Farmers in Western Nghe An create organic colors for green production

Use organic dyes

Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha - Vice Chairman of Yen Khe Commune People's Committee, Con Cuong mountainous district, said that the bamboo and rattan weaving and brocade weaving profession of Nua village in particular and Yen Khe commune as well as Con Cuong people in general have been maintained for hundreds of years. Accordingly, Yen Khe has dozens of households maintaining and having a stable income from handicrafts.

Ms. Vi Thi Hong in Nua village is proficient in brocade weaving techniques, hand-woven bamboo and rattan products, and is also a master in using plants and leaves to mix and create organic colors for products.

Thanks to those secrets, Ms. Hong not only created for herself a profession with increasingly high income, but was also invited to teach and pass on the profession to many students who are children in Yen Khe commune (Con Cuong) as well as in many other districts and communes.

Ms. Hong is over 70 years old this year. She said that she grew up in Yen Khe since she was young, attached to the mountains and forests, learning from her grandmothers and mothers to use plants and leaves around the home garden, plants taken from the forest to dye fabric fibers and bamboo and rattan strips.

Mrs. Hong’s family garden is now full of lush fruit trees, growing vegetables and providing materials for her to create organic colors for her handicraft products. Mrs. Hong said that the plants that Thai women have used for generations to create dyes for rattan and bamboo products as well as traditional fabrics, scarves, shirts and skirts are mostly food plants and green vegetables in the daily meals of the Yen Khe people.

For example, purple leaf plant is used to create purple and red tones for sticky rice, turmeric is used to create yellow color for sticky rice... helping fabric and bamboo fibers ensure color fastness over time requires experience and patience.

To create purple and pink colors from purple leaves, it depends on the amount of raw materials needed to dye. If you want a deep purple color, you have to increase the amount of purple leaf water and increase the time and number of times the ingredients are boiled and dried. To create a purple-pink color, you have to combine the two types of purple leaves together in a certain ratio.

Also in Nua village, Ms. Lo Thi Hoa is a regular “customer” who buys handicrafts from Ms. Vi Thi Hong to display and sell at her homestay. Ms. Hoa is the owner of a tourism service business in Nua village. She said that international groups of visitors to Nua village, Yen Khe as well as other communes of Con Cuong district all love the handicrafts of the people because these products are benign, have natural origins, are beneficial to human health, and are environmentally friendly.

Ban Nua currently has 4 homestays serving tourists. Of which, handicraft products and traditional dishes using natural colors always play a key role, bringing in the main source of income for these establishments. "That helps Yen Khe commune attract more than 11,000 visitors each year, bringing in revenue of 5 - 6 billion VND/year", said Mr. Nguyen Manh Ha - Vice Chairman of Yen Khe Commune People's Committee.

Catch up with development direction

In the western districts of Nghe An, there are currently many villages developing handicrafts more and more effectively; such as Nua village, Yen Khe commune; Diem village, Chau Khe commune (Con Cuong); Tam Bong village, Tam Quang commune (Tuong Duong); Hoa Tien village, Chau Tien commune (Quy Chau); Muong Long 1 village, Muong Long commune (Ky Son) ...

Not only creating jobs and increasing income for local people, traditional handicrafts of ethnic minorities in Western Nghe An also create connections in agricultural production and business in tourism and culinary services, opening up new economic development directions, keeping up with market trends.

The special thing that makes the value of these professions is not only the meticulousness and hard work of the craftsmen, but also the raw materials used to produce the products, so they are all of natural origin, safe for users and do not have a negative impact on the natural environment, as well as the human living environment.

In Tam Quang commune, Mr. Quang Van Mao - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee said that with the advantage of bamboo and medicinal plants, many households have become prosperous thanks to developing handicrafts, such as Mr. Kha Van Thuong, Mr. Tran Duy Thanh, Mr. Quang Manh Tuan in Quang Phuc village... Currently, in Tam Quang commune, a Cooperative has been established for the production of handicrafts from rattan and bamboo, applying natural colors with dozens of households participating and linking production.

This is also the economic development direction for Nghe An that Resolution 39/NQ-TW of the Politburo has pointed out, proving the correctness of Resolution 39/NQ-TW on green development, sustainable development associated with environmental protection, adaptation to climate change, which is handicrafts; including weaving, brocade embroidery and bamboo and rattan weaving.

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The Action Program (implementing Resolution 39/NQ-TW) of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee clearly stated: “Sustainable development of the Western region on the basis of maximizing potential advantages, especially advantages in forest economy, forest canopy economy, border gate economy, historical and cultural resources; increasing resilience in natural disaster prevention, responding to climate change and organic connection with other regions in the province; linking economic development with ecological environment protection; preserving and promoting the cultural identity of ethnic groups”.