Rock garden farming

The Dong Van Karst Plateau has a harsh terrain with jagged limestone mountains and earthen hills stretching across the entire area of ​​23 communes in Tuyen Quang province. It is home to more than 280,000 people, of whom the H'Mong ethnic group accounts for over 70%.

People on the Dong Van Karst Plateau are preparing the land to plant corn for the main crop season.

To adapt to the harsh natural conditions, the people here have created many skills in life and production; most notably, the knowledge of cultivating crops in rocky crevices.

The Hmong people began migrating to the UNESCO Global Geopark Dong Van Karst Plateau several hundred years ago. At that time, the area was covered in dense, old-growth forests with rich vegetation and fertile soil. Upon arriving in this new land, the Hmong people settled by clearing forests to create fields for cultivation, growing corn. However, after several harvests, the soil became depleted, forcing them to move to new forests to clear land for farming. This nomadic lifestyle, spanning decades, resulted in shrinking forest areas, scarcity of arable land, and a continuously growing population.

When there was no longer any place for slash-and-burn agriculture, the Hmong people settled and were forced to learn to cultivate crops on rocky mountain slopes. This was a crucial turning point, marking a shift in farming practices. The people created small plots of land nestled among jagged rocks, utilizing every precious patch of soil to grow corn. This process marked the beginning of rocky soil cultivation, a unique agricultural innovation deeply rooted in local culture.

According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Giang, Deputy Head of the Management Board of the UNESCO Dong Van Karst Plateau Global Geopark, rocky terrace farming is a form of cultivation on terrain with a mixture of rocks and soil, where people both cultivate crops and protect and improve the soil. In fact, rocky terrace farming is formed by arranging isolated rocks into small rock embankments, which help prevent erosion, retain water, and limit soil runoff during heavy rains.

In areas where land is unavailable, the people carry sacks of soil in baskets, pouring it into the rocky crevices little by little, over months, even years, to create large cultivated fields. From barren rocky crevices, after a long period of perseverance, large cultivated fields have been formed. This is the result of hard work and a testament to the indomitable spirit of the people living on rocks in this border region of the country.

Thanks to the development of rocky soil cultivation techniques, the H'Mông people and many other ethnic groups have gradually stabilized their lives and formed concentrated villages. When a new planting season begins, the people work together to repair old fields and carry soil to fill in the rocky crevices to expand the cultivated area. Because the cultivated land is interspersed with rocks, the people skillfully use tools suitable for the terrain.

The technique of cultivating crops in rocky soil has now been perfected and developed in scale and depth. Previously, only corn was grown on rocky slopes, but now, the people have learned to intercrop, planting other crops such as cabbage, pumpkins, beans, and potatoes. In addition, the people in the highlands are also applying scientific advancements to production, planting new varieties to increase productivity and yield.

The jagged, cat-ear-shaped mountain slopes are covered in a lush green carpet of corn, vegetables, and various grasses grown for livestock. After the main corn harvest, the locals begin sowing buckwheat seeds. These flowers bloom profusely across the rocky slopes, cloaking the Dong Van Stone Plateau in a dreamy purple hue. The buckwheat flower season not only beautifies the highland landscape but also creates a unique tourist attraction.

Every year, in late autumn and early winter, hundreds of thousands of tourists flock to the Dong Van Karst Plateau to admire the flowering season, bringing in significant income from accommodation, food, and traditional handicrafts. The lives of the ethnic minorities on the Dong Van Karst Plateau have changed positively, reducing uncontrolled migration.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/canh-tac-hoc-da-post891768.html