Village chief helps people eliminate hunger and reduce poverty by growing dragon fruit

Take the lead to create trust

Mr. Hoang Van Vien, born in 1955, is a veteran who participated in the resistance war against the US in the period of 1972 - 1975, then continued to re-enlist to fight to protect the northern border in 1979. After being discharged from the army, Mr. Vien lived in his hometown. In 2011, he was elected by the people as Village Chief. Coming from a farming family, Mr. Vien understands the hardships of farmers who work hard, so as the head of the village, he always wondered how to help the people's lives improve. At that time, Hai Phong city was encouraging localities to change their crop structure, so Mr. Vien learned and decided to encourage people to grow white-fleshed dragon fruit.

Sharing the reason for choosing dragon fruit, Mr. Vien said: “In 2015, I had the opportunity to visit relatives in Ninh Thuan province and saw that people there were growing dragon fruit for high economic value. At that time, in the village, there were also some households spontaneously growing dragon fruit on small areas and the trees grew well, so I thought the soil and climate here were suitable for dragon fruit to grow.”

Mr. Vien's idea was supported by the village Party Committee and Party cell. However, Truc Trang people are used to growing rice all year round, so convincing people to change their mindset and agree to switch to growing dragon fruit is not an overnight job. To gain the trust of the villagers, Mr. Vien thought he had to be a pioneer. Thinking is doing, he discussed with his wife to convert 2 sao of rice fields to grow nearly 120 white-fleshed dragon fruit trees. In addition, he mobilized some close households to try planting together. Mr. Vien recalled: "Because I did not have the knowledge or experience in growing trees, I asked my relatives in Ninh Thuan province to help. In addition, I read more books on how to care for and prevent pests and diseases for trees. Fortunately, the soil was suitable, so after just over a year of planting, the dragon fruit trees began to bear fruit."

Mr. Vien added: “Although the dragon fruit grown in Truc Trang is not as big as in some localities in the South, the advantage is that the skin is thin, the fruit is very sweet, and each year we harvest from 7 to 10 crops. In 2016, we sold it for about 25,000 VND to 30,000 VND/kg. Compared to rice cultivation, growing dragon fruit has an economic value 4 to 5 times higher. In addition, growing dragon fruit does not require much initial cost, the tree is rarely affected by pests and diseases, and is very easy to care for.”

Having achieved results right from the first year of experimental planting, Mr. Vien organized village meetings to propagate and mobilize people to convert crops. In addition, Mr. Vien promoted the role of organizations such as the Farmers' Association, Women's Association, Veterans' Association, Youth Union, etc. to participate in the mobilization. Mr. Vien himself was also very active in visiting families, especially those who were farmers and had difficult lives, to advise and encourage them. The practical economic value of dragon fruit trees along with Mr. Vien's enthusiasm created a high consensus among the villagers. In 2017, over 300 households in the village registered to commit to converting nearly 40 hectares of land from rice cultivation to white-fleshed dragon fruit cultivation.

Branding for products

Following Mr. Vien, we visited some dragon fruit growing families in Truc Trang. Along the roads in the village, dragon fruit gardens with an area of thousands of square meters are carefully tended by the people and are in harvest season. The spacious houses built in the middle of the vast dragon fruit gardens are a testament to the effectiveness of the crop restructuring that the locality has implemented in recent years. Mr. Vu Van Thuy, one of the typical households that escaped poverty thanks to growing white-fleshed dragon fruit, shared: “Before, my husband and I worked as factory workers, life was hard but our income was not abundant. In 2017, Mr. Vien came to encourage our family to grow white-fleshed dragon fruit, so we sawed lychee to try growing it. Seeing that the dragon fruit trees grew well and the selling price was high, the family converted more than 1 hectare of rice fields to grow dragon fruit. Currently, my family has more than 700 white-fleshed dragon fruit trees. With a selling price of about 18,000 VND to 20,000 VND/kg, each year, after deducting expenses, my husband and I earn nearly 200 million VND in profit.”

It is known that due to the large number of households growing organic dragon fruit, there is a need for an outlet to consume the product. In 2020, with the advice and support of the Party Committee, the government and especially the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of An Lao district, Mr. Vien proposed to establish a cooperative and in that same year, "Truc Trang Organic Agricultural Cooperative" was born. Mr. Vien confided: "Everyone elected me as director, but I am old, in poor health, and not good at business, so I refused and gave it to the younger generation. Having a cooperative not only supports seedlings, techniques, and fertilizers for people, but also acts as a bridge to consume products, helping to stabilize the output, significantly improving people's lives, so I am also happy."

Mr. Nguyen Van Truong, Director of Truc Trang Organic Agricultural Cooperative said: “Although in recent years, fruits in general, including dragon fruit, have fallen in price, thanks to good care, the gardens have had a good harvest, increased output, and stable product consumption, helping people still earn much more profit than growing rice. We are encouraging people to continue expanding the area, applying science and technology to production, especially using organic fertilizers and lighting to stimulate dragon fruit to produce off-season, thereby improving product quality and increasing income for people. Currently, the product "Bat Trang dragon fruit" has met VietGap standards and is striving to be recognized as an OCOP product of the city in the near future."

Mr. Vien's contributions over many years as Village Chief have made white-fleshed dragon fruit the main crop in Truc Trang, making an important contribution to improving the lives of the people. The appearance of Truc Trang has also changed day by day thanks to that. Recently, Truc Trang village has completed the criteria for a model new rural area. Mr. Hoang Van Vien was honored as one of three individuals with outstanding achievements in implementing the emulation movement "Skillful mass mobilization" of Hai Phong city in the period of 2018 - 2023 and was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Chairman of Hai Phong City People's Committee./.

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