Dien Bien district is stepping up winter crop cultivation.

People in Thanh An and Thanh Nua communes ( Dien Bien district) have chosen sweet potatoes as their main crop during the winter season. In the photo: People in Thanh An commune (Dien Bien district) are preparing the land and planting sweet potatoes in time for the season.

From early morning, across the fields of Thanh Nua, Thanh An, Pom Lot communes, etc., people are busily preparing the land and planting, creating a bustling and urgent atmosphere. With the advantage of flat terrain, readily available water resources, and fertile soil, the movement to cultivate winter crops has been widespread for many years. Recognizing the economic benefits of sweet potatoes and the stable market demand, in recent years, Mrs. Bui Thi Tan's family in Dong Bien 1 village, Thanh An commune, has maintained a sweet potato cultivation area. Immediately after harvesting over 2,000 ^square meters of rice, Mrs. Tan's family hires additional workers to prepare the land for planting sweet potatoes in time for the season. Thanks to proper care and techniques, the family's sweet potato garden thrives each year, yielding high economic returns. From 1,000 ^{square meters of} sweet potato field, the family earns approximately 12-13 million VND. This is significantly higher than the 8-10 million VND per crop from rice grown on the same area. "Every year, in addition to the two main rice crops, our family continues to increase the area planted with winter crops, especially sweet potatoes, to improve our income and stabilize our lives," Mrs. Tan further shared.

Pom Lot commune (Dien Bien district) aims to develop a specialized vegetable farming area. In the photo: People tending to their tomato garden.

Similar to Thanh An commune, at this time, after completing the corn harvest, farmers in Pom Lot commune are beginning to plow, prepare the land, and plant a new crop of vegetables. This winter season, the commune is planting 38 hectares of vegetables, focusing on types such as cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower, chili peppers, and corn. Regarding the development of specialized vegetable farming areas, Mr. Nguyen Van Luyen, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Pom Lot commune, said: "To make vegetable farming more effective for farmers, in the coming time the commune will continue to invest in comprehensive scientific and technical measures and link with businesses to ensure market access." At the same time, the commune's Party committee and government are stepping up propaganda and mobilization efforts to encourage people to utilize less productive corn fields to switch to vegetable farming; directing officials to guide farmers in selecting suitable crop varieties and implementing proper care and pest control measures. A highlight of the 2024 winter crop season is the continued positive shift in crop structure towards expanding the area of ​​high-value crops that are easy to sell and produce goods according to market demand. To date, some early-planted areas have already been harvested, such as chili peppers with prices ranging from 40,000 VND/kg, cauliflower from 40,000 to 45,000 VND/kg...

Thanks to the application of proper techniques, the vegetable crops are growing and developing well. In the photo: A thriving cabbage garden, ready for harvest.

This winter season, Dien Bien district is planting over 860 hectares of vegetables (720 hectares of vegetables and 140 hectares of sweet potatoes), mainly concentrated in the communes of Thanh Nua, Thanh Luong, Sam Mun, Pom Lot, and Thanh An… To achieve high yields in the winter crop season, from the beginning, the local government has actively encouraged people to plant crops that are the strengths of each commune. Although there are still some difficulties related to the weather, with accumulated experience, the efforts of the people, and timely guidance from the government in production, the winter crop season has now basically completed 80% of the area.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Thang, Deputy Head of the Agriculture and Rural Development Department of Dien Bien District, shared: "During the 2024 rice crop season, Dien Bien District suffered significant impacts from the weather. Heavy rains, strong winds, flash floods, and landslides resulted in the complete loss of rice crops and reduced yields. Winter crop production is essential for the people in the district, contributing to ensuring livelihoods, increasing income, and stabilizing their lives. To achieve the set goals and plans, after the rice crop season ended, the district's specialized agencies coordinated with communes to encourage people to focus on developing winter crop production towards a commercial direction. They organized winter crop planting in concentrated areas according to planning to ensure convenient procurement and consumption of products, gradually forming a concentrated commercial winter crop production area, the Muong Thanh three-crop rice field area."

Source: https://baodienbienphu.com.vn/tin-tuc/kinh-te/218961/huyen-dien-bien-day-manh-trong-cay-vu-dong