Thinh Son: Accelerating to the finish line

(Baonghean) - After more than 3 years of implementing the National Target Program on New Rural Construction, up to now, Thinh Son commune (Do Luong) has completed 16/19 criteria. With the help of the province, district, Party Committee and people of Thinh Son are joining hands and making efforts to complete the remaining 3 criteria: traffic, environment, cultural facilities to soon become a commune meeting new rural standards in 2014 as the set target.

Although the commune has a large poultry population, farmers mainly raise poultry on a small scale, with little investment, leading to low efficiency. In addition, the supply of breeds and disease prevention have not been paid attention to. In many years, chickens have died en masse from diseases, causing heavy economic losses to farmers. To help farmers gradually approach safe farming methods, following the technical guidance of the District Agricultural Extension Station, Thinh Son has built a model of "Raising free-range chickens in a biosafety direction".

The number of hybrid chickens in the model is 1,560 for 7 households in 5 hamlets, each household receives an average of 200 - 300 chickens. Participating households are supported with 100% of the breed, 30% of the feed, veterinary medicine to prevent diseases; participate in training courses, access to technical processes according to VietGAP standards... Mr. Nguyen Cong Thuy (in hamlet 1) - is one of the households participating in the model, given 360 chickens to raise for 4 months. Due to strict compliance with the principles of barn hygiene and care, the chickens grow and develop well, no disease occurs, the survival rate is over 95%.

The biosafety chicken farming model in Thinh Son commune (Do Luong) is being replicated.

In addition, many households have boldly invested in developing freshwater fish farming in the direction of intensive farming to increase productivity to bring economic efficiency. However, fish farming is still produced in the traditional way, using untreated organic fertilizers, feed from agricultural by-products, self-processing that does not ensure quality and the abuse of drugs and chemicals to treat ponds is quite common, affecting the quality of products when brought to the market. In order to develop freshwater fish farming in a stable direction, producing products that ensure food safety and hygiene, in 2013, Thinh Son commune built a pilot model of "Raising traditional meat fish in earthen ponds according to VietGAP" in 2 households in hamlet 13 with an area of ​​9,000m2 of ponds, with a total cost of 61 million VND. After 4 months of stocking, the fish reached a weight of about 700 - 1,000g. According to Mr. Dau Tiep - Head of the Agriculture Department of Thinh Son Commune: The traditional fish farming model following VietGAP standards, in addition to bringing economic efficiency, also helps people approach new farming methods, contributing to creating clean products to meet market demand, minimizing impacts on the natural environment. More importantly, this farming model has helped people realize that intensive aquaculture is more effective than traditional extensive farming methods.

Before being selected as a pilot commune for new rural development (2011), Thinh Son only met 8/19 criteria. Other criteria were still at a low starting point, with an average income per capita of more than 20 million VND/year. After nearly 3 years of implementing the new rural development program, up to now, the commune has met 16/19 criteria according to the National Criteria for New Rural Development, with an economic growth rate of 18%... Today, Thinh Son has changed a lot, with a prosperous and prosperous rural appearance. The commune has completed a large amount of work, especially basic construction, land consolidation, plot exchange, attracting occupations, creating jobs, and increasing income for people; bringing the average income per capita to 30.6 million VND/year; currently, there are only 64 poor households out of a total of 1,360 households in the commune (accounting for 4.7%).

The commune has upgraded and expanded 8 km of inter-commune asphalt concrete roads; 6 km of inter-family concrete roads between 15 hamlets; built 7.6 km of concrete canals, 33 km of intra-field fishbone canals for the planned two-crop rice production area. Invested in upgrading and constructing schools, medical facilities, and basic facilities to meet the needs... With a total estimated investment of more than 67 billion VND; of which the central and provincial budgets are nearly 22 billion VND, from the district budget of 4.8 billion VND, the commune budget of 12.4 billion VND, and capital from enterprises and mobilized people's contributions of nearly 28 billion VND.

Mr. Thai Khac Mao - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thinh Son commune said: Right from the first day of starting to build a new rural area, the Party Committee and the People's Committee of the commune have clearly understood that building a new rural area is the responsibility not only of the Party Committee, the government, and mass organizations, but also of the decisive role of the entire people. Understanding that policy, all people have actively responded to the movement to build a new rural area, and the face of Thinh Son countryside has changed day by day. In addition, the Steering Committee also attaches importance to training and coaching to improve the professional skills of grassroots cadres to implement the program. In infrastructure construction, the commune clearly decentralizes which items are invested by the commune, on that basis, it builds an implementation plan integrated with the program with investment capital from the State budget, establishes a Management Board and a Supervisory Board to ensure that the construction works meet the requirements of quality and quantity and are settled in accordance with the order and procedures prescribed by the State. For village and hamlet projects, the Party Cell issues a leadership resolution, then holds a meeting with all the people so that everyone can democratically discuss and unanimously decide where to build the project and how much funding to contribute...

From the actual implementation, the commune regularly holds meetings, draws experiences, and proposes many solutions with good and creative ways, especially in promoting internal strength from the people according to the motto "People do the main thing, the State guides and supports" for people to apply in practice. Registering to reach the NTM finish line in 2014, with 3 criteria not yet achieved: traffic, cultural facilities and environment, Thinh Son commune is determined to complete with synchronous solutions; support and assistance from the district, province, consensus and joint efforts of the people... Building a new rural commune that meets the criteria is just the beginning, to continue the next stages in the process of rural modernization; improving the life and enjoyment of farmers.

Article and photos:Ngoc Anh