Forever the spirit of the Red Farmers' Association

(Baonghean) -85 years ago, under the guiding banner of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nghe An farmers stood side by side with workers and people of all walks of life to fight on an increasingly large scale.

The flag of the peasants' rallying cry

The Nghe Tinh Soviet movement paralyzed and disintegrated the colonial and feudal government apparatus in many districts; it returned power to the people under the management of the Commune Farmers' Association Executive Committee. After 85 years of construction and development, the Nghe An Farmers' Association has always stood side by side with the working class and intellectuals under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, creating historical milestones on the journey of fighting for national independence and freedom, building a prosperous country on the path of innovation.

From the mid-19th century, for nearly a century our nation was under French colonial rule, our people lived in misery and suffering under the yoke of feudal colonial rule. Not willing to be oppressed and exploited, Nghe An farmers gathered together under groups such as Roofing Association, Hieu Hy Association, Tuong Te Association... to carry out many struggles against the enemy.

Comrade Nguyen Huu Nhi (left) visits Mr. Nguyen Huu Binh's orange garden in Dong Thanh commune (Yen Thanh). Photo: Tran Quang

In November 1929, the Nghe An Red Peasant Association was established to gather farmers to rise up and fight for and protect farmers' rights. After the Communist Party of Vietnam was born, the Red Peasant Association grew stronger and stronger, becoming a large and important force alongside workers and intellectuals to carry out revolutionary tasks. The achievements of the peasant class and the Nghe An Peasant Association have contributed to making the history of the homeland and the country famous. From the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement (1930 - 1931) to the Autumn Uprising in 1945, there were great contributions from the Nghe An peasant class. Entering the period of resistance war and national construction, with the slogan "every citizen is a soldier", farmers in the province were both farmers and soldiers, "steady in hand with the plow, steady in hand with the gun", always ready to fight and fiercely resist the enemy.

The country was unified, Nghe An and Ha Tinh merged into Nghe Tinh province, tens of thousands of farmers with areca spathes and eggplants enthusiastically went to construction sites in Vuc Mau, Vach Vung, Vach Bac, Vach Nam, Song Nghen, Ke Go, Hiep Hoa, Dap Buoi... with the determination to help our province escape poverty. Farmers everywhere actively increased production, applied scientific and technological advances, and organized cooperation to improve productivity. The material and spiritual life of farmers from the highlands to the lowlands was gradually improved.

Entering the period of innovation, and especially after the separation of the province, Nghe An farmers soon implemented "contract 10" with households as independent economic units, converting land, building agricultural, forestry and fishery farms, developing concentrated raw material areas to serve the processing industry such as sugarcane, tea, coffee, rubber, pineapple, cassava... and many valuable export products such as: shrimp, fish, peanuts, buffalo, cows...

Under the leadership of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, the Provincial Farmers' Association organized many patriotic emulation movements in production and building a new life, contributing to changing the face of the countryside and changing the lives of farmers both materially and spiritually.

Core in the new rural construction movement

85 years have passed, but the flame and revolutionary drumbeat of the 1930s of the Nghe An Red Peasant Association in the Nghe Tinh Soviet movement still resonates forever. In each revolutionary period, Nghe An farmers have always been diligent, hard-working, attached to the roots of the nation, and are the main force in building and defending the homeland and the country.

The outstanding achievement of the recent farmers' movement is the average growth rate of agricultural, forestry and fishery production value in the past 5 years reaching 4.91%. Agricultural production has rapidly shifted to commodity agriculture, increasing the value per unit area, ensuring food security and raw materials for processing and export industries, and developing concentrated livestock farming in the direction of high-tech agricultural farms and ranches.

Leaders of the Provincial Farmers' Association visited the fish sauce processing model in Hai Giang 1 block, Nghi Hai ward (Cua Lo town).

To support farmers to proactively invest in production, every year the associations at all levels coordinate with schools and centers to open hundreds of vocational training classes and provide scientific and technical training for members and farmers. Particularly, the Vocational Training and Farmer Support Center of the Provincial Farmers' Association opens an average of over 50 vocational training classes (primary vocational and short-term vocational) for more than 1,760 people each year. Along with the coordination with the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Social Policy Bank to annually lend 1,955,202 million VND to farmers, the associations at all levels have proactively built a Farmers' Support Fund to create conditions for farmers to have capital to invest in production.

Up to now, the Farmers' Support Fund at all levels has reached 29.2 billion VND, of which the Central Union entrusted 11.2 billion VND; the provincial budget added 15 billion VND and the rest is additional source from other activities. From the Farmers' Support Fund, farmers' associations at all levels have focused on investing in building 92 models with 1,121 households receiving loans.

Responding to the movement of the whole country joining hands to build new rural areas, farmers at all levels mobilized farmers to participate in building and developing rural infrastructure according to new rural criteria. With the motto of the State and the people working together, farmers in the whole province donated thousands of square meters of land, contributed tens of thousands of working days and thousands of billions of VND to build rural roads and concretize intra-field canals. Through that, the face of the countryside has had many clear changes, especially in terms of socio-economic infrastructure, and farmers' lives have been improved. Many effective economic development models have been replicated; many large-scale model fields have been built.

The structure of agricultural and rural labor has shifted in a positive direction. After nearly 3 years of implementation, the face of Nghe An's countryside has seen many changes. Up to the first 8 months of 2015, the whole province had 71 communes meeting the standards, it is expected that by the end of 2015, about 114 communes will have met the new rural standards (accounting for 27% of the total number of communes in the whole province). The material and spiritual life of rural residents has also been significantly improved. The average income per capita reached 29 million VND/person/year, gradually reducing the annual poverty rate by 3.07%, it is expected that by the end of 2015 the poverty rate will be about 7-7.5%.

Promoting the heroic tradition of the Vietnam Farmers' Union, especially the revolutionary tradition of farmers in the Soviet homeland of Nghe Tinh, farmers' unions at all levels in the province are continuing to innovate their methods of operation, aiming to further promote the role and responsibility of the union and the solidarity strength of farmers. Closely following the goals and targets set by the Provincial Party Congress and the Farmers' Union Congresses at all levels to propagate, mobilize and guide farmer members to well implement the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's laws and policies, the union's directives and resolutions. Promoting patriotic emulation movements of farmers in all fields, especially promoting the movements "Farmers compete in production, good business, solidarity to help each other get rich and sustainably reduce poverty"; "Farmers compete in building new rural areas".

Strengthening the relationship of coordination with State agencies, scientists, enterprises, vocational training institutions, domestic and foreign organizations to do a good job of supporting farmers in terms of scientific and technological knowledge, technology, materials, capital, production tools and employment.

With the pride of being farmers in the Soviet homeland, the association and the peasant class of the province have more confidence to continue to innovate their methods of operation in a practical and effective way. The association actively participates in and implements the restructuring of agriculture towards rapid and sustainable development. Gradually improve the material and spiritual life of farmers, narrowing the gap between regions. Contributing significantly to making Nghe An "soon become one of the better provinces in the Northern region" as wished by beloved Uncle Ho, the expectations of the Central Government and compatriots and comrades nationwide for Uncle Ho's homeland.

Nguyen Huu Nhi