Harvest joy in Chau Kim

(Baonghean) - Nature has blessed Chau Kim commune (Que Phong district) with a vast, fertile plain. Adding to this, the gently winding Nam Giai River flows through it, making the rice paddies in front of the Nine-Room Temple a source of rice and money for the ethnic minority communities in the region for generations... This year is the first year that Chau Kim's rice paddies have yielded high productivity and commercial value, with traders coming to buy fresh rice right in the fields. And the rice is harvested and threshed faster than it can be sold.

Farmers in Chau Kim commune (Que Phong district) are harvesting their 2014 rice crop.

Mrs. Luong Thi Kim, 70 years old, from the village of Choi, was not allowed by her children and grandchildren to go to the fields to harvest the new rice crop, but she insisted on going. She eagerly arrived early at the Na Cho Boc rice field in Chau Kim commune (Que Phong district) to witness firsthand the villagers' amazement at this most extraordinary harvest ever... Mrs. Kim's joy and curiosity were understandable. This vast rice paddy, rare in the Que Phong area, has long been a place of "self-sufficiency," with high yields but low market value; rice grains were difficult to sell and cheap. Yet, in the 2014 harvest season, the people of Chau Kim faced difficulties because buyers were so insistent, fearing they wouldn't have any good rice to eat if they sold everything. Only after going to the fields did Mrs. Kim confirm that she hadn't misheard the joyful news that had spread throughout the village...

The story goes that after Que Phong district initiated a pilot project to introduce the purebred Japonica rice variety in Tri Le and Muong Ngoc communes (starting in 2011), after four years of "testing" its drought and cold tolerance, this purebred rice variety took root in Que Phong's paddy fields and was gradually expanded, from 2,000 m2 in 2011, to 6 hectares in 2012, and 50 hectares in 2013. Recognizing that Japonica rice in the pilot communes had stable, high yields of 57-62 quintals/hectare, with fragrant, sticky grains that were highly favored by consumers and sold at much higher prices than hybrid rice, rice farmers were extremely enthusiastic. In 2013, in Que Phong district, hybrid and regular rice varieties sold for 6,000 VND/kg, while Japonica rice sold for 10,000-12,000 VND/kg, with milled rice selling for 22,000-25,000 VND/kg. Ms. Vi Thi Thuy, Chairwoman of the Chau Kim Commune People's Committee, stated that in 2014, Chau Kim was one of three communes assigned to cultivate this rice variety. Of the total 100 hectares allocated for Japonica rice cultivation, Chau Kim received 45 hectares, with the remaining 45 hectares in Muong Ngoc commune and 10 hectares in Tien Phong commune. To meet the requirement of concentrated production and prevent cross-pollination with other rice varieties, in the 2014 crop season, Chau Kim commune focused on cultivating Japonica rice in three villages: Choi village (18 hectares), Mong village (12 hectares), and Lien Minh village (15 hectares).

October 21st marked the first harvest of the new rice variety in Chau Kim commune, and on October 22nd, we were present in the fields where the farmers were harvesting to witness the joy of a bountiful harvest. Needless to say, the people were overjoyed and excited. The entire field was bustling with activity; people were harvesting, threshing, and many were trying to buy the fresh rice. Mr. Vi Van Duc from Mong village said that his family had just harvested 1,100 square meters, threshed it in the field, and dried it in the sun for one day, yielding 6.5 quintals (an average of 60 quintals/hectare). Mrs. Sam Thi Tuyet's family in Choi village planted 3 sao (approximately 0.3 hectares). Mrs. Tuyet said that while she was harvesting, two traders came waiting to buy the rice right in the field. They offered to buy the freshly threshed rice immediately, paying 10,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, in the Que Phong market, other hybrid and purebred rice varieties are only selling for 6,000 VND/kg of dry rice.

Visiting Mr. Luong Van Trung, the head of Choi village, we learned that all 70 households in the village have planted the new rice variety and have had a bountiful harvest. Although the new Japonica variety is new to Choi village, it has already yielded high productivity and quality, with a high grain yield (7.5%), and importantly, there is a huge demand for it. In this high mountainous region, few food crops are as sought after as this fragrant, drought-resistant Japonica rice. So much so that, faced with strong demand and high prices – literally "cash in hand" right in the fields – many households have harvested prematurely without waiting for the rice to ripen fully, resulting in many fields being "harvested prematurely" to "sell quickly." This promises the potential for expanding the production of this new rice variety to increase efficiency per unit area in Que Phong, while simultaneously promoting the creation of high-value agricultural products and increasing income from agricultural production in line with the criteria of building new rural areas.

Mr. Luong Van Trung added that he is currently implementing the policy of the commune and district to encourage people in Choi village not to harvest hastily or sell to private traders, but to sell only to the Chau Kim agricultural service cooperative to facilitate centralized processing, ensuring the quality and reputation of the new rice variety. He explained that allowing private traders to buy up all the rice would make it difficult to maintain the brand. Some households we met in the Chau Kim rice fields confirmed that they don't sell their harvested rice but keep it for their own consumption. Ms. Sam Thi Tuyet from Mong village, Mr. Vi Van Duc from Choi village... said that they also want to eat delicious, clean rice, so they keep it all for their families, and even buy more if anyone sells it.

..."The rice harvest is bountiful, the prices are good, and it's selling fast. We can sell it right in the field whenever we need money. I've lived with Chau Kim almost my whole life, and I've never witnessed such a joyous harvest as this year. It feels like I'm dreaming!" - Mrs. Luong Thi Kim said to me, lifting a golden ear of rice, with indescribable joy.

Ngo Kien