Highland products

(Baonghean) - Going to the remote districts of Tuong Duong, Ky Son, Que Phong, we often enjoy delicious traditional products in the middle of the forest, such as: Mong melon, Mac Tet fruit, sweet eggplant, bitter bamboo shoots... However, these clean products are produced spontaneously by the people, so productivity and economic efficiency are not high.

Along National Highway 7A through Tuong Duong and Ky Son districts and the roads leading to the villages, we easily saw people carrying products on their backs to sell at the central markets. At Hoa Binh Town Market (Tuong Duong), people displayed a lot of mac tet (Thai squash). Mac tet looks like a cucumber but has long stripes, and is very delicious when boiled. Ms. Vi Thi Lan, in Chan village, Thach Giam commune, is selling a basket of mac tet picked from her garden, saying: "In the people's meals, there is this "product", so mac tet is quite easy to sell, we sell it in bundles of 4 - 5 fruits tied together for 10,000 VND. Each market session also sells 150,000 - 200,000 VND.

According to Ms. Lan, the Thai people grow mactet fruit to replace vegetables in meals. In Chan village alone, for about 5 years now, mactet has been grown commercially to serve the Hoa Binh Town market, but the quantity is not much. The total harvest of each family is only from 1.2 to 1.5 million VND. Ms. Luong Thi Nguyet in Chan village also grows about 150m2 of mactet trees and said: Growing mactet is very effective, planted from March to May, it is harvested until the end of October, there are fruits harvested every day, the whole harvest is sold for nearly 2 million VND. However, it is difficult to expand the area of ​​mactet planting because of the need to invest in trellis construction, and irrigation is difficult, so people mainly grow it in their home gardens. It is known that Chan village has over 100 households, but there are about 50 households growing mactet, the income from this fruit contributes to helping people improve their lives.

Melon fields in Xop Chang, Yen Hoa (Tuong Duong).

Tuong Duong is also famous for its sweet eggplant specialty, bigger than eggplant, green with white edges, eaten raw with soy sauce, shrimp paste, very sweet. Almost everyone who comes to Tuong Duong tries to find this special product to bring back as a gift. Sweet eggplant is sold quite a lot at Hoa Binh Town market and Tam Thai, Tam Dinh, Xa Luong communes... Sweet eggplant is currently grown in many communes, but Khe Ngau village, Xa Luong commune is considered the "capital" of sweet eggplant. According to Ms. Luong Thi May in Khe Ngau village, every year her family harvests 3 tons of sweet eggplant, mainly grown along Khe Ngau, completely naturally grown without using any pesticides. With a price of 8,000 - 10,000 VND/kg, each year, her family has an income of 27 - 30 million VND/year from growing sweet eggplant. Xa Luong village has 45/120 households growing sweet eggplant, reaching 35 - 40 tons of eggplant, total revenue over 300 million VND/year. Mr. Luong Van Phan, Chairman of Xa Luong Commune People's Committee said: Sweet eggplant is suitable for growing in Khe Ngau land, planted 2 crops/year, this summer sweet eggplant crop alone is expected to reach 45 tons, however due to drought, the yield is lower.

Mr. Lo Kham Kha, Head of the Agriculture Department of Tuong Duong district, added: The district is focusing on each region and area with agricultural products such as squash, Con Phen bitter bamboo shoots, taro... However, the planted areas are still fragmented and have not been planned into concentrated areas due to the fragmented terrain. For example, green squash has about 25 hectares concentrated in the communes of Tam Hop, Thach Giam, Tam Dinh, taro has 10 hectares in Tam Hop, Luu Kien... To develop into a commodity is still difficult, the reason is that the output is not stable, mainly consumed within the district and visitors from far away. The district is gradually building a brand for highland products, initially forming a sweet eggplant area of ​​Khe Ngau, fragrant squash of Xa Luong, mac tet in Chan village (Thach Giam), taro, mustard greens of Luu Kien... The district encourages people to fertilize in the traditional way, without using pesticides. However, in order for highland products to bring high economic value, they need to be promoted and introduced in restaurants and hotels in the city. This is a program that needs mechanisms and policies to support the people to boldly develop.

The highland district of Ky Son is also famous for its products such as field melon, taro, and mac cooc... Field melon is a typical product, the highland people often call it Mong melon, the fruit is 3-4 times bigger than cucumber, crunchy and sweet, has a unique flavor, grown by Mong people in Huoi Tu, Muong Long, Nam Can communes... on high mountain slopes, covered with fog. In Nam Can commune, this is the Mong melon harvest season. Mr. Lau Tong Chua in Truong Son village said: This melon is very easy to grow, just need to clear the field, sow seeds from the second lunar month, around the fifth and sixth lunar months to harvest. Due to the cool climate of Nam Can all year round, the melon does not need to be watered but still bears fruit evenly. My family alone plants about 500m2 scatteredly and gets about 200 kg, sells for 10,000 VND/kg, earns 2 million VND/crop. The entire Nam Can commune currently has about 3-4 hectares of upland melons concentrated in Ba Ca and Truong Son villages... Mr. Ho Chong Nhia, Chairman of the People's Committee of Nam Can commune, added: Upland melons are a valuable specialty but it is difficult to expand the area because the planting area is far from residential areas, so they are often damaged by rats. Not to mention the need to preserve the seeds well, some households sow a lot but the germination rate is not high.

Nam Can is also famous for its specialty taro grown on upland. Local people here said: Taro is easy to eat, used quite commonly in winter, because it keeps the body warm quite well. In recent years, people have received relief rice during the lean season from the State, but no one has abandoned taro but has expanded the area to grow and sell to increase income. Mr. Ho Chong Nhia, Chairman of Nam Can Commune People's Committee shared: Seeing the value of taro, the commune has encouraged people to expand the area, from only over 3 - 4 hectares, this year there are over 8 hectares of taro. Expanding the area of ​​taro and increasing income is easy, because taro is a difficult plant, you have to choose good, original land to plant it, the quality of taro is big and starchy, and has a delicious, characteristic flavor. If chemical fertilizers are used, the taro will not be delicious.

In addition, taro is also grown in the communes of Huoi Tu, Muong Long, Dooc May, Na Ngoi and Tay Son. With its potential and advantages, Ky Son also has many other valuable products such as Shan Tuyet tea concentrated in Huoi Tu, Muong Long, about 500 hectares. Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tri, Head of Ky Son Agriculture Department, said: The potential of Shan Tuyet tea is huge but Ky Son has not fully exploited it. The reason why Shan Tuyet tea has not reached its potential is because the processing technology of the 8th Youth Volunteer Team is still backward, the promotion stage has not been focused on, and there is a lack of capital for production.

The products of the remote districts are being preserved and produced by the people. However, to become commodities and widely introduced in the market, it requires active participation with many positive solutions from all levels and sectors in the stages of consumption, product promotion, production linkage...

Van Truong