Bung Can shines brightly

Dragon fruit is being cultivated by farmers in Bung Can hamlet, Bao Hoa commune, covering an area of over 50 hectares. Photo: D. Phu

“Bung Can hamlet is divided into two production areas: the high-lying So Hill area, belonging to groups 1 and 13, with over 200 hectares dedicated to perennial crops; and the low-lying Bung Can area, approximately 400 hectares, belonging to groups 2 to 12, specializing in growing flowers, fruit trees, and rice,” said Do Chi Vu, Party Secretary and Head of Bung Can hamlet.

Heartwarming acts of kindness from immigrants.

Returning to Bung Can hamlet in the bright sunshine of late April 2025, the Cau Voi rural road connecting Bung Can hamlet to National Highway 1, which was narrow and bumpy more than 14 years ago, is now spacious, clean, and beautiful. Even more interesting is that houses, businesses, and shops line both sides of the Cau Voi road. In contrast, more than 14 years ago, we had to travel a considerable distance to see even a small house nestled amidst vast orchards of rambutan, cashew, and corn.

We had to rely on locals for directions to find Mr. Nguyen Van Ba's house (96 years old, residing in Bung Can hamlet), because his old single-story house had been replaced by a multi-million dollar villa built in 2019 with savings from many successful harvests.

In 1989, Mr. and Mrs. Ba and their eight children (the youngest 4 years old, the oldest 25 years old) left Quang Ngai province and settled in Bung Can hamlet. The reason they chose the low-lying area of Bung Can instead of the higher ground on So Hill was because it was more convenient for clearing wasteland to cultivate rice and other crops, meeting their immediate food needs, as well as providing ample land for production and farming.

Mr. Ba recounted that this area was a swampy region teeming with wild water spinach, reeds, bamboo, and trees, so transforming it into rice paddies, gardens, and ponds required considerable effort. At the same time, although sparsely populated, the Bưng Cần area had already been cleared and cultivated by people from Xuân Định commune and other hamlets of Bảo Hòa commune between 1975 and 1985, taking almost all the good land. Those who arrived later, like him and his wife, had to buy land from those who had cleared it earlier and continued to expand their settlements by reclaiming land from the surrounding swamps and streams.

According to Mr. and Mrs. Ba, whether they settled in the high-lying area of So Hill or the 400-hectare swampy area of Bung Can, later immigrants (mainly from the northern and central provinces) always received support and assistance from those who arrived earlier, regardless of whether they were relatives, close friends, or from the same village, district, or province.

Mr. Bui Huy Sinh (from Ha Nam province), Chairman of the Veterans Association in Bung Can hamlet, said that in 1990, when he came here to start a new life, he received a lot of support from those who came before him, such as: giving him land near the road, building a roof for him, guiding him on suitable planting methods… Later, when he had settled down and established a stable life, he returned to help those who came after him as a way of repaying the kindness he had received.

"Even though the fields, farms, and houses are hundreds of meters apart, in some places requiring crossing hills and streams, and there's no electricity or telephone communication, as long as we know our distant neighbors need help, we will come to share and support them," Mr. Sinh confided.

According to Do Chi Vu, Party Secretary and Head of Bung Can Hamlet, Bung Can Hamlet currently has 532 households, divided into 13 residential groups. Bung Can Hamlet is not only prosperous and beautiful, but also a land with a strong tradition of learning, with over 700 children attending college, university, and postgraduate programs. On average, each household has 1-2 children who have graduated from university.

Show off your figure with your new life.

With diligence, strong hands, and a love of work striving for a prosperous life, the immigrants in Bung Can hamlet gradually transformed the barren, low-lying area of So Hill into rice paddies and gardens with various crops such as rambutan, avocado, durian, guava, coffee, pepper, and other vegetables. Notably, during the Tet holiday of 2008, Bung Can hamlet switched to cultivating dozens of hectares of flowers such as lilies, gladioli, chrysanthemums, marigolds, and cockscomb, making the countryside bright and vibrant with color.

According to Nguyen Duc Nuoc, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Bao Hoa commune, after a period of importing many flower varieties for trial cultivation, by 2010, the Bung Can area had become the largest flower-growing area in Xuan Loc district. Besides contributing to the Tet flower market and adding beauty to the countryside, the flowers from Bung Can have also boosted the lives and incomes of flower farmers, increasing them 7-10 times compared to growing rice, corn, or beans.

Between 2009 and 2012, farmers in Bung Can hamlet established a specialized flower cultivation area of nearly 100 hectares, not only serving the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday but also regularly supplying wholesale markets inside and outside the province. Currently, the flower cultivation area has shrunk to about 10 hectares, mainly focusing on the Tet flower season. During other seasons, farmers in Bung Can hamlet concentrate on caring for and harvesting fruit trees such as rambutan, durian, pomelo, and dragon fruit. The average income of residents in the hamlet reaches over 84 million VND/person/year, with land use value exceeding 250 million VND/hectare/year.

Along the newly constructed rural roads in Bung Can hamlet are spacious and well-built houses. According to Do Chi Vu, Party Secretary and Head of Bung Can hamlet, from 2010 to the present, Bung Can hamlet has received priority investment in infrastructure such as roads, electricity, schools, cultural centers, and irrigation systems from the commune, district, and province, totaling nearly 100 billion VND. Thanks to this, the people of Bung Can hamlet have quickly overcome the long-standing problems of electricity, roads, schools, and irrigation facilities that they had faced while settling and establishing their livelihoods in this area.

“Bao Hoa commune achieved the status of a new rural commune in 2012, an advanced new rural commune in 2018, and a model new rural commune in 2023. The movement to build new rural areas, advanced new rural areas, and model new rural areas in Bao Hoa commune has further strengthened the aspirations of the people in Bung Can hamlet to strive to develop their family economies and responsibly contribute to building a prosperous, beautiful, and compassionate locality,” Mr. Do Chi Vu confided.

Diem Quynh

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/202504/bung-can-bung-sang-3621188/