Many areas of barren white sand, once known as "dead land" in Hai Lang district, have now been transformed into lush green fields of crops. Through determination, aspiration for progress, and the support of local authorities and the agricultural sector, the people have created sustainable livelihoods in this challenging region of their homeland.
Residents of Dong Duong village, Hai Duong commune, Hai Lang district have just planted off-season bitter melon - Photo: D.V.
Conquering the "land of death"
Whenever Hai Lang is mentioned, many people only know it as a vast area of white sand, totaling 7,000 hectares. It's also a land of scorching sun and burning hot winds from Laos. Such harsh weather conditions led to the rampant problem of "sand blowing, sand shifting, sand flowing, sand encroaching" that once ravaged countless fields and villages. It can be said that sand was once a nightmare for most people in the sandy and coastal areas, which account for nearly half of the total population and area of the district.
After years of being deeply concerned about the hardships faced by the people, in 1993, Mr. Hoang Phuoc, then Director of the Department of Irrigation of Quang Tri province, finally had the opportunity to begin researching and improving the ecological environment of the sandy areas in Hai Lang and Trieu Phong districts. Through perseverance, patience, and many years of practical experience, living and working with the people in the sandy areas to implement integrated agricultural, forestry, and irrigation measures, Mr. Phuoc successfully improved the sandy region.
Thanks to these efforts, the long-standing problem of shifting sands, shifting sands, and sand encroachment has been almost completely brought under control. By 1997, hundreds of hectares of casuarina and melaleuca forests had taken root and flourished on over 5,000 hectares of coastal sandy land in Hai Lang and Trieu Phong districts. As the land gradually recovered, local authorities organized the relocation of people to the sandy areas to build eco-villages.
Approximately 600 households in the two districts of Hai Lang and Trieu Phong have settled and thrived economically, striving to become wealthy in the sandy region. Not only has he received the respect and gratitude of the people in the sandy area, but Mr. Hoang Phuoc has also successfully defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic of reclaiming sandy areas.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Dieu, Thong Nhat village, Hai Binh commune, Hai Lang district, harvests bamboo shoots to sell to traders - Photo: DV
Following the successful reclamation of sandy areas in Hai Lang and Trieu Phong districts of Quang Tri province, many provinces such as Quang Binh and Thua Thien Hue have also followed Dr. Hoang Phuoc's model, conquering many barren sandy areas to resettle people and establish villages for stable living and working. Besides the great contributions of Dr. Hoang Phuoc, often referred to by locals as the "pioneer" of these ecological villages in the sandy areas, and the hard work and perseverance of the people, the determination of the province and district, concretized by economic development policies for the sandy areas, has contributed to the gradual revival of this "dead land."
In 2007, the Hai Lang District Party Committee issued a Resolution on socio-economic development of the sandy areas. Subsequently, local authorities began implementing relocation programs to the sandy areas to form new residential zones.
Simultaneously, investment will be made in infrastructure development, especially transportation infrastructure, production infrastructure, power grids, irrigation canal systems, and dikes to prevent flooding and drain water from the sandy areas. Alongside this, there will be a restructuring of crop patterns, the development of integrated agricultural and forestry models, and various policies to support production development in the sandy areas in the coming years...
Thanks to this, the once barren, sun-scorched sandy lands of Hai Lang, or perpetually flooded during the rainy season, are now covered in a hopeful green of sand dune forests and lush gardens of various crops thriving year-round. Currently, the entire Hai Lang district has 10,000 hectares of sandy economic land, with crops yielding high incomes such as the ném plant (140-150 million VND/ha) and bitter melon (110-120 million VND/ha).
Sweet fruits from barren land
In the days leading up to the Lunar New Year of 2025, I accompanied Phan Văn Quang, Director of the Dong Duong Cooperative in Hai Duong commune, to visit the cooperative's production area. Having not returned to this area for nearly 10 years, I was truly amazed by the transformation of this white sandy land.
The concentrated production areas of the people in Dong Duong village are well-planned, scientifically divided into plots, with a drainage system and roads (although still dirt ditches and red dirt roads). The fields of taro and bitter melon stretch endlessly, lush green across the once-hard sandy countryside. Visiting the garden of Mr. Le Van Tan (60 years old) in Dong Duong village, we saw him and his wife meticulously tending to the rows of taro plants while also picking taro leaves.
Since the reunification of the country, when he was a teenager, Mr. Tan and his parents went to the sandy area to reclaim land and plant sweet potatoes and cassava to make ends meet. “Life was very hard back then. The whole area was covered in white sand. In the summer, sandstorms and sand encroachment constantly buried the crops. Sometimes, the sweet potato and cassava plants would be completely covered in sand the next day, leaving no trace.”
"Sometimes, just before harvest, the sand would pile up to a meter high, making it difficult to dig up the tubers. Now, the sandy fields have been reclaimed and consolidated, with well-developed irrigation canals and roads, and surrounded by planted and natural forests, making production more sustainable and reassuring," Mr. Tan confided.
Watermelon cultivation on sandy soil in Kim Long village, Hai Binh commune, Hai Lang district - Photo: D.V.
Mr. and Mrs. Tan currently cultivate 3 sao (approximately 0.3 hectares) of sandy land, mainly growing bitter melon and other vegetables, intercropping them with peanuts and red beans. “From June to October (lunar calendar), I grow bitter melon, which sells for an average of 10,000 - 15,000 VND/kg. From July to January, I grow bitter melon, selling the plants while keeping the tubers for sale and for seeds.”
