Exploiting the potential for agricultural economic development in the mountainous region of Bac Ai

In recent years, agricultural production in the communes of Bac Ai, Bac Ai Tay and Bac Ai Dong has had many strong changes, opening up new prospects to change the lives of people in ethnic minority areas here.

Taking advantage of advantages and orienting the development of specific crops

Expanding the area of durian trees brings high income to people in Bac Ai Tay commune.

In the communes of Bac Ai, Bac Ai Tay and Bac Ai Dong, there are about 40 dams, ponds, reservoirs and a system of secondary and tertiary canals, and over-level canals with a total length of over 138km. In particular, the Song Cai irrigation reservoir with a capacity of nearly 220 million m3, completed and put into operation, is considered a key, multi-purpose irrigation project, contributing to ensuring irrigation water throughout the crop season in the locality. Based on the actual conditions in each area, the communes promote propaganda and mobilize people to innovate economic practices, by introducing low-water-consuming crops with high economic value into production, linked to market consumption needs; along with that, gradually reducing the rice area in hilly areas and canal-end areas. Thanks to that, many types of trees were planted experimentally and widely, bringing stable income to people such as: green-skinned grapefruit, durian, banana in Bac Ai Tay commune, cashew in Bac Ai commune, melon in Bac Ai Dong commune, with an area of over 3,600 hectares.

Records in some production areas show that the economic practices of the people have changed significantly, the form of small-scale, fragmented, unstable production has been gradually eliminated, households have applied new techniques, forming agricultural production areas with high productivity and quality. Mr. Pi Nang Phien in Gia E village, Bac Ai Tay commune shared: "During a field trip to visit the durian growing model in Khanh Son, I realized that the natural conditions and soil are quite similar to my locality, so I decided to invest capital to improve the land, dig a pond to store water using a drip irrigation system to grow 2 hectares of durian. After 5 years of planting, the first crop of durian, with a selling price of about 70,000 VND/kg, brought in a profit of about 150 million VND. It is known that the whole Bac Ai Tay commune currently has 105 hectares of durian; this is a crop considered a key crop, prioritized for expansion in the coming years".

More notably, promoting the potential and advantages of large land areas, localities also focus on integrating capital sources to support enterprises, cooperatives, and farms applying high technology in production, creating a new breakthrough for agricultural production in the area. Mr. Nguyen Trong Hanh - Director of the Central South High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative in Bac Ai commune, said: "Participating in investing in the development of clean agricultural products, we always receive the attention and active support of the local government, especially preferential policies on land, synchronous investment in traffic infrastructure, creating favorable conditions for the cooperative to produce conveniently with 2 hectares of melons and cantaloupes in greenhouses. Each year, clean melon products are supplied to the market from 100 - 150 tons and create stable jobs for many local workers. Up to now, high-tech agriculture in Bac Ai, Bac Ai Tay and Bac Ai Dong communes has developed quite rapidly, with 27 models applying water-saving irrigation systems on fruit trees; 3 orchid nursery models; 8 projects on growing melons and producing rice according to VietGAP standards. There are 6 OCOP products, with 5 entities recognized as meeting the 3-star OCOP product standards, including: Mo banana wine lonely banana, green-skinned grapefruit, cantaloupe, cashew nuts...

Towards improving quality and added value of the agricultural sector

To achieve the goal of developing agricultural production in both scale and production level, affirming its position as a key production sector, creating jobs and bringing stable income to people, especially ethnic minorities. In the coming time, communes will focus on leading and directing the restructuring of the agricultural sector; reviewing and prioritizing resources to support the replication of effective agricultural production models in the direction of transforming the structure of crops and livestock, applying science and technology , improving quality and added value, promoting local advantages and adapting to climate change.

Model of growing melons in greenhouses of the South Central High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative.

According to Mr. Ngo Thanh Lam - Chairman of Bac Ai Dong Commune People's Committee, in recent times, enterprises, cooperatives and some households have boldly invested and applied high technology in some stages of the production process, contributing to improving productivity and product quality in mountainous areas. From the achieved results, the locality focuses on implementing solutions, attracting enterprises to expand production linkages; increasing the transfer of crop varieties suitable for land and soil conditions. At the same time, coordinating with functional sectors to promote training activities, organizing field conferences on new crop and livestock varieties, helping farmers apply them effectively in production.

HONG LAM

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/kinh-te/202507/khai-thac-tiem-nang-phat-trien-kinh-te-nong-nghiep-vung-mien-nui-bac-ai-a2a18ae/