Mobilizing resources for infrastructure development.

In 2001, in response to the need to develop the economy while strengthening national defense and security in the strategic Central Highlands region, the Ministry of National Defense issued Decision No. 2557/QD-BQP, dated October 24, 2001, establishing the Quang Son Economic-Defense Unit, under Company 53 (Army Corps 12); from January 7, 2010, it was transferred in its entirety to Coffee Company 15, operating in three communes: Quang Son, Quang Hoa, and Dak R'mang, Dak Glong district, Dak Nong province, now belonging to the communes of Quang Son, Quang Hoa, and Ta Dung, Lam Dong province.

Young intellectuals volunteering with the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade guide the K' Ang family in Sa Na village (Quang Son, Lam Dong ) in caring for their goat herd.

Looking back on 24 years of construction and development in the southern gateway region of the Central Highlands, Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Van Hien, Secretary of the Party Committee and Political Commissar of the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade, affirmed: "Over the past two decades, the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade has mobilized enormous resources to develop infrastructure in the project area; especially effectively implementing national target programs to support ethnic minority people in settling down and sustainably eradicating poverty."

Specifically, the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade has mobilized over 100 billion VND to invest in infrastructure in the project area. This includes: constructing 17.5km of medium and low voltage power lines, providing electricity to 636 households; building 75.1km of rural roads, 5 irrigation reservoirs and dams, with 12.5km of canals, ensuring irrigation water for over 1,000 hectares of various crops; drilling 6 wells and digging 66 new wells to provide water for residents; building 22 new classrooms and a clinic with 15 beds; reclaiming 580.5 hectares of land and clearing 12 hectares of land to provide residential and agricultural land for residents in the project area.

The Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade has received and organized the stable settlement of 508 households, with 2,101 people, mainly poor ethnic minorities in Hamlet 4, Dak Snao Hamlet, and Dak Snao 2 Hamlet, Quang Son Commune. Each household was allocated 1,000 m² of residential land, 1 hectare of production land, and received support ranging from 3.8 to 7 million VND, with a total funding of 2.32 billion VND provided by the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade to support the relocation of people to the project area. In addition, the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade also coordinated with local Party committees and authorities to stabilize the lives of 11,205 households, with 53,312 people in 41 hamlets, villages, and residential clusters of 3 communes in the project area. Thanks to the investment resources mobilized by the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade, Quang Son Commune has now achieved 15 criteria. Quang Hoa and Ta Dung communes have met 13 criteria in the new rural development program.

Helping people eradicate poverty sustainably.

In a discussion with us about the contributions of the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade to the challenging land of Lam Dong province, Comrade Vo Van Viet, Head of the Party Building Committee of Quang Son Commune Party Committee, who served as the Secretary of the Quang Son Commune Party Committee from 2020-2025, noted: “It can be said that the greatest and most effective contribution of the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade over the past decades is that the younger generation continues the legacy of the older generation. The soldiers of Uncle Ho's army are always concerned with working with the local Party committee and government to stabilize the lives of the people, helping them overcome poverty and build a prosperous life. In addition, the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade has contributed to the development of healthcare, education, preservation of traditional culture, and strengthening national defense and security. The Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade has also sustainably protected over 5,550 hectares of natural forest and restored 235.76 hectares of planted forest.”

Soldiers from the Quang Son Economic-Defense Regiment are instructing Ms. Nguyen Thi Nay in Bon Rbut (Quang Son, Lam Dong) on ​​techniques for pruning grafted coffee trees.

We, along with Captain Bach Dinh Minh, Team Leader of Team 18 (Quang Son Economic-Defense Regiment), personally observed several effective poverty reduction models in Rbut and Sa Na hamlets, Quang Son commune. Specifically, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nay's household in Rbut hamlet has 1.3 hectares of old coffee trees, planted in 2007, which have yielded low productivity in recent years. Furthermore, her household is classified as poor. Therefore, in 2023, based on the request of Team 18 and the Party Committee and Self-Management Board of Rbut hamlet, the Quang Son Economic-Defense Regiment supported Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nay's household in grafting and renovating 3 sao (approximately 0.3 hectares) of coffee trees with a total cost of 20 million VND from the unit's funds. In 2024, the grafted coffee trees yielded 8 quintals of fresh fruit, and in 2025, it is expected to yield 6 tons of fresh fruit, achieving a yield of 25 tons of fresh fruit per hectare. Similarly, in 2023, the K'Tong and K'Ang households in Sa Na village also received livestock from the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade to implement a model of breeding cattle and goats, with a support fund of 20 million VND per household. From 2024 to the present, from breeding cattle and goats, the K'Tong and K'Ang households have earned an additional income of 30 to 40 million VND per year, making their lives more prosperous.

As a result of implementing the National Target Program "Soldiers linked with villages and hamlets in ethnic minority and mountainous areas," in 2022 and 2023, the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade implemented 5 livestock and crop farming models, supporting 251 poor ethnic minority households in 3 communes within the project area, with a total budget of over 3 billion VND. To date, 171 households have escaped poverty. In 2024 and 2025, the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade will continue to implement these models for approximately 110 households, opening up opportunities for poor ethnic minority households in the project area to rise out of poverty. In addition, from the unit's capital fund, the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade also supported 105 poor households in the project area with seedlings, fertilizers, and technical guidance on pruning and grafting to improve 38.5 hectares of coffee plantations, which now yield significantly higher productivity.

Officers from the Quang Son Economic-Defense Youth Union provided training on coffee grafting techniques to the K'Diep household in Sa Na hamlet (Quang Son, Lam Dong).

It can be said that in the poverty reduction journey of the people in Quang Son, Quang Hoa, and Ta Dung communes, the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade has been and continues to receive the "shoulder-to-shoulder" support of the soldiers. They are always striving to find effective approaches and build successful models for replication. Thanks to this, the poverty rate in the project area has decreased rapidly; currently, Quang Son commune has a rate of 4.29%, Quang Hoa 13.1%, and Ta Dung 9.5%. The project area of ​​the Quang Son Economic-Defense Brigade has truly undergone a transformation; the lives of the people, especially the ethnic minorities in the southernmost part of the Central Highlands, are becoming increasingly prosperous.

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/nuoi-duong-van-hoa-bo-doi-cu-ho/bo-doi-mang-no-am-ve-quang-son-1015324