The 'good talkers, hard workers' in Western Nghe An

The man who "turns stones into rice"

People in Lien Tan hamlet, Tho Hop commune (Quy Hop) talk about Nguyen Manh Hung with all admiration and respect. Because he is the one who turned "stones into rice" right on his homeland.

The high-income livestock farming model of Mr. Nguyen Manh Hung in Lien Tan hamlet, Tho Hop commune (Quy Hop). Photo: Le Thanh

After 10 years of working abroad, in 2016 Nguyen Manh Hung (born in 1985) returned to his hometown to invest in raising large livestock and poultry. He chose to rent 10 hectares of land in Thung Khang valley (Tho Hop), a place separate from residential areas, to invest in a cow and goat farm. With the experience accumulated during his time working in a high-tech production and breeding farm in Israel, he has applied it to his farm very effectively. Currently, his family's total herd of cows, goats, and pigs is up to nearly 300 heads and hundreds of chickens and ducks of all kinds. This economic model has brought his family an income of 250 - 300 million VND/year.

Le Thi Phuong, head of the Lien Tan hamlet farmers' association, Tho Hop commune, Quy Hop, said: "The Lien Tan hamlet farmers' association of Tho Hop commune has a total of 76 members, of which Mr. Hung is an excellent livestock farmer, a typical example in developing the farm economy of the commune farmers' association."

Keep tradition to create new value

Realizing that the Hung Son tea material area (Anh Son) is very suitable for building a clean tea brand using manual methods and wanting to bring his family's tea buds to the market, in 2016, Mr. Vo Van Dong in Quang Tien village, Hung Son commune went all the way to Thai Nguyen to learn how to process high-quality tea.

Mr. Vo Van Dong, Hung Son commune (Anh Son) operates a tea processing machine. Photo: Le Thanh

After gaining experience, Mr. Dong invested 1.2 billion VND to buy machinery, equipment, and a production line to process clean tea. His family's tea is grown in strict compliance with safe fertilization and processing procedures, combined with modern foreign machinery and technology, so the tea products quickly affirmed their brand and were highly appreciated by consumers.

After initial success, Mr. Vo Van Dong established Minh Sang Green Tea Cooperative, specializing in the production and processing of traditional green tea. In 2020, Minh Sang tea products were recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a 3-star OCOP product. Currently, the Cooperative creates regular jobs for 30 regular and seasonal workers. In 2019, the Cooperative produced 5 tons of dry tea, bringing in revenue of more than 1 billion VND. In addition, Mr. Dong also built livestock barns, raising 150 pigs and more than 500 chickens each year. After deducting expenses, each year Mr. Dong's family earns more than 600 million VND.

The "good talker, hard worker" in Veu 2 village

Also in Anh Son district, nearly 20 km from the center of Phuc Son commune, Cao Veu 2 village is located in the border area, adjacent to Khay-Xam-Phon district, Bo-Ly-Kham-Xay province, Laos. Cao Veu 2 is home to 91 households with 316 people, of which ethnic minorities account for nearly 80%.

And in recent years, under the leadership of Party Cell Secretary and Village Chief Dang Dinh Lam, the Cao Veu 2 people have absorbed many new things, changed their thinking, and built a more prosperous and happy life. The most successful thing is that the people have converted 7 hectares of land growing corn, potatoes, and peanuts to concentrated sugarcane growing to supply the sugar factory; converted more than 100 hectares of hilly land to grow cassava, upland rice, or left fallow to grow hybrid acacia.

Some households have also converted their gardens and hills with worthless crops to industrial tea plantations. People also pay attention to livestock raising to increase the quantity and quality of livestock by building barns, feeding regimes, vaccinations, etc.

Mr. Dang Dinh Lam at the inauguration ceremony of Cao Veu 2 Cultural House, Phuc Son Commune (Anh Son). Photo: Minh Chi

According to Mr. Dang Dinh Lam, in order for people to follow, "a hundred hearings are not as good as one seeing, you have to be the first to go and do it." Party cell secretary and village chief Dang Dinh Lam took the lead by organizing clean pig and chicken farming, growing vegetables for sale to the market, especially serving tourist groups coming to the area. Currently, Mr. Lam boldly invested in building a stilt house following the homestay model to serve guests' accommodation and stay. Mr. Lam is also a person who has worked hard to research and restore the cultural identities of the Thai people, such as hat xap, hat nhuon, ho doi dap, gong, khac luong, etc. Thanks to Party cell secretary Dang Dinh Lam, the Cao Veu 2 community tourism village has been formed and attracted many visitors and vacationers, including groups from Japan.

Mr. Dang Dinh Lam also plays an important role in propagating, disseminating and educating the law to the people, coordinating with Phuc Son Border Guard Station to maintain border security, strengthening solidarity with cadres and people of Muong Cham hamlet cluster, Laos...

“I am young”...

Born in 1984, Lu Trung Thanh grew up from the local emulation movement. He has held the positions of Deputy Commander, then Commander of the Nam Nhoong Commune Military Command, then Secretary of the Commune Party Committee and now Chairman of the Nam Nhoong Commune People's Committee, Que Phong District. Regardless of his position, he has always shown a pioneering and exemplary role in his work and proactively implemented many local movements, becoming a typical example in studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and style, honored by Que Phong District in the period 2011 - 2016.

Mr. Lu Trung Thanh (left) inspects the passion fruit growing model in Na village, Nam Nhoong commune (Que Phong). Photo: Minh Chi

During the 2015 - 2020 term, as a district-level reporter and Secretary of the Nam Nhoong Commune Party Committee, Mr. Lu Trung Thanh seriously studied the policies, directives, and resolutions of the Party at higher levels and current news provided by the Que Phong District Party Committee and conveyed them in a close, easy-to-understand manner, linked to practical connections. He won third prize at the District-level Excellent Reporter and Propaganda Competition. He confided: “I am a young person, a local leader, and the one who has access to the first policies and guidelines of the commune, so my responsibility is to convey the policies and guidelines of the Party and State to cadres, party members and people for implementation, because the ultimate goal is to develop the locality and improve people's lives.

Mr. Lu Trung Thanh is a person who is “good at talking, good at doing”. Good at doing here means good at directing the entire political system to work together to carry out local political tasks. The highlight of the 2015-2020 term in Nam Nhoong commune is the introduction of a number of commercial crops into production. Typically, planting bon bo trees under the natural forest canopy has been responded to by most households in the commune with an area of ​​over 100 hectares. That is also planting 40 hectares of passion fruit.

In addition, many garden areas were also mobilized by the Commune Chairman Lu Trung Thanh to grow green vegetables such as: mustard greens, cabbage, beans, herbs... Last spring, the Commune Chairman of Nam Nhoong Lu Trung Thanh also directed the locality to pilot the planting of spring peanuts, and at the same time test the high-quality Japonica rice variety... At the same time, focusing on directing people to develop the raising of buffaloes, cows, chickens, pigs, and up to now, Nam Nhoong commune has become the locality with the largest herd of buffaloes and cows in Que Phong district.

Mr. Lu Trung Thanh's biggest concern is to use many solutions to help people change their thinking and production habits, continue to introduce some new suitable crops into production; focus on developing livestock farming according to the model of farms and ranches associated with grass planting, thereby reducing the rate of poor households quickly and sustainably in the locality...