Increase production value

(Baonghean) - In the plain districts such as Nam Dan, Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc... in addition to the rice and vegetable growing areas, there are also tens of thousands of hectares of semi-mountainous areas.This is an area that is considered unfavorable for agricultural production. Over the years, with the dynamism, creativity, and exploration of new ways of doing things by the local people and government, the semi-mountainous area is changing strongly in the movement of developing hill garden economy.

From the Nam Xuan rose tree

Nam Xuan Commune, Nam Dan District is considered the cradle of Nghe An persimmon trees. This season, coming to Nam Xuan, you can see the yellow color of ripe persimmons anywhere in the hamlets at the foot of Dai Hue mountain range. Persimmons in home gardens, persimmons along the roadside, persimmons on the mountainside. Following the guidance of Mr. Nguyen Huu Thuan, Head of the Agricultural Extension Board of Nam Xuan Commune, we "wandered" around the hamlet to see the "original" persimmons that are revered as "ancestors" here. The persimmon trees with moldy, rough skin bearing the marks of time are still struggling to carry hundreds of kilograms of fruit. Strangely, with careful care, the older the persimmons are, the higher their yield, with some trees yielding 2-3 hundreds of kilograms of fruit each year.

Nam Xuan, Nam Anh used to be a persimmon farm. Around the 30s and 40s of the last century, some people boldly came here to reclaim land and set up a persimmon farm. That's why this land was named a persimmon farm. During the land reform period, this pioneer class was considered landlords, and the persimmon farm was transferred to the cooperative. In the 80s, due to lack of care, the trees were stunted and had low productivity, so the cooperative contracted them to households to collect the products. In early 1991, they were sold to households. Mr. Thuan's family also bought 15 trees. These trees are considered original persimmon trees. Their grafted buds were taken to propagate the whole area. Seeing the effectiveness of persimmon trees, in recent years, the whole commune has had more than 930 households growing persimmons. Persimmons in home gardens, persimmons on the hills...

There have been many models that bring high economic efficiency such as Mr. Dau Trung Diem with 2 hectares, planted in combination with other plants, each year harvesting 50 - 60 million VND from persimmons; or Mr. Nguyen Tat Ha, hamlet 4 with an area of ​​over 5 hectares, is a mixed forest garden model, including more than 300 persimmon trees, each year earning 60 million VND. In addition, under the canopy of persimmon trees, other plants such as tea, herbs, galangal, lemongrass... annually bring in a considerable income. The problem of benefits from persimmon trees is specifically calculated from the garden. Mr. Thuan's family has nearly 25 persimmon trees, each year they harvest at least 1 ton of fruit, selling for 20 million VND. Nam Xuan currently has 60 hectares of persimmons, each hectare grows 300 trees according to standards. According to a modest calculation, each tree gives an average income of 400,000 VND/year, not including income from other sources such as pine resin, glue, spices, tea... Nam Xuan has more than 7 billion VND.

Realizing the economic efficiency of hill gardens, in recent years, Nam Dan district has had a policy to promote economic development in this area. The district has issued a specialized resolution on hill garden economic development. Implementing that resolution, Nam Dan has formed 3 hill garden economic areas. Specifically, communes such as Nam Kim, Khanh Son, Nam Loc ... have climate and soil characteristics suitable for lemon trees, here have formed a specialized lemon growing area to supply the large market. Lemon trees have brought tens of billions of VND/year to the people here. The areas along the Dai Hue range such as Nam Anh, Nam Xuan, Nam Giang ... develop fruit tree areas with persimmon as the main tree, bringing a prosperous life to the people here.

The third area that Nam Dan is focusing on developing is Nam Nghia, developing forest plantation combined with raising large livestock. The products of this area have contributed to the Nam Nghia tamarind brand.

According to Mr. Nguyen Huu Nhuan, Head of the District Agriculture Department, Nam Dan has about 1,500 hectares of land that can develop hill garden economy. In addition to developing resolutions, the district also put forward policies to promote economic development in this area such as: building regional planning, selecting suitable varieties of plants and animals, having specific mechanisms and policies for each type of model, aiming to make the economy of this area a spearhead in the overall economic development of the district.

To the lemon tree Hung Nguyen, Nghi Loc

Nghi Loc is a locality with 13/30 communes in the mountainous area. According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Tho - Head of the District's Agriculture Department, the whole district has about 1,600 hectares of mountainous land that can develop farm economy in the direction of hill gardens. The model that people choose is forestry, fruit trees and livestock. The whole district has about 4,000 households participating in hill garden economic development. Of which, the number of recognized farms is 250 farms, each year generating hundreds of millions of VND in income. The production value of the forestry sector combined with hill garden economic development reaches more than 400 billion VND each year, accounting for 25% of the domestic production. According to the district's assessment, hill garden economy combined with forestry has become the main source of income in the semi-mountainous area.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Thuan's family's persimmon products are preparing to be brought to market.

We visited the hill garden of Mr. Nguyen Van Tho's family in Hamlet 3, Nghi Cong Nam Commune. His family received 7.6 hectares of land from the commune, 4 hectares on the high ground he planted acacia, eucalyptus, 3 hectares planted fruit trees including lemon, lychee, orange... under the canopy of fruit trees to raise chickens. Each year he earns about 100 million VND from fruit trees, raising 600 chickens for 100 million VND. In addition, he also raises 4 sows, each year earning tens of millions of VND.

Mr. Phan Bui Nhi is a good hill gardener in Hung Yen Nam commune, Hung Nguyen district. His total forest garden area is 28.5 hectares. Of which, 26 hectares are planted with pine and acacia trees, 2.5 hectares are planted with fruit trees combined with livestock. He started building the farm in 2000. With the motto "taking short-term to support long-term", in the early days, his family and 18 hired workers cleared the fields to dig up roots to plant corn, potatoes, and cassava combined with livestock. After 6 years of persistent efforts, the area was closed. Up to now, his farm has an annual income of approximately 250 million VND (120 million VND from lemon trees). His herd of 10 cows, 13 wild boars, 300 free-range chickens, each year brings in an income of more than 130 million VND... That is not to mention the 200,000 pine trees when it is time to tap resin, each year also brings in a harvest of about 2 billion VND.

In the localities we surveyed, the garden economy is really becoming a spearhead, contributing to the overall economic development of the localities. Up to now, the movement is also developing spontaneously, and localities have not yet summarized and evaluated to draw lessons for replicating the movement. On the other hand, because the movement develops spontaneously, the selection of crops and livestock is completely based on emotions. For the movement to develop sustainably, there needs to be coordination from the State to summarize and evaluate the movement and replicate it. Scientists choose suitable varieties of crops and livestock for each region; businesses and distributors have plans with growers and purchase products for farmers. Only then can the garden economy develop sustainably, becoming a spearhead to promote local economic development.

Article and photos: Anh Tuan