Que Phong: Stick to the people, stick to the fields to grow the winter crop

(Baonghean) - With the participation of the political system and accompanying incentive policy systems, Que Phong border district is determined to develop winter crop acreage with many special products to increase land use efficiency and raise farmers' income.

Cucumber garden of farmers in Muong Nooc commune, Que Phong district.

Bustling in winter

These days, the fields of Don Cham village, Muong Nooc commune, Que Phong district are bustling with the atmosphere of land preparation and planting of seeds by farmers for winter crop production. Ms. Ha Thi Hoa, a farmer in the whole village who has been cultivating winter crop for about 3 years now, said: "Previously, the highland was abandoned, but since learning to cultivate winter crop, it has brought in an income of 5-6 million VND/crop. This year, my family continues to cultivate on 15a with many varieties of vegetables such as kohlrabi, cabbage, cauliflower".

This winter crop, the village has nearly 30 households producing on an area of ​​about 4 hectares. Behind those changes is a great imprint of the political system's advocacy work as well as the pioneering role of cadres and party members.

For nearly a month now, although there are no fields in the planned winter vegetable production area, hamlet chief Ha Thi Anh and 30a officers Vi Ngoc Be and Lang Thi Than have been "staying close to the fields and the people" to mobilize, exchange and guide farmers on farming techniques.

Hamlet chief Anh said: "This year, to build a safe vegetable production model, the district invested 220 million to invest in an electricity system extending to the fields and building a water tank, a water pipe system from the tank extending to each field.

People are very excited about reducing the need to carry water from the river to irrigate their crops. I came here to inform people about the district's policies and encourage households who are not familiar with growing winter vegetables to boldly switch.

In addition, Que Phong district also supports 100% of production seeds for farmers through the nursery of Que Phong Agricultural Production, Business and Service Cooperative located right at the village's rice fields.

Comrade Vi Ngoc Be, an officer of 30a Muong Nooc commune, said: "In addition to providing technical guidance and seeds to people, the cooperative has also calculated the output for the products, such as contacting a number of schools in the area to purchase products for farmers during the harvest."

Ms. Vi Thi Phuong, Don Cham village shared: “My family has 10 hectares of land in this area but has only grown cassava. This year, thanks to the district’s seed support policy and the encouragement and technical support from officials, we decided to switch to growing vegetables. The weather has been unfavorable these past few days, but thanks to proper care, the plants have grown very well!”

Officers of 30a and Don Cham village, Muong Nooc commune guide people on winter vegetable growing techniques.

In Que Son commune, a locality with a tradition of winter vegetable production in Que Phong district, the Party Committee has focused on preparing and directing the People's Committee to develop a plan since mid-June this year with the goal of planting 37 hectares of winter crops with the structure of corn, vegetables, beans of all kinds and sweet potatoes.

To achieve that goal, the locality emphasizes the thorough exploitation of the area to increase the output of food and vegetables of all kinds, focusing on expanding the area of ​​winter corn on all types of land in the direction of intensive investment to have a large volume of products; at the same time, strictly direct the structure of varieties, crop schedules, and services of all kinds of materials and fertilizers; overcome the situation of free services of unknown origin, affecting the productivity and output of crops.

Comrade Nguyen Tien Dung - Secretary of Que Son Commune Party Committee said: "Currently, the commune is directing people to focus on harvesting rice to switch to winter crop production. In particular, the focus is on Hai Lam Safe Vegetable Production Cooperative with an area of ​​3 hectares on two-rice land and Que Son Seed and Agricultural Services Cooperative".

Many incentive policies

Que Phong district has issued a support mechanism of 75 million VND to produce 30 hectares of winter crops in the communes of Tri Le, Chau Thon, Thong Thu, Tien Phong, Nam Giai, Dong Van and Nam Nhoong with key varieties including: kohlrabi, cabbage, Hanoi mustard greens...

The district's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has coordinated the incubation of these varieties at Que Phong Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative and then provided them free of charge to farmers in the localities.

In addition, this locality also integrates capital sources to support the implementation of the National Target Program on New Rural Construction to support and invest in implementing winter crop production models.

Of which, Dong Van, Chau Kim, Que Son, Nam Giai, Nam Nhoong communes will receive 30 million VND/commune. Quang Phong and Cam Muon communes will receive 60 million VND/commune. Hanh Dich commune will receive 140 million VND and Muong Nooc commune will receive 220 million VND.

In addition, Que Phong also supported 126 million VND, equivalent to 50% of the seed price for localities growing winter corn with an area of ​​about 300 hectares in the whole district including highlands, hillsides, rivers and streams and land lacking water in spring crop production.

These varieties are grown at Que Phong Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative to supply to farmers in localities in the district.

Comrade Pham Hoang Mai - Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Que Phong district said: "Support policies play a very important role in encouraging and motivating farmers to produce winter crops. However, due to the habit of most farmers not being familiar with this crop, we thoroughly understand the spirit of "sticking to the fields, sticking to the people" to guide and support them with technical aspects in the production process. On the contrary, if we just issue directive documents without accompanying farmers, it will not be possible."

Comrade Lu Dinh Thi - Secretary of Que Phong District Party Committee said: The district has a lot of potential in terms of climate and soil to produce winter crops, but due to production practices, the land has been left almost fallow for a long time in this crop. Therefore, implementing the resolution of the District Party Committee on socio-economic development, this year Que Phong focuses on directing the planting of winter crops to diversify agricultural products, exploit the strengths of the locality, and change the production methods for farmers.

Thanh Duy