Growing bananas to fatten yellow cows on the Nghe An border

(Baonghean.vn) - Many families in the Ky Son border area (Nghe An) focus on fattening cattle. The yellow cattle breed in this border area has delicious meat and is favored by customers. Fattening cattle helps many households escape poverty sustainably.

Raising fattening cows in Pieng Pho village, Pha Danh commune.

Mr. Lo Xuan in Phieng Pho village, Pha Danh commune, Ky Son said: From 2012 until now, grasping the market demand, my family has always raised 4-5 cows. To fatten cows, the family grows over 1 hectare of royal bananas, taking advantage of the source of food for cows from banana leaves and stems.

Every month, Mr. Xuan goes to Huoi Tu, Keng Du, Na Loi communes to buy small, skinny cows that people want to sell, fatten them up for 2-3 months and then sell them. Each cow brings him a profit of 5-6 million VND/3 months of raising. Every year, his family earns a profit of 40-50 million VND from raising cows.

30 hectares of bananas are grown in Ky Son for livestock farming.

Pieng Pho village has over 62 households. Since 2010, people have grown over 30 hectares of bananas to feed commercial cattle. Cattle raising has helped many families escape poverty. Over 90% of the village has tiled stilt houses, over 95% of households have motorbikes, televisions, etc.

Mr. Mua Ba Ky - Hoa Son village, Ta Ca - Ky Son is taking care of fattening cows. Photo by Lu Phu

Up to this point, the whole Pha Danh commune has over 1,200 cows, the villages with the most cows include Pieng Pho, Keo Luc, Pha Khao... Of which, over 30% of households specialize in fattening cows.

According to Ms. Vi Thi Thanh - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Pha Danh commune: The cost of feed for a fattened cow is from 1.2 to 1.5 million VND, after deducting the cost after selling, the profit is 3.5 to 5 million VND. On average, each household earns a profit of 50 to 70 million VND/year, this is an effective way to reduce poverty for many families...

Many families in Ky Son raise cattle. Photo by Lu Phu

In Tay Son commune, there are about 1,600 cows with about 50 households regularly exchanging and buying and selling fattened cows, bringing in high income. From the practical effectiveness of fattening cows, the commune government encourages people to continue investing in growing grass to raise cows.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tri - Head of Ky Son Agriculture Department added: Currently, the whole district has about 56,000 cows. In which, many communes develop fattening cattle farming, mainly in Huoi Tu, My Ly, Muong Tip, Muong Ai communes... The Agriculture Department and the District Agricultural Extension Station actively train and guide livestock models to implement scientific and technological advances in fattening cattle farming.

Van Truong