Economic models in Cam Son

(Baonghean) - In Cam Son commune, Anh Son district, many cadres, Party members, villages and hamlets are pioneers in economic development movements that have brought about high efficiency. Their enthusiasm, diligence and exemplary behavior are becoming the main driving force for people to develop the economy.

We arrived at Cam Son commune, Anh Son district in the early winter cold. Along the way to the commune, looking at the green corn fields, the squash and gourd trellises, the winter vegetable fields made everyone feel cool and feel a warm and prosperous land. Led by Mr. Nguyen Van Thang - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee in charge of economy through the tea hills in the harvest season of the Thai people in Nhan Tai village, we met Mr. Nguyen Van Nam in Cam Loi village. Pants rolled up to his knees, Mr. Nam walked between two rows of land planted with solid gourds and squash. Mr. Nam is 38 years old this year, his wife is constantly sick, and his 2 children are of school age.

Despite his difficult family circumstances, he still enthusiastically participated in the youth union work in the village, then was trusted by the people to be elected as a cadre of the Farmers' Association of Cam Loi village and joined the Party more than a year ago. When the commune had a policy of converting land, Mr. Nam boldly asked to study the model in Quynh Luu district and neighboring communes. With the accumulated knowledge, Mr. Nam boldly applied to the village executive committee and Cam Son commune to pilot the model of growing squash on two-rice land, directly receiving the land on the edge of the rocky cliff where the villagers had long grown corn and rice but without high efficiency.

High-yield squash growing model of Mr. Nguyen Van Nam (left).

In early 2013, Mr. Nam borrowed people to reclaim the field, build high beds and sow squash according to the instructions of the commune's agricultural staff. Up to now, after more than 3 months, his squash trellis has produced the first crop of fruit. Traders' cars came to the field, buying his squash at 7,000 VND/kg. The first squash harvest yielded more than 7 million VND, he was excited, and continued to boldly convert the land that had long been planted with corn and rice to grow squash. This winter crop, Mr. Nam planted 2 sao of squash, and harvested 15 million VND in the first harvest. According to his rough calculation, with the lowest squash price of about 5 - 7 thousand VND/kg, his 2 sao of squash yielded an income of about 30 million VND. There were times when the squash price was as high as 15 - 17 thousand VND/kg, the value of the squash garden was many times higher. Seeing that Mr. Nam's pumpkin growing is highly effective, many people in Cam Loi village have learned to follow suit and are getting positive results. Mr. Tran Huu Tan's pumpkin garden provides a stable income of 7 million VND/quintal, in addition, every day Mr. Tan's family also has an additional 60 - 100 thousand VND from selling pumpkin shoots, pumpkin flowers, etc. Mr. Nam said that next year, almost the entire Cam Loi village will convert rice, corn, and sugarcane land to grow highly effective crops such as squash, pumpkin, asparagus, etc.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tho (Ha Du village) takes care of spring cabbage.

Next to Cam Loi village, Mr. Lo Van Thuy - Secretary of Nhan Tai village Party Cell is also a pioneer in building a model of growing tea on hills and growing squash on rice fields. Seeing Mr. Thuy's success with the model, the villagers also boldly planted tea branches and squash. Currently, Nhan Tai is becoming a typical village in economic development and building a new cultural life.

In Cam Son commune, many people know Ms. Cao Thi Mai - Secretary of the Ha Du village Party Cell as a dynamic, hard-working person who is always at the forefront of finding economic development models for the villagers to follow. Once a specialized population officer and a village women's union officer, when she saw her village's fields becoming less and less effective compared to other areas with similar climate and soil, Ms. Mai struggled to find a way forward. More than 3 years ago, she discussed with her husband to take on the contract for the Thung Bung area, a wild land, with rocky cliffs on one side and deep fields on the other for growing corn and squash.

The entire Thung Bung area and the alluvial land were rezoned and planned by the couple, only growing corn and squash. The corn area was grown on the alluvial land, only serving pig farming, the entire 0.8 ha of land in the valley was used by her to grow squash. The results were beyond her and her family's expectations. In the first year, Ms. Mai earned 120 million VND from squash, more than 120 million VND from pig farming... Realizing the clear effectiveness of Ms. Mai's model of growing squash combined with corn and raising livestock, currently, in Ha Du village, there are 8 households following suit such as Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhuong and her husband growing squash, corn and raising chickens; Le Van Nhan, Cao Xuan Kieu, Nguyen Sy Hao, Tran Van Dong, Nguyen Thi Thuy combining squash growing on two-rice land with corn growing on alluvial land and raising pigs for meat...

After more than half a day visiting the highly efficient corn, vegetable, squash and tea fields in Cam Son commune, we were provided by Mr. Nguyen Van Thang - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee with a long list of party members in the commune who boldly built the commune's economic model. Mr. Thang confided that these are typical party members in the economic development movements in Cam Son commune. It is their boldness, daring to think and dare to do that people in 11 hamlets in the commune have effective models to learn from, creating a vibrant atmosphere of production competition. In particular, the pilot models in Cam Son commune are not stereotyped or mechanical because the commune is large, with both alluvial terrain and a protective area and a valley at the foot of rocky cliffs. “In all 11 villages in Cam Son commune, there are effective economic models, bringing in hundreds of millions of dong in annual income. What’s more exciting is that Cam Son is no longer too worried about economic models, nor too worried about output because the commune’s agricultural product markets do not depend on wholesale markets in the province but are already consumed by traders in Hanoi, Hai Phong and many other northern provinces,” Mr. Thang said excitedly.

Saying goodbye to Cam Son commune in the drizzling rain and early winter cold, we were really impressed by the confession of Ms. Cao Thi Mai: “Our hometown is rich, the people are diligent and hardworking. We farmers always believe that studying and following Uncle Ho's example does not stop at slogans and clichés, but must be done effectively, must rise up on the land of our ancestors. If party members do the right thing, do it well and do it effectively, there is no reason why people should not follow suit.”

Nguyen Khoa