Ky Son uses its strengths to develop the economy

Strengths in livestock

At the end of the year, assigned to go to Ky Son district to "work" and report on the economic development of this remote border district, we (PV) had the opportunity to talk with Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung - Chairman of the District People's Committee. He affirmed: Livestock and poultry farming is currently a strength that helps people in Ky Son district reduce poverty and become prosperous. This is also a "spearhead" of local economic development, contributing to maintaining the goal of "3 peaces": Peace for the people - peace for the area - peace for the border...

To learn more, from early morning, when the trees were still covered with dew, from Muong Xen town we entered Kim Da village of Pha Danh commune, passing the slope halfway up the mountain, we heard the cheerful music. In front of each house, people leisurely prepared for a new working day. Women and children prepared breakfast to go to the fields and to school. Men were busy preparing to herd cows to the fields.

Kim Da village Party Secretary Moong Van Kham pointed to the herd of cows walking up the mountain to find grass and said: “Now that the rice fields have been harvested, the cows and buffaloes are free to graze. After Tet, when the new crop season comes, they are locked up again. My family currently has only 7 cows, and each year we sell a few to cover living expenses. Everyone in Kim Da village is like that, thanks to raising cows and buffaloes, we are no longer hungry or poor.”

The same goes for the family of the village chief Cut Van Phong, whose main economic development is raising buffalo and cows. Mr. Phong calculated that the whole Kim Da village has more than 100 cows and more than 40 buffaloes. The village has 67 households and 309 people, but only a few households do not raise buffalo and cows. The rest, the small households raise 6-7 cows, the large households raise 10-20 buffalo and cows like Cut Van Phong's household, Moong Van May's household...

“My family is raising 8 buffaloes and 7 cows, but we just sold them all. Raising both buffaloes and cows is quite difficult because they do not want to live together, so we have to divide them into two areas to raise them,” said Cut Van Thang, a resident of Kim Da village. In Pha Danh commune, in addition to Kim Da village, many other villages where people rely on raising livestock and growing crops are gradually becoming prosperous, such as Pieng Pho and Pieng Hom villages.

Keng Du commune is the farthest area from the center of Ky Son district, bordering Laos; in recent years, many households here have gradually escaped poverty thanks to hard work in raising livestock and increasing production.

The family of Ms. Moong Thi Hien, Huoi Phuon 2 village, Keng Du commune, was previously a poor household. Her husband and she had unstable jobs and low income; in addition, they had to take care of their elderly parents and their brother-in-law who was studying at university, so their finances were very difficult and tight. After receiving support and guidance from commune and district officials, directly from the Women's Union, Ms. Hien boldly borrowed 20 million VND from the bank to invest in buying livestock breeds.

With diligence and hard work in finding food sources to care for the livestock including chickens, pigs, and cows to grow quickly and reproduce well, Ms. Hien's family has earned an income that not only improves their lives, but also buys 2-4 more bird's nests of fish per year to diversify their livestock.

After a period of experimenting with such “comprehensive” farming, Ms. Hien realized that chickens are animals that adapt well to local conditions, have higher and more stable economic value, so she decided to focus on raising chickens and expanding the scale. After just over 2 years, from a poor household, Ms. Hien’s family has now become a well-off household, with a prosperous, happy life and peace of mind attached to the village, working hard to get rich...

Support the replication of effective economic models

Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung - Chairman of the People's Committee of Ky Son district, added: Along with livestock development, the district will direct and support the replication of effective economic models and methods in the direction of green growth, especially in the field of tourism, economic development under the forest canopy associated with environmental protection and forest protection.

Based on economic models that have shown clear effectiveness, in 2024, Ky Son district will continue to promote the application of appropriate science, technology and technology, combined with the construction of geographical indications, brands and trademarks for the district's agricultural products.

In particular, focusing on raising buffalo, cows, pigs and poultry in the direction of farms and ranches; forming growing areas in the direction of VietGAP, organic production and growing medicinal herbs under forest canopy; promoting the implementation of forest allocation associated with land allocation, linking the interests of people in the management, protection, care and planting of forests.

Along with that, well implement the production development support policies of the Central and the province through programs and projects, focusing on projects and sub-projects under the 3 national target programs to support people in production development, diversify livelihoods, and replicate effective production development models.

In 2023, Ky Son district will have a total herd of 11,742 buffaloes (100% of the plan), 45,230 cows (95% of the plan, 105% over the same period); 30,120 pigs (78% of the plan); and about 358,000 poultry (83% of the plan, 102% over the same period).