Kinh Mon garlic - golden brand of Vietnamese agriculture

Kinh Mon town has a long tradition of cultivating onions and garlic. Both Kinh Mon's onion and garlic products have been recognized as Vietnam's golden agricultural brands.

The history book of the Party and people of Hiep Hoa commune states that the profession of growing onions and garlic in An Bo has existed for about 200 years, attached to the people from generation to generation, bringing income, contributing to spending, clothing, debt repayment, death anniversary, Tet holiday... for farmers.

Kinh Mon town currently has nearly 4,000 hectares of onions and garlic, with an average output of nearly 100,000 tons of fresh bulbs/year, and a revenue of 1,500 billion VND/year.

Mr. Nguyen Chi Vien, 87 years old, former Party Secretary of Hiep Hoa commune, said that according to stories passed down through many generations, the profession of growing onions and garlic in Kinh Mon existed a long time ago, before the 200-year milestone mentioned above.

According to Mr. Vien, during the Hung King period, Than village had the Five Great Kings who came to reclaim land and help people produce. The Five Great Kings were the ones who brought onions and garlic to this land. They were honored as the village's tutelary gods. Currently, there are no documents recording the history and origin of onions and garlic in Kinh Mon, but in An Bo village today, there is still a temple worshiping the Five Great Kings. Initially, people grew onions and garlic only as spices, serving meals in the family. In Than village, there is still a song about onions: "A piece of meat, no onions, no fragrance"; "The length is as long as a carrying pole, the root is as long as a lime pot, whoever buys my onions, please pity me".

Gradually, people grew onions to sell. “In our generation, on market days, young men and women in the village carried onions to Cot market (Dong Trieu), Ngai market (Chi Linh), Phu Thai market (Kim Thanh)… to sell,” said Mr. Vien. According to him, at that time, people could only grow green onions because they did not know how to preserve dried onions like they do today. People’s production habits were also very simple, wherever there was a water source, they would grow onions and garlic.

From Than village, garlic and onion plants "migrated" to neighboring villages. Due to their high economic value, the area, productivity and quality of garlic and onion are increasingly improved. Hiep Hoa commune currently has 391.9 hectares of garlic and onion, with an output of 8,500 tons in 2023. The value of local garlic and onion plants is more than 200 billion VND/year. Not only Hiep Hoa commune, garlic and onion plants have "taken root" and grown well in the fields of 23 communes and wards in Kinh Mon. The communes and wards in the southern area of An Phu have the most planting such as: An Phu, Quang Thanh, Hiep Hoa...

In Kinh Mon town, many farmers have huge incomes, some earn more than 1 billion VND/year from growing onions and garlic. The locality is changing, people's lives are increasingly improved thanks to this staple crop.

Mr. Doan Van Ha in Hue Tri 3 residential area, An Phu ward, said that in 2022, he not only grew onions and garlic on Kinh Mon land, but also rented fields in many other places to grow 15 hectares. With a yield of 7-8 quintals/sao, an average selling price of 11,000 VND/kg, he earned 1.1 billion VND. After deducting expenses, Mr. Ha's family earned more than 700 million VND. This year, to save on travel expenses, Mr. Ha focused on growing 6 hectares right on An Phu's land and some rented fields in Pham Thai ward. Although the area is much smaller than last year, according to him, the quality of onions and garlic in Kinh Mon is still better than other places, and the price is higher. If the weather is favorable at harvest time, the yield will reach 7-8 quintals/sao and the selling price will be the same as last year (about 25,000 VND/kg). After deducting expenses, he is sure to have about 600 million VND in hand.

Thanks to the income from onions and garlic, people have invested hundreds of millions of dong to buy machinery and put it into production.

Mr. Tran Van Huong in An Bo village, Hiep Hoa commune has maintained an area of 1.5-2 hectares of onions and garlic for many years. In 2022, he sold fresh onions and dried garlic in the field, earning 500 million VND, making a profit of 400 million VND. There are not many people with billion-VND income like Mr. Ha, but most communes and wards have people with 400-500 million VND/year like Mr. Huong. From this source of income, people buy land, build houses, raise children to study, and their lives are much better.

According to Mr. Huong, in addition to the favorable land and climate conditions, Kinh Mon people also have a long history of cultivating onions and garlic, applying technical advances to production. For a long time, Kinh Mon people have been aiming for clean production, using organic and microbial fertilizers, composted chicken manure, and limiting inorganic fertilizers. "Overuse of inorganic fertilizers can easily cause the soil to become calloused, onions and garlic to become squishy, affecting quality," Mr. Huong shared.

In addition, many people in Kinh Mon also invested hundreds of millions of dong to buy machinery, bringing mechanization into production, helping to increase labor efficiency.

