Nghe An Youth Volunteers go to Laos to help people grow acacia and raise chickens

(Baonghean) - The 9th Youth Volunteer Team under Nghe An Provincial Youth Union and the Management Board of the Laos - Vietnam Border Youth Friendship Village have just transferred an economic demonstration model to the Laos - Vietnam Border Youth Friendship Village in Khamkout district, Bolikhamxay province, Laos.

In early 2016, the 9th Youth Volunteer Team - Nghe An Construction and Development was officially established, located in Tam Hop commune, Tuong Duong district.

The main task of the unit is to help local youth establish themselves, start a career, stabilize their lives in the long term, create jobs and transfer science and technology to Youth Volunteers; at the same time, coordinate with functional agencies to ensure security and order and security on the Vietnam - Laos border.

The officers and team members of the Construction Team provide scientific and technical guidance to the Mong ethnic people on many off-season vegetable growing and livestock raising models, bringing in a stable source of income. Here, the team has opened a direction to grow 50 hectares of passion fruit for export.

Lieutenant Vuong - Deputy Team Leader said, if 1 kg of passion fruit only gives 10,000 VND, then wild forests will give a lot of money because 1 hectare can yield over 100 million VND/year.

In addition, the team also transferred the turmeric growing model to the people. It is estimated that every 600 kg of seeds will produce 6 tons of finished turmeric, earning 60 million VND/year.

The 9th Youth Volunteer Corps has become an agricultural and forestry extension center, producing quality seeds, timely consuming products; propagating, applying and transferring scientific and technical advances into production for the Corps and surrounding areas, especially ethnic minorities in the highlands.

Technical staff of the 9th Youth Volunteer Team of Nghe An implement an economic demonstration model at the Laos-Vietnam Border Youth Friendship Village. Photo: My Nga

Since July 2007, Youth Volunteer Team 9 was assigned the additional task of going to Noong Coc village, Cam Kot district, Bolykhamxay province (Laos) to build a demonstration model of agricultural and forestry techniques for the Laos-Vietnam Border Youth Friendship Village.

Lieutenant Vuong - Deputy Commander said that the goal of this village is to attract young people and 50 young households in the locality with the spirit of volunteering to establish long-term careers, to be the core in socio-economic development and national defense and security protection.

When they first arrived, the team members planted vegetables such as mustard greens, onions, garlic, bitter melon, squash, and pumpkin in over 1,000 square meters of nursery. Seeing Vietnamese people growing vegetables instead of having to go to the market 30 kilometers away to buy them, more and more people from Noong Coc village came to see how to take care of them.

On the day the vegetables were harvested, people who came to see them were also given vegetables to try by the team members. On the same occasion, hundreds of Lao youth union members who came to the training village were taken to the nursery for a tour.

When the people believed and followed, the team members assigned each other to provide free seedlings. Mr. Le Van Quy (team member in charge of planning and techniques) said that the Youth Volunteer Team 9 built a model of 13 hectares of agarwood and acacia trees, 1.1 hectares of lychee, 1 hectare of cassava and 3.4 hectares of pineapple hills.

With the dedicated guidance of the team leaders, the people in Friendship Village have developed many models of hunger eradication and poverty reduction such as raising cows, black chickens, black pigs, growing taro, squash, corn, ginger, etc.

Ms. Khay Na Von (32 years old, a resident of the Laos-Vietnam Friendship Village) shared: “Since moving to live in the Friendship Village, I have learned about growing rubber trees, raising pigs, chickens, etc. from Vietnamese agricultural experts. Hopefully, in the near future, my family will have a stable source of income on this land.”

Mr. Som Sy - Head of the Village Project Management Board of the Lao Youth Union said: “People here do not know how to apply science and technology to farming and raising animals, so they are always poor. We are very happy to have Vietnamese experts transfer techniques for planting trees and raising animals. We have received the handover of Vietnam's agricultural and forestry model, and continue to transfer the method to young people in the village and local people in neighboring areas.”

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