Onion and garlic 'capital' Kinh Mon in season

Taking advantage of the dry weather, farmers in Bac An Phu ward went to the fields, prepared the land and planted new onion and garlic crops.

At this time, farmers here are rushing into winter crop production.

Urgently go to the field

The old Kinh Mon town area, now Kinh Mon, Nguyen Dai Nang, Tran Lieu, Bac An Phu, Nhi Chieu, Pham Su Manh wards and Nam An Phu commune is known as the "capital" of onions and garlic in the North.

At the end of October, taking advantage of favorable weather, people in the wards and communes are rushing to the fields, plowing the land, preparing for the new crop. In the fields of Nam An Phu commune, from early morning, it is like a bustling construction site. Everyone is enthusiastically working. Farmers are busy collecting straw, carefully tying it up and placing it on the banks to make way for the tilling machines. When the soil is broken up, people quickly make ridges in time for winter planting.

At 6 a.m., Mr. Bui Duc Dinh (Nam An Phu commune) was in the field. His hands were nimbly using a hoe to make ridges and furrows. This year, Mr. Dinh's family planted nearly one hectare of onions. He said jokingly but seriously, farmers in this area consider onions and garlic "ATMs", because each onion crop, his family earns hundreds of millions of dong in profit. Mr. Pham Van Ro, whose field is nearby, added: "It is a crop that brings wealth, so here, every family grows onions. Small families have a few sao, large families have up to a mau. This year, there was a lot of rain at the beginning of the season, the weather was not favorable for tilling the land. But in recent days, taking advantage of the dry weather, we have worked day and night to keep up with the season."

Just like farmers in Nam An Phu commune, in the fields, farmers in Bac An Phu ward are also rushing to plant onions and garlic. Bac An Phu used to be a concentrated garlic growing area of Kinh Mon town. Because garlic has a longer growing period than onions by about half a month, after planting garlic, farmers immediately start planting onions. Quickly spreading straw to cover the newly planted onion beds, Mr. Vu Van Tu in Han Xuyen village excitedly said: "My family planted 3 hectares of onions and garlic. Of which, 1.5 hectares of garlic were mobilized to plant a few days ago, now we start planting onions."

According to Mr. Tu, farmers in the region often use the Han Lo season as a benchmark for planting onions and garlic. With nearly 30 years of experience with these two plants, Mr. Tu understands the rules of planting to achieve high yields. According to him, when the morning glory flowers begin to bloom is the most suitable time to plant garlic; and when the flowers are in full bloom, plant onions. Doing so will help onions and garlic have fewer pests and diseases and grow bulbs more easily.

In the 2025 - 2026 winter crop, communes and wards in the old Kinh Mon area plan to plant about 4,000 hectares of onions and garlic.

High economic value

Onions and garlic are typical winter crops in Kinh Mon area. Onions and garlic grown in the fields here are not only famous throughout the North but also known nationwide. Thanks to onions and garlic, people's lives are better. Mr. Doan Van Ha (Bac An Phu ward) said that in 2024, he will not only grow onions and garlic locally, but also rent fields in many other places to grow 15 hectares. With a yield of 7-8 quintals/sao, an average price of 11,000 - 12,000 VND/kg, he earned more than 1 billion VND. After deducting expenses, his family earned about 700 million VND. This year, he plans to plant nearly 1 hectare and continue to rent some more areas in the ward. At this time, his family has finished planting about 60% of the winter onion and garlic area.

As for Mr. Tran Van Huong (Tran Lieu ward), for many years he has maintained an area of 1.5 - 2 hectares of onions and garlic. In 2024, he sold both fresh onions in the field and dried onions and garlic, earning 500 million VND, with a profit of 400 million VND.

According to Mr. Chu Van Chien, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nam An Phu Commune, there are not many people with billions of dong in income like Mr. Ha, but households with an income of 400 - 500 million VND/year like Mr. Huong are available in almost every commune and ward. In addition to favorable land and climate conditions due to natural advantages, people in Kinh Mon area also have long-standing experience in cultivating onions and garlic, and know how to apply technical advances in production. For a long time, people have been aiming for clean production, using organic fertilizers, microorganisms, and composted chicken manure, and limiting the use of inorganic fertilizers.

“The land and climate are favorable, and the people are experienced in planting, caring for, and preserving, so Kinh Mon garlic and onions have a characteristic aromatic and spicy flavor, large and firm bulbs, and superior quality compared to other localities,” Mr. Chien affirmed.

In 2017, Kinh Mon onion and garlic products were granted a collective trademark certificate by the Intellectual Property Office. In 2018 and 2024, Kinh Mon onion and garlic continued to be honored as the "Golden Brand of Vietnamese Agriculture ", achieving 3-star OCOP certification in 2022. Currently, Kinh Mon garlic is not only consumed domestically but also exported to the Middle East, Russia, Korea, Taiwan (China), EU countries, the US...

According to Ms. Pham Thi Dao, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment, in recent times, in order to maximize the value of winter crop production, Hai Duong province (old) has implemented many support policies to add motivation and help people feel secure in farming. In addition to promoting concentrated zoning, orienting farmers to produce goods and applying advanced intensive farming techniques, the district has also actively contacted businesses to remove difficulties in consumption.

Every year, the old Kinh Mon area grows about 4,000 - 4,200 hectares of onions and garlic, mainly concentrated in Bac An Phu ward and Nam An Phu commune. With an average yield of 16 - 17 tons/ha, each year the communes and wards in the area earn more than 1,000 billion VND from this crop.

HA VY

Source: https://baohaiphong.vn/thu-phu-hanh-toi-kinh-mon-vao-mua-525584.html