Que Phong: Poverty reduction through "transformation"...

(Baonghean) -Over the past two years, thanks to the strong transformation of crop and livestock structure towards concentration and high quality, thousands of households in Que Phong district are gradually escaping poverty and gradually becoming rich.

Tri Le is one of the remote communes of Que Phong district. Before the poverty rate of the commune was always high, especially in the Mong villages, the situation of spontaneous migration led to unstable life, economic life was very difficult. Now, thanks to the conversion of crop and livestock structure, the face of Tri Le changes every day, people's lives are improving day by day. Mr. Dam Thien Thuong - Deputy Secretary of Tri Le commune said: If comparing Tri Le now with a few years ago, there has been a big step forward. The poverty rate in 2011 was 78%, then recently, according to the survey, the poverty rate has decreased to 63%. People's lives are improving day by day, especially for 10 Mong villages, which have clearly improved. This result is thanks to the Transplant Committee, the government has boldly converted the crop and livestock structure in accordance with the resolution of the district in this term.

People in Chieng village, Tri Le commune converted ineffective rice fields to grow vegetables for high income.

When talking about Tri Le, we cannot help but mention passion fruit trees. From a model of more than 2 hectares, the whole commune has now expanded to 16.49 hectares, concentrated in Yen Son, San, Na Nieng, D1, D2, Ta Pan villages. This is a crop that has affirmed its economic value in Tri Le land. Therefore, when establishing 2 new Mong villages, D1, D2 in Minh Chau New Economic Zone, the commune mobilized and propagated people to boldly plant passion fruit trees on fallow land. Thanks to the guidance of cadres on planting and care techniques, passion fruit trees have initially brought income to people in these 2 new villages. Ly Ba Chai's family just moved to D1 village in early 2012. After being divided the land, his family boldly planted more than 5 sao of passion fruit. After the first harvest, he earned 6 million VND. Mr. Chai said: Since moving to the new village, thanks to the help of the Party Committee and the commune government, the family's life is no longer as difficult as before. Now, the couple stays home to take care of the passion fruit and sugarcane fields and has a stable income.

In addition to expanding the area of ​​passion fruit cultivation, Tri Le has boldly introduced many new varieties of plants and animals to increase productivity and quality. In D1 and D2 villages, the commune has cooperated with the sugar factory to test-plant 4.34 hectares on an area that was previously fallow hill land. Currently, sugarcane is growing well, promising to be a crop to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty for the people. In addition, the commune has a policy for people to raise fish in cages on dams and large rivers. In addition to traditional fish varieties such as silver carp, common carp, and grass carp, people have also boldly introduced specialty fish varieties such as catfish, bream, and sturgeon. In Chieng villages, people have converted some ineffective rice-growing areas to growing vegetables.

The Party Committee and the government of Que Son commune have also paid attention to and implemented well the work of converting the structure of crops and livestock. Identifying sugarcane as the key crop in the work of hunger eradication and poverty reduction, since 2010, Que Son commune has mobilized and propagated people to reclaim and convert ineffective land, single-rice land, and garden land to grow sugarcane. Thanks to the help and support in terms of capital, seeds, fertilizers and technical guidance from Tate & Lyle Sugar Factory, the sugarcane growing area of ​​the commune has been continuously expanded. From 30 hectares of experimental planting in 2006, by 2012, the whole commune had 220 hectares of sugarcane land. The whole commune currently has about 300 households growing sugarcane. Currently, the lives of sugarcane growing households are constantly improving. For each hectare of sugarcane, people harvest an average of 75 tons, resulting in an economic efficiency of nearly 70 million VND. There are households that, thanks to good investment in care, have sugarcane productivity of up to 120 tons/ha.

Depending on the soil conditions and farming practices of each cluster, the commune has planned economic development in the direction of specialization, creating high market value. For example, in the Nam Son cluster, which includes 4 difficult villages: Na Cong, Na Cao, Na Coc, Pieng Mon, people focus on converting from free-range farming to cage farming. Thanks to regular care and vaccination, the people's livestock and poultry grow well, bringing high economic efficiency every year. Mr. Ho Van Khuong - Head of the Cooperative specializing in plant varieties, animal breeds and agriculture in Que Son said: Thanks to the guidance of technical staff, the livestock movement has recently developed strongly. On average, each month, workers have an income of over 3 million VND. And most of these households have basically escaped poverty. In the Hong Son cluster, due to the relatively flat terrain, it is convenient for irrigation. Previously, this was an area where one rice crop and one vegetable crop were grown, but the economic efficiency was unstable, one year was good and the other was not. Realizing that vegetables are economically efficient, the commune has mobilized people to build a concentrated vegetable growing area of ​​4 hectares. Each season has its own plants, cucumbers, squash, eggplants are grown in the summer-autumn crop. As for the winter-spring crop, people grow kohlrabi, cabbage, green beans, etc. In 2011, 11 households in Hai Lam 1 hamlet established a cooperative to produce safe vegetables.

Mr. Tran Diep Trung Duong - Vice Chairman of Que Son Commune People's Committee said: Implementing the resolution of the district party committee, the commune has shifted the crop structure to match the soil of each locality. Que Son has boldly built specific production areas, from which it can create competitive products in the market. After 2 years of implementation, the effectiveness of this work has been clearly seen. The poverty rate of the commune in 2011 was over 46%, and in 2012 it had decreased to 34.7%. And recent survey data for 2013 showed that this rate had decreased to 27.6%. For households that have escaped poverty, the lives of farmers have now improved. The face of the new countryside is gradually becoming clear. In the upcoming winter-spring crop, the commune will make full use of the remaining land fund of about 15-20 hectares to grow sugarcane. Furthermore, regarding rice varieties, the commune replaced the Nhi Uu 838 variety with high-yield, high-quality rice varieties such as Nhi Uu 986, NA2 and some local specialty varieties.

It is not difficult to see the transformation in each village of the mountainous district of Que Phong that we passed through. In addition to Tri Le and Que Son, many other localities have found their own direction that is both unique and highly effective economically. For example, Chau Thon commune raises bees, Kim Son and Nam Nhoong towns raise porcupines, Tien Phong raises ducks, Chau Kim raises black chickens and grows high-yield rice... These are the results of a strong shift in the development of cultivation and livestock.

Based on the soil characteristics, farming conditions and people's customs, Que Phong is gradually forming unique "addresses", enhancing the competitiveness of agricultural products. Mr. Trinh Xuan Dung, Head of the District's Agriculture Department, said: Implementing the content of Resolution 20 of the District Party Committee for the 2010-2015 term, we have developed specific issues so that on that basis, each locality will determine its own appropriate direction. In addition, we have linked up with businesses to find outlets for agricultural products combined with the application of scientific and technological advances. However, replicating models in some localities still faces many difficulties. Therefore, support from all levels and sectors is needed so that people can escape poverty sustainably.

Pham Bang