant. After harvesting, fresh tea flowers are sold for 2.5 million VND and dried tea flowers cost from 3.5 - 5 million VND/kg.

Yellow tea flower trees are grown in Dong Van commune (Que Phong)

Realizing the value that the yellow tea tree brings, the Que Phong district government has coordinated with the Department of Science and Technology to survey, research and propagate this plant species. The Center for Applied Science and Technology (Department of Science and Technology) has also conducted a pilot planting of 1 hectare of yellow tea tree in Dong Van commune and achieved good results. In addition, in April 2016, the Que Phong district People's Committee established a Project on Conservation and Development of Medicinal Plants with High Economic Value for the period 2016 - 2020. Accordingly, by 2020, the yellow tea tree will reach a total area of ​​95 hectares, mainly deployed in the communes of Dong Van, Thong Thu, Hanh Dich, Tien Phong, Muong Noc, Chau Kim. Also in this project, there are 2 other types of plants that are also being conserved and propagated: bon bo and codonopsis pilosula. Of which, the area of ​​bon bo is 235 hectares and codonopsis pilosula is 4.5 hectares.

Open new directions

In the communes of Que Phong district, there have been service cooperatives specializing in introducing and trading local products for a long time. Many traders have come to order and buy to help people earn more income and understand the value of their local products. From here, people, in addition to harvesting and producing products, also know how to appreciate and preserve plants and animals so that they can continue to grow and produce valuable products.

However, as the Chairman of Que Phong District People's Committee - Mr. Le Van Giap once discussed, the problem of consuming specialty products in Que Phong is very difficult, small-scale, and fragmented. Mr. Giap confided: "Many times when going to the grassroots, to service cooperatives, I saw that the products of the people who produced them were left there without buyers, damaged, very painful. The local products of Que Phong are diverse, very valuable, including many medicinal herbs, but they have only reached traders, not yet reached manufacturers, or quality consumers...".

Que Phong district has directed the cultivation of yellow flower tea for expansion.

Therefore, to find outlets for local products, the first step was for Que Phong district to choose a plot of land in block 4 - Kim Son town along National Highway 48, close to the town market, and invested 130 million VND from the district budget to build 3 booths to display and introduce products. To ensure that the booths are always rich in products, introducing them to consumers inside and outside the area, the People's Committee of Que Phong district issued a document directing communes, cooperatives, and craft villages to increase incentives for organizations and individuals to produce, while the district committed to supporting funding for sales staff and introducing products.

Brocade booth. Photo: Ho Phuong

The next step that Que Phong district will take, as Head of the Que Phong Rural Development Board, Mr. Nguyen Ba Hien said, is that the District People's Committee will establish a new service cooperative to manage the display booths, connect with localities, businesses, and traders to consume products for the people. At the same time, aim to organize another location to display Que Phong products in Vinh City to expand the consumption market...

Talking about Que Phong opening up new markets for local products, Mr. Tran Quoc Thanh - Director of the Department of Science and Technology said that Que Phong yellow flower tea has had a very good market. Because a pharmacist of the Department of Health and the Provincial Pharmaceutical - Medical Supplies Company have successfully coordinated to carry out a project to produce capsules and tea bags from yellow flower tea.

Mr. Thanh himself, with the suggestion of former Provincial Party Secretary Phan Dinh Trac "need to find a unique wine for Nghe An", has taken the trouble to test and analyze the roots of the mu tun tree, from which he successfully extracted the mu tun wine product that is already sold on the market... Mr. Tran Quoc Thanh added that the Department of Science and Technology is proposing to the Provincial People's Committee to allow investment in building a supermarket to introduce Nghe specialties. And if successful, Que Phong will definitely be given a display booth...

Thus, with what Que Phong district is doing, with the attention of all levels and sectors, Que products have begun a new journey - the journey of promoting practical value.

Nhat Lan - Dao Tuan