Women of Ba Be commune: Developing the specialty model of rau bo khai

For decades, women in Ba Be commune, Thai Nguyen province, have converted to growing rau bo khai (da hien) in their home gardens, thereby creating jobs and a sustainable source of income for their families, contributing to the development of the local economy.

According to the people in Ba Be commune, rau bo khai is a wild vegetable, in the past no family grew it. The vegetable grows naturally in the forest, people just naturally go into the forest to harvest it. About 20 years ago, when tourism in Ba Be developed, people picked this wild vegetable to sell to restaurants and hotels serving tourists, since then this vegetable dish has become a specialty of the mountains and forests, its brand and flavor have become famous far and wide.

Realizing the effectiveness of producing rau bo khai, some women have brought it home to grow, and it has become a familiar crop for families in Ba Be commune up to now. Bo khai is an easy-to-grow, easy-to-care-for vegetable with few pests and diseases, sprouts all year round, has a quick harvest cycle and a continuous harvest time of more than 8 months a year. Currently, Ba Be commune also encourages expansion, planning, and step-by-step development to form a safe vegetable area. With the current favorable selling price and market, bo khai has been helping many households growing this plant have a stable source of income, contributing to increasing family income very effectively.

Ms. Hoang Thi Phuong, in Ban Ngu village, Ba Be commune, said: Almost all households in the village grow rau bo khai, some have a few hundred square meters, some have thousands of square meters. The price of rau bo khai also fluctuates greatly, when it is cheap, it is 10 thousand VND/bunch, when it is expensive, it can be up to 30-35 thousand VND/bunch, every few days there is a harvest, so cultivating rau bo khai brings very stable economic efficiency to local households.

The rau bo khai model helps women in Ba Be commune have jobs and stable income.

Realizing the effectiveness of rau bo khai, the people of Ban Ngu village continuously expanded the cultivation area of this specialty vegetable. If in 2017, the whole village had about 5 hectares, then up to now, the cultivation area of rau bo khai has reached more than 30 hectares. Every year, it brings a significant income to the villagers.

Since 2011, the Women's Union of Bac Kan province (now the Women's Union of Thai Nguyen province) has opened a training class on safe vegetable growing, attracting many local female members to participate, thereby improving the technical skills of growing watercress and making it more professional.

By 2016, in order to increase the economic value of agricultural products of the people and have stable output, Sang Ha Cooperative in Ban Ngu village, Ba Be commune was established, headed by Ms. Truong Thi Tue connecting the female members to participate. From here, rau bo khai was focused on production and became the main product of the Cooperative, and from there the area of rau bo khai cultivation was continuously expanded.

The model of cultivating watercress of Sang Ha Cooperative has brought about positive results.

Ms. Truong Thi Tue, Director of Sang Ha Cooperative, shared: “Every year, we still recruit more women to become members of the Cooperative. When they join, they only need to produce well, and the Cooperative will be responsible for finding outlets for the products they produce. Up to now, our rau bo khai products have origin traceability stamps and food hygiene and safety certificates, so the products have been introduced to supermarket systems in and outside the province and have been highly appreciated by customers.”

Up to now, rau bo khai has become the main crop of women in Ba Be commune, helping to create jobs and a fairly stable income for families, while contributing to promoting local economic development, completing the criteria for building a new rural area very usefully.

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/phu-nu-xa-ba-be-phat-trien-mo-hinh-dac-san-rau-bo-khai-20250806100917736.htm