Farmers in Luong region use flashlights to 'pick' millions of dong every day

When it was still early morning, the fields of Hamlet 1, Tan Son Commune (Do Luong) were bustling with people coming and going. Under the cucumber fields, flashlights were shining and laughter was heard. “For a whole month now, people in the village have been waking up at 5am to pick cucumbers in time to sell to traders. In the first days when the cucumber fields were ready for harvest, the price was 12-15 thousand VND/kg, and households that planted large areas of about 1 hectare earned 1.5 to 2 million VND/day. In the last days of the month, the price of cucumbers has decreased, around 7-8 thousand VND/kg, but the income is still 700-900 thousand VND, many times higher than growing rice,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Giang.

It was not yet dawn so people used flashlights to harvest cucumbers in time to sell to traders. Photo: Hoai Thu

With the motto "don't let the land rest, don't stop working", right after harvesting rice, farmers in Tan Son immediately start growing winter cucumbers.

For Ms. Nguyen Thi Giang's family, she planted 1 mu (10 ha) of rice in the spring crop. Mr. Hien, Ms. Giang's husband, said that for the current winter cucumber crop, he and his wife borrowed a rice field from a household in the village to plant, because Mr. Hien's family's rice field is among the 10.58 ha of new rice varieties planted in Tan Son commune.

Cucumber plants grow taller than people, so people use homemade tools from plastic bottles, or add chairs to pick the fruits from high up. Photo: Hoai Thu

“This new rice variety is harvested half a month later than Khang Dan rice, so I don’t have time to plant winter cucumbers, so I borrowed land from another household to plant them in time, avoiding affecting productivity,” said Mr. Hien. Elaborating on this, an official of Tan Son commune added that the entire Tan Son commune planted 9.08 hectares of winter cucumbers. Some households earned more than 40 million VND after 1 month of harvesting cucumbers. Therefore, Tan Son people are very happy, taking care of their fields, rotating crops to increase productivity and efficiency on the same area of ​​agricultural land.

Winter cucumbers grown in alternating seasons on rice fields in Do Luong bring in millions of dong per day. Photo: Hoai Thu

Having a winter cucumber field not far from the field of Mr. Hien and Ms. Giang, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Dung said: "The family is short of people, so I only plant about half a sao. Every day I wake up early to pick cucumbers and then bring them to the retail market to sell for a better price. Picking every day, I earn an extra 5 to 5.5 million VND a month. Growing side crops but providing the main income."

In Do Luong district, not only Tan Son, but also in many other communes, on the same agricultural land area, people have increased the cropping pattern with cucumbers and corn such as in Luu Son, Thinh Son... From there, contributing to improving the efficiency of land use, increasing the production value of the agricultural sector. Thanks to that, per unit area, the agricultural production value of Do Luong has increased sharply.

In the period of 2011 - 2021, Do Luong has built many production development models applying scientific and technical advances in cultivation, livestock breeding, and aquaculture, bringing efficiency and increasing income for people such as: Model of vegetables, tubers, and fruits according to VietGAP standards; model of growing melons in greenhouses, potatoes, and asparagus; model of growing lilies and chrysanthemums; models of growing high-quality rice; models of raising buffaloes, cows, and goats for reproduction...

The district pays great attention to joint ventures and associations in the production and consumption of agricultural products, proactively inviting businesses to invest in agricultural production through land accumulation, supporting the promotion of the district's agricultural products in supermarket systems, fairs... Therefore, in 2021, more than 11 local agricultural products were ordered for consumption by a large supermarket system.

The entire Tan Son commune grows more than 9 hectares of winter cucumbers. When it comes to harvest, traders come to the fields to buy, bringing high income to many households. Photo: Hoai Thu

In the coming time, Do Luong will continue to implement the land consolidation plan and conduct surveys of land areas in communes to build specialized production areas for agricultural products. At the same time, develop and promulgate the Project on Planning for high-tech agricultural areas, associated with restructuring the agricultural sector of Do Luong district in the period of 2022-2025, with a vision to 2030.