"The price of bitter melon tubers ranges from 52,000 to 55,000 VND/kg, while early-season bitter melon plants are around 30,000 VND/kg, and normally it's around 10,000 VND/kg. My wife and I work diligently year-round on our few acres of sandy land and rice paddies, so we live quite comfortably," Mr. Tan added. Hai Duong commune is also the first locality in the Hai Lang sandy region to focus on developing two main crops: bitter melon and bitter gourd, with a total area of about 100 hectares. According to local officials and residents, the bitter melon from Hai Duong commune is considered by many customers to be the best in the country. Currently, the commune is focusing on developing it into an OCOP product, building a supply chain, establishing cooperatives and associations to bring Hai Duong bitter melon to many major provinces and cities nationwide, and considering export in the future.
Besides the positive results in production, Mr. Phan Van Quang also expressed his concerns: “Currently, production in the Dong Duong sandy region is developing strongly, and farmers are cultivating using natural methods quite effectively. However, the internal transportation system and drainage canals within the production area have not been concreted since 2012, making it very difficult to transport fertilizers and seeds, as well as during the harvest season. The cooperative has petitioned various levels of government and relevant agencies for many years, but these requests have not yet received attention. We hope that the government will soon address these urgent requests to help farmers cultivate more effectively and sustainably.”
Mr. Le Anh Quoc, an official in charge of crop cultivation at the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hai Lang district, informed: In recent years, the district has implemented many crop rotation models; agro-forestry models; and intensive cultivation models of peanuts, bitter melon, and other crops in sandy areas. Many crops that have proven effective in sandy areas, such as various types of melons, bitter melon, and other crops, have been invested in and developed. The district has been actively directing communes to encourage people in sandy areas to increase the area planted with bitter melon and other crops, along with many support policies regarding seeds, fertilizers, and training courses on cultivation. To date, the entire district has developed 192 hectares of bitter melon and 16 hectares of bitter melon, mainly concentrated in the communes of Hai Duong, Hai Binh, and Hai Dinh. |
A few kilometers away, the concentrated production area on the sand dunes of Thong Nhat village (formerly Hai Ba commune, now Hai Binh commune) is also bustling with people tending to their neem trees during the Tet holiday season. At this time, around 4-5 am, people use flashlights to harvest neem leaves to keep the plants fresh for sale to traders who come to buy them early. With nearly 2 sao (approximately 2000 square meters) of land here, for decades, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Dieu (59 years old) has diligently worked from dawn till dusk to cultivate neem trees and intercrop them with various beans, legumes, and spices to make a living. "Although the area is small, I hardly let the land rest all year round."
"Thanks to farming in the sandy area and cultivating additional rice paddies, my husband and I have been able to raise our two children properly, and after graduation they have jobs and stable incomes," Mrs. Dieu happily said. On many occasions while working in Hai Lang, I was very impressed by Vo Viet Tien, a 70-year-old "farmer of the sandy area," who has spent 25 years living in the Ru Bac area of Phuong Hai village, Hai Binh commune.
On this 5-hectare area of flat, barren land, he spent many years reclaiming and improving it using effective methods such as planting hybrid acacia trees around the perimeter to create a windbreak against sand and wind, digging and constructing a drainage system to prevent waterlogging, and dividing the land into plots for cultivation using green manure. Once the land was acclimatized, he introduced various crops such as mung beans, high-yield cassava, cantaloupe, cucumbers, peanuts, red sweet potatoes, hybrid corn, and his main crop, off-season watermelon (11 plots), combined with poultry farming and freshwater fish farming.
From this farm, his family has earned an average income of 130-140 million VND for many years, with watermelons accounting for 50% of that income. While this income might not be considered high in other areas with more favorable conditions, achieving over 100 million VND in this arid, sandy region is truly admirable. Recently, in a phone call, Mr. Tien mentioned that due to health reasons, he has converted almost all of his land to planting acacia and eucalyptus trees, and expects to have a substantial income from this crop in a few years.
According to Vo Viet Dinh, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hai Binh commune, the Phuong Hai and Thong Nhat hamlets have about 200 hectares of sandy soil cultivated mainly with cassava and various other crops; among which the two main crops are nem (a type of herb) and bitter melon. Mr. Dinh said that Hai Binh is a low-lying area of the district, frequently affected by floods, and its economy is mainly based on agriculture, but the productivity is low and unstable, causing many difficulties in the lives of the people.
To help people develop their economy and improve their living standards, the locality has long had policies focusing on exploiting sandy areas, investing in infrastructure, and encouraging people to reclaim and cultivate land in the sandy areas for production and livestock farming. To date, dozens of households have moved to the sandy areas to cultivate crops and have a fairly stable income.
“Production in sandy areas has helped people earn a stable income in addition to farming and other side jobs. With the support of programs and projects, people are now focusing on natural farming and organic production to improve the quality and value of agricultural products, expand their reach in the market, and increase their income,” Mr. Dinh expressed.
Besides Hai Duong and Hai Binh, nowadays, when traveling through areas once ravaged by wind and sand like Hai An, Hai Khe, Hai Dinh, etc., many people are amazed to witness various farming models that have brought stable economic benefits. Like cacti growing on sand, many sandy areas in Hai Lang district have now truly become vibrant "green oases," providing a sustainable source of income and livelihood for local people.
Duc Viet
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/vuon-len-tu-mien-cat-que-huong-190975.htm
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