Con Cuong mountainous district strongly develops OCOP products

Comrade Nguyen Duc Trung - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee visited the Pu Mat medicinal herb area. Photo: Ba Hau

Con Cuong mountainous district is known as a locality with many traditional crafts recognized for its unique and diverse products. Many products of Con Cuong district have their own brands such as: Giang river fish, leaf-fermented wine, jar wine, brocade, sour meat, bamboo tube melon, rattan and bamboo weaving... bearing strong traditional elements.

In addition, nature has endowed this district with the potential to develop advantageous agricultural products such as medicinal plants, Gynostemma pentaphyllum, Polygonum multiflorum extract, fresh fruits and vegetables... These are advantages for Con Cuong district to effectively develop the "One Commune One Product" (OCOP) Program. In addition, with the attention and direction of the local government and departments, the start-up movement in the area has developed strongly, creating momentum for the development of OCOP products.

Sticky rice wine products in Con Cuong district. Photo: Ba Hau

Implementing the OCOP Program, period 2019-2022, up to now, Con Cuong district has focused on supporting, developing, completing and standardizing a number of products such as rattan, bamboo weaving, brocade weaving, leaf yeast wine, community tourism villages. The province has recognized 7 products with 4-star rating such as: Solanum procumbens tea bags, Gymnema sylvestre tea bags, Gynostemma pentaphyllum tea bags, Solanum procumbens extract, Gymnema sylvestre extract, Solanum procumbens instant tea, Gymnema sylvestre instant tea of ​​Pu Mat Medicinal Herbs Company, in addition, there are many other products such as Khau Hin sticky rice wine, leaf yeast rice wine, Gymnema sylvestre pills, Nua village community tourism, Khe Ran village community tourism, Le Dong leaf yeast wine, Chau Lien leaf yeast wine, Thao My purple sticky rice wine...

4-star Solanum procumbens product of Pu Mat Pharmaceutical Company. Photo: Document

As Con Cuong district is gradually developing into an attractive tourist destination in the Western region of Nghe An as well as the whole country, attracting many domestic and international tourists, the leaders of Con Cuong district said that they will create conditions for the unit to bring OCOP products to the district's tourist destinations to promote the district's specialty products. At the same time, Con Cuong district has conducted a survey of registered products in the area and is focusing on supporting, perfecting, and developing them to get certified. It is easy to see that in the area, local products are very interested, cooperatives are established, training is provided, support is provided in applying science and technology, difficulties are removed and introduced to find product outlets...

When you come to Lien Tan village, Bong Khe commune (Con Cuong), everyone will know about Thao My traditional sticky rice wine facility, because this is a wine production facility that has been maintaining its long-standing tradition, while still meeting the criteria of a modern product, creating prestige with customers in and outside the locality.

Ms. Vi Thao My - owner of Thao My sticky rice wine establishment said: The difference of Thao My traditional sticky rice wine is that it is produced according to the traditional method (sticky rice, soaked in clean water, not cooked into sticky rice, mixed with leaf yeast with nearly 12 types of natural herbs, fermented according to strict procedures and time, then pressed to extract pure essence from sticky rice to make Thao My sticky rice wine (normally, a successful batch requires 20 kg of sticky rice to press 10 liters of sticky rice wine), so the price is higher than the sticky rice wine floating on the market.

In addition to the sticky rice wine product, the facility also produces fermented sticky rice wine and Khau Hin sticky rice wine, all of which are cooked according to traditional methods to retain their characteristic flavors, sweet and spicy taste, do not cause headaches, do not get tired when drunk and are quickly eliminated. The product is packaged in 5 liter, 10 liter, 20 liter plastic cans, serving holidays and Tet according to customer needs, each product has a clear traceability stamp and production date.

The input materials are tap water and sticky rice produced by the people in the production area. The yeast used to make wine is the leaf yeast of the Thai people. All raw materials are carefully controlled in origin, the products have been displayed at fairs, important political events of the province, district and commune, known to consumers near and far. Up to now, the products of the facility have met the OCOP product standards, reaching the 3-star standard at the provincial level.

For Pu Mat Medicinal Herbs Company, in addition to the unit's efforts, the company also received a lot of attention from the district and province for today's success. Mr. Phan Xuan Dien - Director of Pu Mat Medicinal Herbs Company said: "In the production of goods, we put product quality first, taking advantage of the natural potential that our district has to develop the best quality products, contributing to creating jobs for dozens of localities as well as contributing to making tourists know about the precious herbs of Con Cuong".

Or the community tourism service in Xieng village, Mon Son commune was formed in 2012, since then, each year this community tourism service group has welcomed and served 1,000-2,000 domestic and foreign tourists. The way of organizing service work is methodical, professional and highly appreciated by tourists.

Currently, the Cooperative has been implementing main service packages such as: Cuisine (traditional dishes of the Thai people). Accommodation (overnight stay in stilt houses). Experience boating on Giang River, brocade weaving, cultural exchange, drinking rice wine.

The above services are organized based on traditional identity elements combined with responsible and creative tourism elements, creating attractive tourism products, helping visitors learn about the community culture of the Thai ethnic people in Con Cuong district.

With the increasingly improved quality of tourist services, it has attracted more and more tourists to visit and experience, thereby creating jobs and increasing income for many households as well as members of the Mon Son Agricultural and Community Tourism Cooperative.

Con Cuong district attracts 30-40 thousand tourists every year, but there are not many souvenirs for tourists to buy or special products to serve tourists staying there. This is the potential that OCOP subjects of Con Cuong can develop local products.

According to Mr. Luong Dinh Viet - Vice Chairman of Con Cuong District People's Committee: Although it is a mountainous district with many difficulties, with the high determination of the District Party Committee, the District People's Committee and OCOP subjects are creating turning points for the process of economic restructuring, gradually changing thinking, turning the potentials and advantages from the mountains and forests into products to supply the market, creating jobs for workers, increasing income for subjects and workers, contributing to speeding up the implementation of the National Target Program on new rural construction in the district.

Community tourism associated with the cultural identity of ethnic minorities in Con Cuong district has become a prominent OCOP product in Con Cuong. Photo: Document

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