From the "pioneer" of the Mong village
In the summer of June, when we arrived at Toa Tinh in the scorching sun, the coffee trees were still green all over the hillsides. The coffee plantations were in the fruit-bearing season, clusters of white flowers still lingering among the foliage. On the high hilltop overlooking the entire Tuan Giao district, Vu A Minh - Secretary of the Che A village Party Cell was quietly taking care of the newly sprouted melon beds. Right next to it, the coffee hills were interspersed with pear and macadamia trees, covered in a lush green.
Vu A Minh was one of the first people to join the coffee growing model in Toa Tinh commune in 2011. At that time, coffee was still a strange name in Mong land. “After finishing university, I decided to return to my village to do business . My family abandoned the rice fields three years ago, now the entire area has been converted to growing coffee, pears, macadamia, plums and melons,” Minh shared.
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In addition to coffee, Vu A Minh's family is growing pears, plums, macadamia nuts and melons. |
After more than a decade of perseverance, his family now owns nearly 7 hectares of cultivated land, with coffee as the main crop. On the hillsides, coffee is intercropped with 375 macadamia trees, along with pears, plums, and melons, diversifying the products while protecting the soil and retaining moisture.
“Coffee helps us survive on the hills. But if we want to live well, we have to calculate. We have to choose good varieties, apply organic fertilizers, and intercrop to preserve the soil. Farming nowadays also requires us to have a long-term vision,” he added.
No more empty hills in Toa Tinh
According to Mr. Tran Manh Thang - Secretary of the Party Committee of Toa Tinh commune, the commune currently has 729 hectares of coffee, of which 430 hectares are being harvested. The coffee growing area in the commune accounts for 50% of the total coffee growing area of Tuan Giao district, making Toa Tinh the largest coffee growing area in the district.
In 2024 alone, people in the commune harvested 2,406 tons of fresh coffee beans, an increase of 60% compared to 2023. In the first 6 months of 2025, although it is not yet the main crop, the coffee growing area is growing well, and the output is forecast to continue to be stable and positive.
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| Thanks to coffee growing, in the past 3 years, the poverty rate in Toa Tinh commune has decreased by more than 30%. |
“Coffee prices in 2024 are at a record high, ranging from 9,000-10,000 VND/kg, at times exceeding 12,000 VND. Many households earn from 200-300 million VND, some households reach 800 million VND. People's lives have changed significantly,” said Mr. Thang.
Thanks to coffee, the poverty rate in Toa Tinh has dropped sharply from 46% last year to 33% now and has dropped by more than 30% in just the past three years. This is one of the Mong communes with the fastest poverty reduction rate in the district. “Now, walking around the commune, you can see that there is no longer any empty hill or land. Every house grows coffee, the whole village and commune are green. The barren hills of the past have now turned into economic hills,” Mr. Thang shared.
In Hua Sa A village, Ly Khai Lin led us through a coffee garden that was in the early fruiting stage. The soil was carefully plowed, each hole was raised high, and the organic fertilizer had taken on color. “Making coffee is not just about hoeing the soil and planting trees. You have to learn how to care for it properly, fertilize with compost, create a canopy, prevent pests and diseases… to get beautiful fruit and a good price,” said Lin.
Not only coffee, the model of intercropping macadamia, pear, and melon is also being applied by people in many villages. People are supported with technical training, seeds, agricultural materials, etc., gradually changing their way of thinking and doing.
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People make full use of the land area throughout the commune to grow coffee. |
Output problem: Still a concern
However, product output is still a big concern. Currently, farmers mainly sell fresh fruit to traders, without a stable consumption chain or a model linking production, processing and consumption according to the value chain.
Mr. Thang said: “In fact, many businesses have come to the commune to discuss the issue of consuming all products, even proposing to build a core area for organic production for export. They want to make model gardens and open a local processing factory.” It is known that Tuan Giao district is planning to build a coffee processing factory in Quai Cang commune, hoping to become a sustainable output center for the entire Toa Tinh raw material area.
“Currently, people are growing Arabica. The cold climate and high altitude prolong the flowering and fruiting period, helping the coffee beans to have superior quality. However, because the flowers bloom sporadically, people have to pick each ripe fruit instead of stripping the whole branch. It is more elaborate, but still maintains the quality,” Mr. Thang further analyzed.
Coffee not only changed the landscape of Toa Tinh, but more importantly, it changed the economic thinking of the Mong people. Now, people not only know how to plant but also know how to choose varieties, care for them properly, calculate output, and aim for commercial agriculture.
Source: https://tienphong.vn/xa-nguoi-mong-lam-kinh-te-tu-hat-nau-dat-do-post1749242.tpo
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