5-star OCOP from silk: new "resilience" of a century-old craft village

(PLVN) - No longer a typical product of a craft village, “Self-woven silk cotton blankets” by excellent artisan Phan Thi Thuan (Hong Son commune, Hanoi) have affirmed their position in the national OCOP ecosystem. This is one of the few successful models in developing indigenous products in the direction of green economy and applying special technology of “self-woven silkworms”.

Famous products from creativity on traditional craft

From a land that once faced the risk of losing its traditional craft in Phung Xa village, Hong Son commune, Hanoi (before the merger, Ha village, Phung Xa commune, My Duc district), it has risen to become a bright spot in the OCOP ecosystem of the Capital, with the product "Self-woven silk cotton blanket" meeting the national 5-star OCOP standard. Behind that success is the tireless journey of excellent artisan Phan Thi Thuan - the person who revived the hundred-year-old sericulture profession with a unique creation: "self-woven silkworm" technology.

Born into a family of three generations of craftsmen, Mrs. Thuan grew up with looms and silkworm cocoons. But it was when she witnessed the decline of the craft village in the 1980s that she became even more determined to find a new path. It was not just about preserving the craft, but also about renewing it, bringing products to higher values ​​in culture, aesthetics and health.

Consumers are excited to learn about self-woven silk blankets - 5-star OCOP products bearing the creative imprint of artisan Phan Thi Thuan.

The idea of ​​letting silkworms spin silk into blankets, while seemingly strange, was formed from everyday observations. “I lack workers and industrial machines, but seeing that silkworms can spin cocoons regularly, why not give it a try?” – she said.

So after hundreds of trials and errors, she succeeded: creating soft, durable silk blankets without any need for harsh human intervention. This method not only saves time and costs but also keeps the silk fibers clean and original.

The "self-weaving silkworm" technology has created many new advances in the quality and production process of silk products of My Duc Silk Company Limited (Hanoi).

Self-woven silk blankets - the main product of My Duc Silk Company Limited is popular not only because of its sophistication but also because of its ability to care for skin health, sleep, environmental friendliness and suitability with green consumption trends.

In 2023, the product was officially recognized by the Central OCOP Council as achieving 5-star status. This is a testament to the combination of indigenous creativity and national standards.

Not stopping there, Ms. Thuan is also the first Vietnamese to successfully master the technique of weaving silk from lotus silk. A 1.7m long scarf requires nearly 5,000 lotus stems and nearly a month of manual processing, which is enough to demonstrate the sophistication, patience and respect for nature. Products such as scarves, ao dai, silk paintings from lotus silk... not only have high artistic value, but also create a very unique brand mark for Phung Xa craft village on the OCOP map.

Developing raw material areas, building a sustainable OCOP ecosystem

The special point in the development model of My Duc Mulberry Silk Company Limited is not only in the products, but also in the way of building raw material areas and closed value chains. Right from the beginning of restoring the profession, Ms. Thuan clearly understood that: without clean raw material areas, there can be no clean products.

Mrs. Thuan was the first person to successfully weave silk from discarded lotus stems.

So she found new mulberry land and reorganized the silkworm rearing process, from breeds to cocoon incubation techniques, silk drying, and spinning. Dozens of local households were connected into a mulberry-silk farming network to provide input materials, create jobs, and increase stable income. To date, more than 2,000 workers have been directly and indirectly employed through the silkworm-silk-lotus ecosystem.

Not only focusing on the production stage, the enterprise is also a pioneer in applying the circular economic model. From seemingly discarded things such as old mulberry branches and leaves, silkworm pupae, lotus stems, Ms. Thuan researches and coordinates with traditional medicine units, mushroom farms, and biofertilizer production units to collect and recycle. Each year, the enterprise collects more than 200 tons of organic fertilizer, both used to fertilize raw material areas for growing mulberry and lotus, and sold to the market, helping to reduce production costs and increase revenue from by-products.

By-products such as cotton pads, handkerchiefs, lotus silk pillows, lotus silk paintings, etc. were also born one after another, adding to the business's OCOP ecosystem, creating diversity, richness and increasing value from an original material.

Silk products of My Duc Silk Company Limited.

With a diverse product system and flexible prices ranging from tens of thousands to tens of millions of Dong, My Duc Mulberry Silk Company Limited has conquered not only the domestic market but also been highly appreciated by partners from Japan, Germany, Saudi Arabia, England...

Amidst the changes of modern rural life, the sericulture profession in Hong Son is no longer a story of keeping the profession for the sake of it, but a way for people to preserve the core of their living culture through real labor, through innovation based on tradition, and by developing raw material areas from their homeland. All of these things create a precious silk product, becoming a "business card" for Vietnamese OCOP products to step out into the world .

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"The information page is coordinated by the Office of the New Rural Development Program Coordination of Hanoi City"

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/ocop-5-sao-tu-to-tam-suc-bat-moi-cua-mot-lang-nghe-tram-nam.html