Escape poverty from golden sweet potato

victory — Border guards help people in Che Lau village grow sweet potatoes. Photo: Nguyen Chung.

Change your life thanks to… potatoes

Mr. Thao Van The - Vice Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Na Meo commune said that before migrating from Pu Nhi commune (Muong Lat) to Che Lau village to live, the Mong people here still practiced shifting cultivation. When they encountered forests, they would cut down and fell them, sow rice and corn seeds, then wait for the harvest day, if they were lucky, they could eat, if they were not, they had to accept it. Just like that, the forests were destroyed, but the people's lives had not improved. The fertile land around the village, which was favorable for irrigation, was left behind, allowing weeds to grow freely.

After many failures with the mahogany and ginger trees, in 2018, Mr. The brought the yellow-heart taro to grow in Che Lau village. In the first two years, partly because he did not understand the care techniques and partly because he did not know how to prevent pests and diseases, the taro plants withered and withered before they produced tubers. Therefore, all the money that Mr. The had saved and borrowed from relatives also went down with that plant.

“I want to prove that people can escape poverty on their own fields in the village, and cannot rely on the support of the Party and the State forever,” said Mr. The. Then, “God did not disappoint those who tried,” nearly 1 hectare of yellow-heart sweet potatoes of Mr. The’s family began to flourish thanks to the new care techniques applied. Before harvesting, Mr. The rode his motorbike alone to Quan Son district town, then Thanh Hoa city to find a consumer.

The success, in 2020, Mr. The's family earned more than 80 million VND in profit from the yellow-heart potato plant. One year, two years... then raising pigs, cows, now Mr. Thao Van The's family has the most spacious house in Che Lau, partly thanks to the yellow-heart potato plant.

Sowing new hopes

Seeing that Mr. Thao Van The's potato growing did not require much effort, with little capital but brought in much higher income than struggling in deep ravines and high mountains to clear forests for farming, many Mong households in Che Lau came to learn and ask for techniques from Mr. The. Just like that, from nearly 1 hectare of yellow-heart potatoes, now the Mong people in Che Lau have nearly 3 hectares planted on the best land in the village. Typically, the two households of Mr. Thao Van Su and Thao Van Chu have planted more than 1.5 hectares of yellow-heart potatoes. This area has begun to bring high economic efficiency, promising a new way out of poverty.

Talking about the lives of the villagers in recent years, Mr. Thao Van The said: “Now the Mong people in Che Lau do not destroy the forest to make land for farming anymore. Everyone stays in the village, focusing on intensive cultivation of many types of crops, the main one being yellow-heart manioc, and expanding livestock farming to develop the economy. In the near future, the 66 Mong households in Che Lau will also escape poverty.”

According to Mr. Pham Duc Luong - Secretary of the Party Committee of Na Meo commune, Che Lau village has 66 households, 307 people, with 100% of the Mong ethnic people living there. The socio-economic life of the village still has many difficulties. Currently, the People's Committee of Quan Son district directs specialized departments and units in the process of implementing training and transferring science and technology using simple, easy-to-understand, familiar and suitable measures for people's reception of the yellow-heart potato plant.

“We also sent agricultural officers from the commune to the village to grasp the situation, promptly remove difficulties and obstacles so that people can trust and feel secure in participating in production, increasing the area of yellow-heart sweet potato. In addition, the district has also directed the specialized department to guide and help the commune and village build OCOP products from yellow-heart sweet potato, creating a market-oriented commodity chain for the people and continue to expand the area of sweet potato in the next crop season,” said Mr. Luong.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/thoat-ngheo-tu-cay-khoai-long-vang-10292083.html