Welcoming us on a bright summer afternoon in Hop Thanh commune ( Thai Nguyen province) was Ms. Nguyen Xuan Hue, Deputy Director of On Luong Lychee Agricultural Cooperative. "This season, the rice has just been planted and is not yet beautiful.
In a few months, the rice will be heavy with flowers. The special feature of On Luong sticky rice is that when ripe, the rice flowers will have a dark purple color and a characteristic aroma," Ms. Hue excitedly introduced.
The story of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue takes us back to more than 10 years ago, when On Luong field was covered in weeds. Many local farmers left their fields to work as workers in the city, leaving behind the fields that had fed many generations.
Ms. Nguyen Xuan Hue was a farmer at that time. Every planting season, seeing no one in the fields and the rice seeds left uncultivated, she felt heartbroken.
She remembered what local officials said at a village meeting: "This glutinous rice variety is very precious, if we don't keep it, we won't be able to find it later... Keeping the glutinous rice grains means keeping the roots of the village." Those words kept lingering in her mind and Ms. Hue was determined to restore her hometown's glutinous rice variety.
Enhancing the rice varieties of the homeland
In 2019, On Luong Lychee Sticky Rice Agricultural Cooperative was officially established. Ms. Hue is the Deputy Director of the Cooperative. She and the members have persistently developed the growing area of this rice variety, gradually bringing the product to the market.
Ms. Nguyen Xuan Hue (right) in the sticky rice field
Previously, the price of lychee sticky rice was often forced down by traders, so the selling price was very low. However, since the establishment of the On Luong Lychee Sticky Rice Agricultural Cooperative, the On Luong Lychee Sticky Rice brand has become more and more known, and the selling price has also been raised. Currently, the Cooperative sells lychee sticky rice at a price ranging from 30,000 to 35,000 VND/kg.
With the support of the local government and organizations, On Luong Lychee Sticky Rice Agricultural Cooperative was able to participate in product introduction booths at the fair, receive technical support for organic farming and VietGAP standards, and receive training in digital transformation...
These policies have motivated her and the members of the cooperative to have more confidence in the journey to preserve their homeland rice varieties. On Luong sticky rice has been recognized as an OCOP product of Thai Nguyen province.
The journey with Lychee sticky rice of Ms. Hue and the members of the cooperative does not stop there. Ms. Hue confided: "Rice is only planted once a year, harvested around the 10th lunar month. Therefore, in addition to selling rice, we have researched, learned and innovated, processing more products from Lychee sticky rice such as green rice flakes, Chung cakes, Giay cakes, burnt rice... to increase the value of the rice grains and provide products to the market all year round".
Starting a business has never been easy for rural women. Thanks to attending training courses organized by the Women's Union and the Cooperative Union of Thai Nguyen province, I have gained more knowledge, thereby expanding the scale of operations of the On Luong Lychee Agricultural Cooperative and developing the market. I hope that the Women's Union and local mass organizations will continue to create conditions for cooperative members to have the opportunity to update their knowledge, expand production, and promote their brands."
Ms. Nguyen Xuan Hue
One of the products that Ms. Nguyen Xuan Hue is passionate about is burnt rice, made from lychee sticky rice. She has consulted the method of making burnt rice in many places, from Ninh Binh to the Central and Southern provinces and experimented with the recipe to find her own flavor for the product.
On Luong glutinous rice and lychee products
"The sticky rice must be soaked overnight, then steamed, pressed into molds, and dried in the sun at a temperature of about 30 degrees Celsius, and the rice pieces must be regularly turned and flipped. When the rice is dry, it is fried, drained, vacuum-packed, labeled, and delivered to consumers. This seemingly simple processing requires the care and dedication of the maker," Ms. Hue introduced.
The model of "Producing burnt rice from sticky rice" by Ms. Nguyen Xuan Hue won second prize in the "Women's Entrepreneurship" Contest in Thai Nguyen province in 2022. From that success, Ms. Hue mobilized many elderly women in the village to participate in the stages of burnt rice production, helping women in difficult circumstances in the village to have jobs and increase their income, rising out of poverty.
Keep the faith on the entrepreneurial journey
Although it has affirmed its position in the market, the development journey of lychee sticky rice still faces many challenges such as: erratic weather, unstable output, increasingly fierce competition in the market...
However, we always maintain an optimistic spirit and are determined to pursue the path of green production, ensuring the quality of sticky rice. In addition, the Cooperative also receives companionship and support from departments and branches, especially the Provincial Cooperative Union and the Provincial Women's Union, from which the product is gradually widely promoted and connected to e-commerce platforms. The Cooperative's sticky rice has appeared on supermarket shelves and reached consumers.
Currently, Ms. Nguyen Xuan Hue and the On Luong Lychee Sticky Rice Agricultural Cooperative continue to expand production, improve packaging, and have product traceability stamps. The Cooperative is targeting the export market, making On Luong Lychee Sticky Rice a specialty chosen by many domestic and foreign customers as gifts.
Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/giu-hon-giong-gao-nep-dac-san-que-huong-20250725143908242.htm
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