The effectiveness of crop conversion on sloping land in Phuoc Thanh commune.

Implementing the policy of restructuring crop patterns on sloping land, Phuoc Thanh commune (Bac Ai district) has recently encouraged people to plant high -economic- value fruit trees such as avocados, Australian mangoes, green pomelos, jackfruit, custard apples, and Siamese coconuts... As a result, people's incomes have been steadily increasing.

The family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh, residing in Ma Ro village, is one of the first households in Phuoc Thanh commune to boldly switch to fruit tree cultivation on sloping land. Recognizing the favorable natural conditions in the area for growing fruit trees, nearly eight years ago, her family renovated over 2 hectares of hillside land to plant cashew nuts, custard apples, jackfruit, avocados, and green pomelos. To ensure a stable water supply for the crops, her family invested over 100 million VND in a sprinkler system and brought water from the mountain to store in ponds on the hillside for irrigation, thus helping the fruit trees thrive. Currently, the crops are bearing sweet fruit, generating an annual profit of over 120 million VND, and the family's economy is steadily improving.

Thanks to switching to fruit tree cultivation, the family economy of Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh in Ma Ro village, Phuoc Thanh commune, has been steadily improving.

Like Mrs. Thanh's family, thanks to crop conversion on sloping land, Mr. Dang Van Thanh's orchard, covering more than 1 hectare, in Da Ba Cai village is now bearing sweet fruit. Mr. Thanh shared: "Previously, my family's farmland was mainly used to grow sticky corn, which didn't yield high economic returns. Since the commune encouraged people to convert crops on sloping land, I decided to switch to growing Australian mangoes, Siamese coconuts, and jackfruit. Besides that, by utilizing the fresh grass under the trees and raising breeding cows, my family's economy has stabilized, with an annual income of over 100 million VND, and we've been able to build a new, spacious house."

The coconut garden of Mr. Dang Van Thanh's family in Da Ba Cai village is thriving. Photo: Phan Thanh

Phuoc Thanh commune has a total agricultural land area of nearly 11,000 hectares; of which, nearly 100 hectares are rice paddies, and the rest is hilly land without reliable water sources. Therefore, crop diversification is a direction to help people develop production and increase income. In recent years, the locality has encouraged people to introduce several new crops such as: green pomelo, avocado, papaya, custard apple, jackfruit, Australian mango, Taiwanese mango, coconut..., applying sprinkler and drip irrigation technologies to ensure efficiency in production. After more than 5 years of implementing crop restructuring, the entire commune has developed nearly 40 hectares of fruit trees, helping many households have stable incomes and become wealthy in their homeland. Comrade Chamaléa Nhiên, Chairman of the People's Committee of Phước Thành commune, said: "In recent times, the conversion of short-term crops to high-economic-value fruit trees on sloping land and the application of water-saving irrigation models have proven effective, thereby helping to create jobs and increase income for the people; at the same time, helping to balance the ecosystem and increase forest cover, preventing erosion. In the future, the commune will continue to promote and encourage people to replicate the model of converting crops with high economic efficiency."

Kha Han

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