Falling flowers on the rocky mountain

During the rainy season in Muong Khuong, the Pa Di people begin harvesting striped peanuts – a specialty with high nutritional and economic value. Striped peanuts (also known as Pa Di peanuts) are a characteristic grain of the Pa Di community, with long tubers, thick shells, and each tuber containing 3-4 seeds with striped patterns. The peanuts have a sweet, nutty flavor and a higher oil content than other peanut varieties, making them an indispensable part of the Pa Di people's meals.

According to the elderly Pa Dí people, it is unclear who first cultivated peanuts in Mường Khương, but it is known that the Pa Dí people have been growing this special type of peanut for a long time. Over the past 10 years, the area planted with peanuts has expanded, becoming a popular commodity with stable prices, contributing to improving the lives of the Pa Dí people. Currently, Mường Khương commune has about 350 households cultivating peanuts on an area of ​​160 hectares, mainly concentrated in highland villages such as Sa Pả and Lũng Pâu.

Growing peanuts yields high economic value, so some other ethnic minority households in the area also participate in cultivation. However, the Pa Dí people still retain their unique farming knowledge, diligently and persistently utilizing every small plot of land interspersed with gray rocks to grow peanuts.

From the previous harvest, the Pa Dí people select large, plump peanuts as seeds. They loosen the soil, dig holes, sow the germinated seeds, apply fertilizer in appropriate proportions, and then cover with soil. From sowing to harvesting, they do not add more fertilizer, only weed.

Normally, after the Lunar New Year, around the second lunar month, people start sowing peanuts and harvest them in the seventh lunar month. This year, due to the leap month in the sixth lunar month, people are harvesting earlier.

These days, the atmosphere throughout the Pa Dí villages in Mường Khương is bustling and lively. Early in the morning, families help each other harvest peanuts, their voices and laughter echoing with the joy of a bountiful harvest.

Ms. Ly Thi Lien (from Sa Pa village) and her family went to the fields early in the morning to harvest peanuts. When the peanut leaves begin to turn yellow and fall, it's time to harvest. Everyone easily pulls up each clump of peanuts, shakes off the soil, and gathers them to bring home.

In 2025, Ms. Lien's family planted 30 kg of peanut seeds. 1 kg of seeds yielded 50 kg of fresh peanuts. With a selling price of 30,000 VND/kg for fresh peanuts and 120,000-130,000 VND/kg for dried peanuts, her family earned approximately 50 million VND annually from peanut cultivation.

The family of Mr. Tráng Liền Dìn grows the most peanuts in Sa Pả village, cultivating 50-60 kg of seeds per crop, earning approximately 80-90 million VND annually.

In Lung Pau village, the family of Mr. Liu Su Din is busy harvesting peanuts. Looking at the peanut plants laden with tubers, Mr. Din is very happy because his hard work and struggles over the past six months have finally paid off. The peanut crop is bountiful, and even before the harvest is complete, buyers are already asking to purchase them, making Mr. Din and other peanut farmers in the village very excited.

Peanuts thrive in the soil and cool climate of the Pa Dí people's region, resulting in higher yields and better quality compared to other growing locations.

Mr. Dinh Trong Khoi, Standing Vice Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee and Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Muong Khuong commune, said: "The yield of flowering peanuts usually reaches 2.5 tons/ha. With over 160 hectares, the value of growing flowering peanuts reaches about 12 billion VND each year. This is an easy-to-grow and easy-to-care-for crop with higher economic value compared to corn and rice, so some areas of less efficient corn and rice cultivation have been converted by people to growing flowering peanuts."

Peanuts are bought as soon as they are harvested, so growers don't have to worry about drying or preserving them. They only keep a portion for family use, and sell the rest as fresh peanuts to traders.

For the Pa Dí people in the rocky mountains of Mường Khương, peanut has become a key crop that helps reduce poverty and develop household economies. The Pa Dí people are also focusing on expanding the cultivated area of ​​peanuts with the hope of getting rich from this valuable peanut variety.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/lac-hoa-tren-nui-da-post880575.html