The golden season of abundance in the highlands

As September arrives, the golden sunlight pours down like honey, and the rice paddies in the highlands of Thai Nguyen begin to turn yellow. Whether visiting the Tay, Dao, and Mong villages in the northern communes of the province, or venturing further south to Than Sa, Sang Moc, Nghinh Tuong… everywhere we went, we encountered fields of golden rice heavy with grain. A new rice harvest is coming. The people of the highlands are once again enjoying a bountiful and prosperous season…

A view of Bản Tèn village, Văn Lăng commune.

New varieties on old fields

This season, the rice fields in Ban Ten, Van Lang commune, are breathtakingly beautiful. The rice stalks sway in the wind, heavy with grain, and emit a fragrant aroma. Every harvest season, the people of Ban Ten are bustling in the fields, harvesting, threshing, and bringing the rice home.

From the early days of hardship, subsisting on wild vegetables and steamed cornmeal as their main meal, today, the Hmong people in the high-altitude villages enjoy bowls of fragrant, sticky white rice in their daily meals. For more than five years now, the new rice variety sown on the old terraced fields in the Bản Tèn mountain valley has helped the people no longer worry about rice during the lean season.

Ms. Vuong Thi My, a resident of Ban Ten village, shared: "Previously, we were only used to cultivating the Khang Dan rice variety, so the yield was low. Now we have more new rice varieties to choose from. Many households cultivate hybrid rice varieties such as TH3-3, TH3-5… so the yield is higher. This year's harvest, some families harvested 1.8 to 2 quintals of rice per sao (approximately 1000 square meters), almost double compared to 5 years ago."

Not only in Tèn, but many highland villages and hamlets have gradually become accustomed to cultivating new, high-yield, and high-quality rice varieties. According to Mr. Nguyen Ta, Head of the Provincial Department of Crop Production and Plant Protection, hybrid and purebred high-quality rice varieties have been widely cultivated in Thai Nguyen , especially in mountainous and highland areas, where food is not only used to meet the needs of families but also becomes a commodity or serves livestock farming.

For many years, rice varieties such as J02, SL8H-GS9, TH3-7, TH3-5, Syn6, B-TE1… have been widely cultivated across the fields of the highland communes in the province. Not only do these varieties yield high productivity, but they also produce white rice that, when cooked, is soft, easy to eat, and popular with many people.

As mindsets change, so too do the ways of thinking and doing things in the highlands. Instead of "persisting" in cultivating old, low-yielding rice varieties, the people have boldly introduced new rice varieties to their old fields. By dedicating their hearts and efforts to tending the fields, the highland people have reaped the sweet rewards: fields of ripening rice, barns full of grain, and a more prosperous life.

Visiting the highland villages and hamlets of Thai Nguyen today, it's difficult to find families struggling to make ends meet during the lean months. Thanks to the cultivation of new, high-yield, and high-quality rice varieties, along with proper farming techniques, the story of hunger and poverty has become a thing of the past in these highland regions.

Mr. Nguyen Ta emphasized: The intensified propaganda efforts and appropriate policies supporting seed and fertilizer prices are the catalysts for people in the highlands to bring new rice varieties to their villages. With the support of agricultural extension officers, farmers always plant rice within the correct timeframe, resulting in consistently high rice yields, ranging from 50 to 53 quintals/hectare.

The rice harvest season attracts tourists.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is conducting trials of many new rice varieties with high yield and quality to encourage people to widely adopt them.

For a long time, Bản Tèn village in Văn Lăng commune; the rice fields in Thần Sa, Nghinh Tường, Sảnh Mộc, and other northern communes of the province have become popular destinations for many tourists. Mr. Nguyễn Văn Ngọc, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said: "The beautiful scenery, surrounded by mountains, and majestic nature have given Bản Tèn its unique characteristics. Especially when the rice ripens to a golden color, the place is as beautiful as a painting, attracting many visitors…"

As Mr. Ngoc shared, every rice harvest season, crowds flock to Ban Ten like a festival. Ms. Le Kieu Minh, a tourist from Hanoi, said: "Coming here, I really enjoy immersing myself in the production life and admiring the beautiful scenery of the Hmong village high in the mountains. What I like most are the terraced rice fields stretching out, shimmering with golden light, weaving together bountiful harvests for the people of the highlands."

Besides Bản Tèn, other places with beautiful, golden rice fields that many tourists "check in" when visiting Thái Nguyên include highland villages such as Lũng Luông, Lũng Cà (Thần Sa); Nà Mặn (Đồng Phúc)... The Nà Mặn rice field, in particular, is being exploited quite effectively by the Đồng Lợi cooperative.

Besides bringing joy to the people in the highlands with their homes full of rice, the rice harvest season in the highland villages and hamlets of the province has become an interesting destination for many tourists from afar who love to explore new things, opening up a new direction in economic development for the people. This is the development of experiential tourism combined with agricultural development.

However, this potential and advantage in Thai Nguyen has not yet been effectively exploited. Specifically, the infrastructure and tourism products in areas with beautiful scenery and great potential to attract tourists during the rice harvest season are still very limited.

For example, in Bản Tèn, there are almost no restaurants serving tourists, especially large groups. Furthermore, in many localities, including the Nà Mặn ecotourism site, transportation remains difficult; tourism products and local specialties that impress tourists have not been given enough attention.

To avoid neglecting this existing tourism potential, it is time for the relevant authorities and departments of the province to pay attention and develop long-term strategies to promote experiential tourism combined with agricultural development in the province.

This includes investing in upgrading transportation infrastructure and building accommodation facilities, restaurants, and hotels. In particular, it's crucial to raise awareness among the people, encouraging them to develop tourism alongside agricultural production. By achieving "two goals with one arrow," the people in the highlands will not only have abundant rice but also a substantial income from tourism, enabling them to prosper and build a better life.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202509/mua-vang-no-am-vung-cao-08f5032/