Southern yam and wax banana 'found their fate' in Anh Son land
(Baonghean.vn) - With the dynamism of the People's Committee and the Women's Union of Thanh Son Commune (Anh Son), a model of crop conversion was built, bringing cassava and wax banana varieties from the South to plant in Thanh Son Commune. After a year of testing, the model brought high income, and people were excited to continue production.
Visiting the family of Ms. Vi Thi Tin, Hung Thanh village, Thanh Son mountainous commune of Anh Son district at the end of the afternoon on a day in early April 2024, at this time Ms. Tin was still hoeing grass in the garden near her house.
On a rather steep and dry, rocky land of more than 3 sao, Ms. Tin is cultivating the roots for the second crop of yam. Introducing the yam plants that have just grown to about 1 span in height, Ms. Tin said that the plants with green leaves are propagated from branches. The plants with purple leaves are propagated from yam tubers.
“This is a completely new crop for Thanh Son people. I was fortunate to be supported in the crop restructuring model, testing this crop for the first time. After 11 months, the potatoes were harvested, achieving very high yields, double the income compared to growing cassava. As for the wax banana tree, this year it has just begun to yield its first harvest,” said Ms. Tin.
Speaking more about this model, Ms. Luong Thi Hao - President of Thanh Son Commune Women's Union said that the yam and banana varieties were purchased from the South by Mr. Dao Anh Tan - Chairman of Thanh Son Commune People's Committee. When the commune leaders introduced the new crop varieties, based on local conditions, the Women's Union built a model to convert crop structure to replace some low-efficiency agricultural production areas.
Accordingly, a trial of planting yam trees was conducted in the field of Ms. Vi Thi Tin with more than 600 trees. From the source of support for members to develop the economy, the Women's Union supported Ms. Tin with 4.5 million VND to buy yam seeds and 1.5 million VND to buy wax banana seeds.
The yam was planted on a trial basis in March 2023 and was harvested after 11 months. It is known that this is a new hybrid yam variety that is quite popular in the South. The yam is light purple, softer and sweeter than the natural yam grown in the forest.
This plant is quite easy to care for, it needs to be watered adequately for about 2 months during the dry season, then planted to grow high and cleared of weeds. The main source of fertilizer for the plant is composted organic manure from livestock and poultry raised by households.
Speaking of efficiency, Ms. Vi Thi Tin showed off the yam that was still in the seed from the first harvest, saying that this was the only yam that she intentionally saved. Because all the harvested yams had been sold. On an area of 3 sao, more than 600 yam plants, after deducting the cost of seeds, fertilizers, and care, she still earned 10 million VND.
“Previously, on the same 3-sao area, my family grew cassava and earned about 3 million VND per crop. As for yam, the income was three times higher and it was easy to sell,” Ms. Tin happily said.
Ms. Luong Thi Hao added that after the successful trial of supporting Ms. Tin in production, in 2024 the Women's Union will continue to support 2 other households to grow yam.
The average selling price of fresh yam on the market is about 20-25 thousand VND/kg. Each yam root yields 5-10kg, with some yams weighing 5-8kg. The quality of the yam is both soft and sweet, and can be boiled or processed into sweet soups or cakes, all of which are delicious and popular with consumers.
Next to Ms. Vi Thi Tin’s well-developed yam garden is a garden of wax bananas that is equally flourishing. Ms. Tin said that wax bananas are also a crop that appeared for the first time in Thanh Son, and the commune’s Women’s Union also supported them with seedlings worth 1.5 million VND.
Also an easy-to-care-for plant, after more than 6 months of planting, the plant has begun to bear fruit. Initial results show that the banana fruit is not plump, the banana leaves have yellow edges, and have not fully adapted to the new living environment, but the initial harvest can still be sold for 25,000 VND/kg. On average, each bunch of bananas weighs about 1kg, each bunch of bananas can yield 3-7 bunches, equivalent to about 7kg, earning about 150,000 VND.
Ms. Vi Thi Tin affirmed that her family will continue to take care of these new crops to maintain a much higher income than growing previous crops.
In addition to consulting and supporting people to grow new crops and effectively change crop structures, members also maintain the labor exchange movement and support members' families with difficulties in production and harvesting crops.
