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| Mr. Tu Xe is excited because growing watercress is profitable. |
In the chilly weather at the end of the year, people in the vegetable area of Thuan An commune (Binh Minh town) are happy with the new harvest, good season and good price... The joy seems to be multiplied when Thuan An is getting closer to becoming the first model new-style rural commune of the province.
And recently, the General Statistics Office confirmed that the average income per capita of Thuan An commune reached 75.3 million VND/year, meeting the income criteria of a model new-style rural commune in 2023. With this result, Thuan An continues to lead in terms of average income per capita.
Happy new farming season
While harvesting 7 hectares of watercress in Thuan Thanh hamlet, Mr. Tu Xe said that the yield is 700-800 kg/hectare, the price is 47,000 VND/kg, "this crop I made a profit of over 200 million VND, so I can have a warm Tet holiday" - Mr. Tu boasted.
According to Mr. Tu, this year the weather is erratic, vegetables are susceptible to disease so we need to take more care, but prices are mostly high. In May and June, prices reached their peak (75,000 VND/kg). Harvesting takes 50-60 days, so we can grow 6-8 crops/year, with a favorable crop yielding more than 1 ton/acre.
Having been growing watercress for 7 years, Mr. Tu shared: "Thanks to growing this vegetable, I am more prosperous." He has invested half a billion VND to complete the growing area, and invested in a 70 million VND sprinkler irrigation system "for long-term use." For about a year now, he has been growing watercress according to VietGAP standards. "Thanks to less fertilizer and pesticides, plus mustard greens, coriander... people buy a lot, consume a lot, so people's lives are more stable," Mr. Tu said.
After 4 years of switching from rice fields to growing watercress, Mr. Lai Van Phuong from Thuan Thanh hamlet said: "Mainly living on watercress", the income is "more peaceful than farming". People here often ask and share experiences with each other, so the cultivation is very successful. "From the beginning of the year until now, the price of watercress has always been high, so everyone is very excited. There was a time when I sold it for 70,000 VND/kg, although the yield is not as good as this crop, but... living well" - Mr. Phuong said happily.
Mr. Phan Van Tu - Secretary and Head of Thuan Thanh Hamlet, said that this area is planned to be a specialized raw material area for growing watercress. The whole hamlet has 47.5 hectares of planting, of which about 25 hectares follow VietGAP standards with 50 participants. Growing watercress brings high economic efficiency, so it has been maintained by the people for 50-60 years.
Previously, watering was mainly done by hand. Later, the Department of Science and Technology supported the investment in an automatic sprinkler system (500 m2/household). Previously, each sprinkler was quite sparsely spaced, so people learned from experience and divided the distances shorter and have maintained this practice to this day. The Plant Protection Department regularly organizes training courses to improve people's skills and knowledge.
Increased income
Mr. Lam Van Thuan - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Thuan An Commune, said that people in Thuan Thanh Hamlet used to mainly grow rice, but later switched to growing watercress, so their lives have become more prosperous. This year, the lowest price is 10,000 VND/kg, quite different from previous years when it was only 2,000-3,000 VND/kg.
To help farmers improve efficiency on the same cultivated area, the association encourages members and farmers to take advantage of irrigation ditches to grow water mimosa, take advantage of banks and dikes to grow portulaca, basil, mustard greens, dwarf plants (leaf type)... which not only helps protect the soil and prevent grass from growing, but also beautifies the landscape, limits pests and has additional income from selling vegetables.
Mr. Bui Van Hieu - Chairman of Thuan An Commune People's Committee, said that the whole commune has about 130 hectares of watercress, an increase of about 20 hectares compared to last year. The soil is suitable and there are favorable conversion conditions, plus stable selling prices, ensuring profit, so the area has increased.
Currently, a cooperative has been established to grow watercress, the product is certified as 3-star OCOP and grown according to VietGAP standards. Along with watercress, Thuan An commune also has about 100 hectares of fish mint. These are the two main products of the commune. Fish mint is currently priced at 17,000-18,000 VND/kg. With this selling price, farmers are very excited because it brings good profits to households.
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| Mr. Lai Van Phuong converted rice land to grow watercress, bringing high profits on the same cultivated area. |
The Chairman of the People's Committee of Thuan An commune added that thanks to the good harvest and stable prices at high levels, farmers have increased their income, contributing to the successful implementation of the income criteria in building a model new-style rural commune. Currently, the commune continues to mobilize people to expand production and business, converting fields to grow watercress and fish mint to improve the quality of income criteria.
Mr. Le Van Dung - Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief of the Office of Coordination of the provincial new rural construction program, said that up to now, Thuan An commune has maintained 19/19 advanced new rural communes according to the new set of criteria and achieved 5/5 criteria of model new rural communes.
After 4 years of reaching the advanced NTM target, the rural appearance of Thuan An commune continues to change positively, people's lives have been improved. Currently, the model of growing watercress, fish mint, combined with growing water mimosa in irrigation ditches brings very good efficiency and income for people.
Along with that, Thuan An commune has done a very good job of digital transformation in agricultural production through automatic sprinkler irrigation models that help save water, labor... combined with vegetable growing models according to VietGAP standards. In particular, the most outstanding feature is in implementing environmental criteria, the commune has arranged enough trash bins and trash pits to collect pesticide packaging and household waste.
Mr. Lam Van Thuan - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Thuan An Commune: Through propaganda and mobilizing farmers to produce and trade safe agricultural products, people's awareness has been increasingly raised. Farmers limit the use of fertilizers and pesticides and when finished using them, they put them in the pesticide packaging tank to limit environmental pollution. Especially over time, farmers have a lot of experience so they do not need to use a lot of fertilizers and pesticides, the products are of better quality and safer. |
Article and photos: FRESH SPRING - TUYET HIEN
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