Nghe An farmers grow spices and vegetables "1 capital, 4 profits"

After converting her land, Ms. Ho Thi Hong in Hamlet 2, Nam Xuan Commune (Nam Dan) was divided 3 sao of land concentrated in the rice fields. After a period of growing corn and grass for livestock without bringing economic efficiency, she switched to growing spices such as basil, cinnamon, and coriander.

Ms. Ho Thi Hong in Hamlet 2, Nam Xuan Commune (Nam Dan) said that traders are currently buying basil in the field at 10,000 VND/bunch. Photo: Thuy Tinh

Ms. Hong said that in the past, people only grew herbs in their home gardens. Seeing that vegetables brought good income and could be harvested all year round, they moved to the field gardens. Although the selling price fluctuates, with some expensive and some cheap depending on the time, growing herbs still brings economic efficiency three to four times higher than other crops.

“In summer, the most important thing to fertilize is water, and in winter, you only need to fertilize with manure or nitrogen. If the weather is cool and calm, you can harvest every 7-10 days. You only have to replant once a year. With 3 sao of herbs, I earn income almost every day, at most 400,000 VND, at least 100,000 VND. At this time, the average income is 7 million VND/sao” - Ms. Hong added.

Farmers in Nam Xuan commune actively take care of the spice vegetable field. Photo: Thuy Tinh

Nam Xuan is one of the localities with strengths in growing vegetables. Currently, out of a total of 160 hectares of vegetable growing area, the commune has nearly 40 hectares growing all kinds of spices such as basil, Vietnamese coriander, Vietnamese mint, Vietnamese balm, perilla, coriander, etc. Growing spices requires low investment costs, self-sufficient varieties, and fertilization is mainly organic fertilizer taken from livestock farming in the family; especially, the harvest cycle is fast.

Currently, in some other communes in Nam Dan district such as Xuan Hoa, Nam Thanh, Van Dien, Nam Nghia, spices were previously grown only sporadically and fragmentedly. Now, many households have invested in and improved the drainage system, expanding the scale of planting in both the fields and hillside areas, bringing the total area of ​​the district to nearly 200 hectares.

Herbs provide year-round income and low investment costs, increasing income for Nam Dan people. Photo: Thuy Tinh

Talking about spice crops in Nam Dan land, Mr. Ho Dinh Thang - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nam Dan district added that after converting land, a number of concentrated vegetable production areas have been formed in the area; for spice vegetables, the district directed the communes to focus on investing in irrigation systems, improving clean vegetable growing techniques so that people can continue to replicate the models, increasing income per unit area.