Vegetable growing model in Chieng village (Que Phong)

(Baonghean) - Chieng village, Tri Le commune, Que Phong district, like many other villages in the western district of Nghe An, the life of the people in Chieng village is still very difficult. The poverty rate accounts for over 80%. Meanwhile, the land and soil conditions of the area are not non-existent. The problem is that there is no specific and suitable project or solution to change the farming habits of the people. Therefore, the life of 75 households with 372 people in Chieng village is still difficult even though there are conditions to change.

On April 20, 2012, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision 1310/QD-UBND, assigning 85 agencies and units in the province to receive support and help 89 poor communes in the Western region. Chieng village is one of the villages receiving support from the Provincial Ethnic Committee. After researching and surveying the area, realizing that the conditions of population, weather, land and soil in Chieng village are completely suitable for growing winter vegetables, the Provincial Ethnic Committee has developed and implemented a project to grow safe vegetables here.

Ms. Ha Thi Chien and many people in Chieng village are familiar with the work of planting and taking care of vegetables.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Yen, Deputy Head of the Provincial Ethnic Committee, said: The local people's production practice has long been to produce only one crop and then leave the land fallow until the following year. People are not lazy to work, but because of their thinking and awareness. That is wastefulness - one of the causes of poverty. In September 2012, the Provincial Ethnic Committee mobilized officials and civil servants to contribute 2 days' salary each to support Chieng village. This money was used to buy vegetable seeds and hire experts from the vegetable area of ​​Quynh Luu district to disseminate techniques.

In order for the safe vegetable growing model to truly create trust among the people, the Ethnic Committee also sent cadres to stay in the area for many days with the task of guiding and encouraging households to actively participate in the model. Initially, many households were skeptical about the new production model. Many people even tried to cling to old habits. Grasping this mentality in time, many training sessions were organized right in the village. Evaluating the results of the model, Mr. Nguyen Dau Long - Head of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Que Phong district said: Although this is not a project with large capital and value, it is really meaningful because it has positively impacted the awareness and thinking of the people of a mountainous village with a rate of 100% Thai ethnic people.

From the first steps, up to now, the vegetable growing model in Chieng village has been built and formed 1.2 hectares of various vegetables. During the main season, people grow many types of vegetables, including cabbage, sweet cabbage, squash, pumpkin, kohlrabi, etc. Each family spends from 200 to 400m2 of land growing vegetables. What seemed far-fetched to the people of the mountainous areas has now become a very normal thing in every stilt house of the families in Chieng village. 75/75 households have participated in the safe vegetable growing model - according to the explanation of Ms. Ha Thi Chien - a villager. Indeed, this is the first time I have heard the phrase "safe vegetables" in an ethnic minority village in a particularly difficult border area in the Western region of Nghe An.

Green vegetables from Chieng village are not only available at Tri Le market but have also been brought by many traders to sell in Kim Son town - Que Phong district. Mr. Vi Van Duc - Head of Chieng village said: Vegetables from Chieng village are very green and lush. In a very figurative way, he informed: "There are cabbages as big as a kettle, weighing more than 1 kg". It is known that in the first vegetable crop in 2012, the big families harvested 3.5 quintals, the small families harvested about 2 quintals. It turns out that growing vegetables brings in 3 times more income than growing rice, and the growing and caring time is short. People no longer have to find green vegetables for their family meals in the forest.

Back to the story of Ms. Ha Thi Chien's family. Her family has 300m2 of land for vegetable growing in the model area supported by the Provincial Ethnic Committee. Currently, in Tri Le, it is the planting season so the entire area of ​​the model has been converted to rice growing, but seeing the benefits of vegetable growing, she took advantage of the land in her garden to grow pumpkin shoots, eggplants and some spice vegetables. Ms. Chien also said that many families in the village do the same...

Article and photos: Dao Tuan