Good farmers - Contribute to building new countryside

On the agricultural production front, everywhere there are typical nuclei applying new technology, with high productivity and efficiency. They are good farmers and businessmen (NDSXKDG).

Many poverty alleviation models

They not only make their fields and gardens good but also become voluntary agricultural extension points, study and sightseeing spots to help people overcome difficulties, eliminate poverty, and become well-off. Mr. Duong Van Nhan, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Farmers' Association, said that 30,544 farming households in Ho Chi Minh City have been recognized as NDSXKDG, reaching 50.8% of agricultural households (up from 48% in 2007).

Not only is the family of Ms. Tran Ngoc Tuyet (Hoa Phu commune, Cu Chi district) good at production, it is also a flower consumption point for the surrounding people. Photo: C. PHIEN

It is noted that the role of NDSXKDG in the restructuring of the agricultural economy is increasingly evident in communes building new rural areas (NTM), to help people reorganize production and increase income. Of the 18,000 hectares of suburban agricultural land converted to other crops or livestock with higher economic value, over 10,000 hectares of 2,199 households belong to NDSXKDG people.

In Ho Chi Minh City, there have been many typical examples of NDSXKDG farmers such as the model of the python farming cooperative in Thanh Loc ward, district 12 of the families of Mr. Bui Hoang Long, Ho Minh Hue, Nguyen Thong Quang. This cooperative has built a model of raising meat pythons, female pythons, and a python tanning service to make belts, wallets, handbags, etc., providing meat for food services.

Ms. Tran Ngoc Tuyet's orchid cutting model (Hamlet 1, Hoa Phu Commune, Cu Chi District) brings high economic efficiency. With an area of ​​2 hectares, about 80,000 Mokara orchid roots, Ms. Tuyet's annual income reaches over 1.2 billion VND. In recent years, the ornamental fish model in Ho Chi Minh City has developed strongly and is spreading.

In 2006, Ho Chi Minh City produced only 6 million fish, but by 2011, it reached 65 million ornamental fish. Typical examples of ornamental fish farming are households of Mr. Truong Trung Cuong (A/174E Hamlet 1, Tan Nhut Commune, Binh Chanh District), Tong Huu Chau (District 12), and Le Huu Duc (Cu Chi District), who have gradually built an ornamental fish brand that has spread far and wide to domestic and foreign markets.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Anh's family (Hamlet 6, An Nhon Tay Commune, Cu Chi District) has boldly converted to raising 50 cows, of which 32 are lactating, thanks to the application of science and technology, increasing productivity, and earning 180 - 200 million VND/year. With an area of ​​1,000m² of pond, Ms. Pham Thi Nam (Tan Nhut Commune, Binh Chanh District) combines raising sows, meat and fish ponds to raise tra fish, catfish, grass carp, silver carp, sardines, and hybrid catfish. The family takes advantage of pig manure as raw material for the biogas tank to reduce investment costs, earning 100 - 120 million VND/year.

Thanks to the application of both production and business, and taking care of and preserving apricot trees, many families in the three wards of Hiep Binh Chanh, Hiep Binh Phuoc and Linh Dong (Thu Duc district) who grow grafted apricot trees have become quite rich.

Help each other get rich…

If NDSXKDG is the nucleus of building the new rural areas, the farmers' association also contributes significantly to this. Over the past 5 years, the Ho Chi Minh City Farmers' Association has coordinated to organize 6,215 agricultural extension classes, animal and plant protection and rural environmental sanitation, attracting more than 289,000 participants. More than 100 vocational training classes have been opened according to the "farmers teach farmers" method with occupations suitable for high-efficiency conversion needs such as grafting techniques, bonsai shaping, ornamental fish farming, growing cut orchids, and raising milk bouquets. Many coordinated activities to advise on agricultural product consumption have been opened for farmers with consumption units such as Sai Gon Co.op, Metro Cash & Carry, Vinamilk; supporting farmers to participate in fairs.

The good news is that not only at the city level but also at the district level, there is still the ability to organize courses. In particular, the association also implemented a project to send farmers to learn production experience abroad, by sending 4 groups with 65 members of NDSXKDG to learn techniques of planting and caring for orchids in Thailand; ornamental plants and ornamental fish in China (including Taiwan).

Farmers' Associations at all levels also help people access loans with interest rate support. There have been 15,193 farming households borrowing capital according to the City's policies, with an amount of over 1,600 billion VND. The City Farmers' Support Fund has provided loans to more than 20,700 households with a total loan of 228.8 billion VND (an average loan of over 200 million VND per project). At the same time, it has mobilized resources from the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, the Bank for Social Policies, and the 235 capital source for over 80,200 farming households to borrow 710 billion VND...

According to SGGP