From upland rice grains to paddy fields
With a philosophy of living in harmony with nature, the Jrai people in the Cheo Reo valley (located in the former districts of Phu Thien, Ia Pa, and the town of Ayun Pa) were once closely associated with upland rice cultivation. In the fields, men used long, sharpened sticks to make holes, while women followed behind, dropping rice seeds and then covering them with soil with their bare feet.
During harvest season, they use their hands to thresh each rice stalk and put them into baskets, waiting for the day to perform the ceremony of bringing the "spirit of the rice" back to the granary. In this way, the people only cultivate one crop per year. When the soil becomes depleted, they move to cultivate another plot of land, waiting for the old land to recover before returning.
Bountiful harvests bring joy to rice farmers. Photo: Vu Chi
The rice revolution only came to the Cheo Reo valley when the Ayun Ha large-scale irrigation project was completed and put into operation in 1994. The project has a water surface area of 37 km² , a capacity of 253 million m³ , providing irrigation water for more than 13,500 hectares of rice fields.
However, persuading and encouraging people to switch from upland rice cultivation to two-crop wet rice farming is a difficult journey because many people fear that this goes against nature and will incur the wrath of the spirits.
In that context, pioneers played a decisive role. Mr. Ro Khen (village 1, Po To commune) is a prime example. More than 30 years have passed, but he still vividly remembers the feeling of joy when the cool, refreshing water from the irrigation canal flowed into his fields.
When Mr. Khen traded 5 hectares of upland fields for 1 hectare of rice paddy land, many villagers said he was reckless. But thanks to learning from the experiences of Kinh households who had come to build the new economy , in the first harvest, he yielded more than 1 ton of rice, becoming the household with the highest rice production in the region.
"Seeing is believing," so people in the area flocked to his house to exchange cows for rice seeds to sow and asked him for guidance on cultivation techniques. In this way, the atmosphere of wet rice cultivation spread throughout many villages.
“In 2016, my family owned 10 hectares of rice paddies, yielding 8-10 tons per hectare. The successive bountiful harvests not only provided my family and many other households with a comfortable life but also opened a path out of poverty for ethnic minority people in the area,” Mr. Khen shared.
Technical staff regularly visit the fields and advise farmers on pest and disease control. Photo: Vu Chi
From here, models of rice production linkages gradually took shape. Operating under this new model, the Chu A Thai Agricultural Cooperative (Chu A Thai commune) is currently linking with 70 households, mainly ethnic minorities, to implement a high-quality single-variety rice field model on an area of 140 hectares.
Mr. Pham Ngoc Nghia, Director of Chu A Thai Agricultural Cooperative, introduces Phu Thien rice products that have received OCOP certification. Photo: Vu Chi
The biggest benefit of participating in the model is that farmers have changed their rice cultivation habits, saving on seeds and fertilizers, reducing the use of pesticides, while increasing rice yield and quality, and receiving higher prices from the Chu A Thai Agricultural Cooperative than the market rate.
Mr. Pham Ngoc Nghia - Director of Chu A Thai Agricultural Cooperative - said: "From 2019 to the present, after successfully building the "Phu Thien Rice" brand, the cooperative has had 11 rice products certified with OCOP 4-star and 3-star ratings at the provincial level."
Phu Thien rice grains are no longer "hidden" in anonymous sacks, but are packaged, labeled, traceable, carrying the story of the land and people of the highlands, and are favored by consumers.
Towards the goal of sustainable development
Since the 2023 crop season, the Chu A Thai Agricultural Cooperative, in collaboration with the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute, has been conducting trials, selecting, and breeding new rice varieties. This is considered an important step contributing to the diversification of rice varieties, increasing the local government's proactive role in rice production, and moving towards sustainable agricultural development.
According to Mr. Nghia, once the model is successful, the cooperative will have full authority to produce rice seed varieties to supply to farmers in the commune; at the same time, it will cooperate with the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute to supply seeds to the nationwide market.
Meanwhile, in 2022, the achievement of the provincial-level OCOP 3-star certification for TBR97 rice from Dai Dong Agricultural Cooperative (Po To commune) also marked a turning point in local rice production.
Mr. Ha Quang Hien, Director of Dai Dong Agricultural Cooperative, said: “In addition to its 23 members, the cooperative has partnered with local ethnic minority households to develop a single-variety rice field covering 135 hectares. During the implementation process, the cooperative plays a 'facilitator' role in the supply chain, providing seeds, materials, technical guidance, and purchasing all the produce from the participating households.”
Currently, the cooperative supplies an average of 15 tons of rice to the market each month, and this figure rises to over 40 tons during the Tet holiday, bringing significant profits to its members.”
Along with brand building, agricultural cooperatives and rice production facilities have proactively applied digital transformation in promoting and selling their products. From putting products on e-commerce platforms, selling through social media, live streaming, etc., all are being utilized to the fullest extent.
Mr. Do Quoc Lam (far right, owner of a rice processing facility in Yen Phu 2 village, Ia Hiao commune) livestreams selling his products with the Party Secretary of Ia Hiao commune, Pham Van Phuong. Photo: Vu Chi
Mr. Do Quoc Lam, owner of a rice processing facility in Yen Phu 2 village (Ia Hiao commune), said: In 2025, right after the Huong Chau 6 and Dai Thom 8 rice products received OCOP 3-star certification, the facility actively sold its products through livestreaming sessions.
These are live videos from the fields with authentic testimonials from farmers, or footage of milling and packaging workshops, or product display booths at trade fairs, with direct support from local leaders, the Youth Union, and provincial departments and agencies. Currently, the facility supplies the market with approximately 8 tons of rice per month, with sales through livestreaming accounting for 30%.
Clearly defining the role of branding, production linkages, and digital transformation, Mr. Pham Van Phuong - Secretary of the Party Committee of Ia Hiao commune - said: Immediately after the two-tiered local government model came into operation, the commune leaders organized a dialogue conference with farmers to propagate and encourage them to implement the single-variety rice field project; at the same time, they provided maximum support for promoting and introducing the local OCOP products.
This serves as a foundation for restructuring the agricultural sector towards sustainability, so that rice cultivation not only solves the food security problem but also helps people prosper on their own farmlands.
Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/hanh-trinh-vuon-tam-cua-hat-gao-vung-thung-lung-cheo-reo-post580344.html
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