Also due to the suitable soil and climate, the people are experienced in selecting seeds, caring for and preserving, so Kinh Mon onions and garlic have a characteristic aromatic and spicy flavor, large and firm bulbs, and superior quality compared to other localities. In 2017, Kinh Mon onion products were honored as the golden brand of Vietnamese agriculture, and were granted a collective trademark certificate by the Department of Intellectual Property. In 2019, Kinh Mon garlic was also honored as the golden brand of Vietnamese agriculture.

Not only consumed domestically, Kinh Mon onions and garlic are also exported to the Middle East, Russia, Korea, Taiwan (China), EU countries, the US... In 2023, Kinh Mon town will have 4,000 hectares of onions and garlic. Annually, the average output is nearly 100,000 tons of fresh bulbs, with a revenue of 1,500 billion VND, accounting for nearly 60% of the agricultural, forestry and fishery production value of the whole town.

From a strong crop with outstanding productivity and quality, Kinh Mon onions and garlic are not only essential spices in every family but also have many businesses investing in deep processing lines, creating products with high economic value, serving the domestic and export markets.

Born and raised in Kinh Mon, Mr. Nguyen Van Anh, Director of Agrico Production and Trading Joint Stock Company (An Phu Ward) realized that the benefits from this plant were huge, but people only stopped at raw production, without deep processing and high-value products. In 2019, Mr. Anh decided to invest in factories, machinery, and process black garlic products, black garlic vermicelli, black garlic syrup, black garlic wine, dried garlic, dried onions, etc.

“Products processed from Kinh Mon onions and garlic have better quality than products processed from raw materials from other places. For example, black garlic has a stronger taste, is less sweet, and more fragrant. Therefore, the value of these processed products is also higher than other products, and is well received by the market,” said Mr. Anh.

Every year, Mr. Anh purchases nearly 70 tons of garlic, of which 20% is used to make black garlic, the rest is used to make other products. From 2019 to now, he has supplied the market with 100,000 bottles of 125 ml garlic syrup; 20,000 liters of wine... At its peak, Mr. Anh's business had 250 agents and over 500 points of sale in many provinces and cities. The products are also exported to France, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany... The year the business's highest revenue reached 14 billion VND from the products, creating jobs for 126 officers and employees with an average income of 7 million VND/person/month.

“In the coming time, I will invest in freeze-drying, vacuum-drying and freeze-drying systems, aiming to preserve the flavor and color of the product, expand the market, and increase the value of Kinh Mon onions and garlic,” said Mr. Anh.

Not only Mr. Anh's business, currently, in the town there are more than 10 businesses and facilities processing products from onions, garlic... Among the OCOP products of Kinh Mon town, many products from onions and garlic meet 3-star and 4-star standards such as: Vietkiga black garlic, garlic wine, honey garlic, Vietkiga black garlic wine, Vietkiga black garlic syrup, Kinh Mon dried onions, Kinh Mon dried garlic, Vo village fried onions...

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Ha, Head of the Economic Department of Kinh Mon town, said that currently only about 10% of onion and garlic output is processed deeply, but the value is higher than 90% of the remaining raw products. “Deep processing is a trend that brings sustainable value to Kinh Mon’s onion and garlic,” Mr. Ha shared.

Regarding this issue, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Minh Hoan said that to increase the value of onions and garlic in Kinh Mon, it is necessary to change the agricultural mindset: “The economic value space of onions and garlic is wider than the harvested output space. If raw onions and garlic are sold right in the field, the price will not be as high as selling pre-processed onions and garlic. Selling pre-processed onions and garlic will not be as high as selling deeply processed onions and garlic,” the Minister affirmed.

According to the Minister, the value chain of the onion and garlic industry from varieties, cultivation processes, harvesting, post-harvesting, preservation, preliminary processing, deep processing, packaging associated with traceable brands will bring even higher value.

According to Minister Le Minh Hoan, we must find a way to make onions and garlic not only important spices in the kitchens of every Vietnamese family, barracks, units, and businesses, but also become unique food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic products... that go further.

Aiming at developing a green economy - digital transformation, Mr. Le Van Dien, Vice Chairman of Kinh Mon Town People's Committee, said that the town focuses on many solutions to increase the value of the agricultural sector, especially key crops such as onions and garlic, such as: zoning production, synchronous investment in traffic and irrigation infrastructure; encouraging and creating favorable conditions to attract businesses to invest in the agricultural sector... How to make Kinh Mon's onions and garlic grow further, have many specialized products to serve the domestic and export markets, and bring economic value is the goal that both the government and people of Kinh Mon are aiming for.

Content: LE HUONG

Photo: THANH CHUNG - LE HUONG

Presented by: TUAN ANH

Some images provided by the facility

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