A vivid portrayal of Xín Mần's agricultural landscape.

09:26, 12/02/2024

BHG - The agricultural landscape of Xin Man has become increasingly vibrant and bright, characterized by agricultural raw material areas linked with businesses and cooperatives that guarantee product distribution and export to the global market. This remarkable achievement is the result of the concerted efforts and decisive involvement of the local Party committee and government in issuing policies to attract investment. Simultaneously, the consensus of the people of all ethnic groups in concretizing these policies has helped Xin Man's agriculture gradually assert its value to domestic consumers and expand into international markets.

Leaders from Xin Man district and Bac Ha district ( Lao Cai province) exchanged experiences and visited a model of growing radishes for export in Xin Man.

Located in the western part of the province, Xin Man district faces the most challenging socio-economic conditions. While the transportation infrastructure has received some investment thanks to government support, it is still not fully developed. The people's livelihoods are primarily based on agriculture, with nearly 45% of households classified as poor. In previous years, Xin Man district's agricultural sector faced numerous difficulties in finding markets for its products and establishing linkages between raw material sources for commodity production. Recognizing these challenges and striving to overcome limitations in agricultural production, and determined to lift Xin Man out of its status as a particularly disadvantaged district, the Resolution of the District Party Congress for the 2020-2025 term identified three breakthroughs, focusing on developing agriculture along the value chain, improving people's living standards, and achieving rapid and sustainable poverty reduction in Xin Man district.

The goat farming cooperative model in Pà Vầy Sủ commune creates livelihoods for local people.

To concretize the set targets and develop plans for the implementation of commercial agricultural development tasks, local Party committees and authorities have been constantly striving to find solutions to overcome difficulties and exploit the potential of the locality. Based on the analysis and assessment of agricultural development advantages such as abundant arable land and a climate divided into many different sub-regions, making it suitable for developing raw material areas according to specific regions, the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee and the District Party Committee have identified the development of agriculture along the value chain as a breakthrough in the Resolution of the District Party Congress for the 2020-2025 term. Along with this, they have issued specialized resolutions and action programs as a basis for implementation. Furthermore, the district has directed specialized departments to strengthen the dissemination and promotion of the local potential as well as the difficulties faced. They have organized meetings and signed cooperation agreements with reputable and capable businesses to connect and attract investment to the district.

Since 2022, Xin Man district has collaborated with Misaki Vietnam Co., Ltd. to cultivate and purchase radishes for export. After two years of cooperation, the company decided to invest in building a processing plant in Nan Ma commune and partner with local people to grow radishes for export to the Japanese market. In early 2023, the first 18 tons of pickled radishes, bearing the unique flavor of Xin Man, were successfully exported to Japan. Following this success, five shipments of pickled radishes were packaged and exported to Japan in 2023. To date, the first export of an agricultural product from the impoverished Xin Man district to Japan remains a "miracle" and a major turning point for agricultural products from the "Melodies of the Mekong Delta." These achievements have contributed to strengthening the people's confidence in the policies and guidelines of the local Party committee and government. From then on, the raw material area was gradually expanded with close links connecting the interests of the people with businesses that guarantee product purchase. Many agricultural raw material areas for export, through links with Misaki Vietnam Co., Ltd., have been formed throughout the communes and towns, such as: radishes in Xin Man and Nan Ma communes; shallots and ginger in Nan Ma, Coc Pai town and Ta Nhiu… This has raised the average income for farmers from 60-80 million VND/crop.

Furthermore, with the appropriate implementation of investment attraction policies, in 2023 many businesses and cooperatives boldly invested in the agricultural sector of Xin Man district with specific development goals and orientations. The district continued to sign many cooperation programs, forming agricultural value chain production linkages, integrating and combining with capital from the National Target Program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas giai đoạn 2021 – 2025. As a result, 5 value chain linkage models have been formed, bringing economic benefits to the people, typical examples include: the organic vegetable farming model with Good Agriculture Joint Stock Company - Phu Tho, linking nearly 20 households in Nan Ma and Xin Man communes, with an average income of 20-30 million VND/crop per household; the cold-water fish farming linkage model of Dai An and Van Loc cooperatives in Nam Dan and Quang Nguyen communes; The Tien Thanh High-Tech Cooperative's model of raising purebred hybrid goats... A project linking the cultivation and guaranteed purchase of baby cucumbers in Na Chi and Khuon Lung communes. A project to cultivate Bat Do bamboo shoots for export, in collaboration with Misaki Vietnam Co., Ltd., is being implemented in Ban Ngo, Nam Dan communes and three southern communes of the district: Na Chi, Quang Nguyen, and Khuon Lung.

The formation of value chains has unleashed the potential and strengths of local agriculture, concretizing the resolutions set forth by the District Party Congress. The formation of value chains has led to larger-scale agricultural production, contributing positively to a shift in mindset from small-scale, fragmented production to commodity production. The goal is to increase income for local people and ensure truly sustainable agricultural development.

Text and photos: THANH NHAN

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