The wasteland is turning green again.

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - In early May, many rice fields in Hoang Ha commune (Hoang Hoa district) are lush and green, with many areas already flowering and bearing grain... But less than half a year ago, around the time of the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Snake, these fields were still abandoned for decades.

The fields of Ngoc Dinh village were full of sedges, rushes, and weeds at the end of 2024.

At the end of 2024, Thanh Hoa Newspaper published a series of articles on the issue of abandoned farmland throughout the province. A significant portion of the articles focused on Hoang Ha commune, highlighting the widespread abandonment of farmland across the province, analyzing the causes, and suggesting solutions. A survey conducted at the end of 2024 revealed that many farmlands, such as Dong Ben in Ha Thai and Dat Tai 2 villages, and Co Cuong in Dat Tai 2 village, had been largely abandoned for many years. Particularly noteworthy was the vast expanse of Ngoc Dinh village, covering approximately 80 acres (40 hectares), now completely overgrown with weeds. Further investigation revealed that this once exceptionally fertile field had not been cultivated for nearly 10 years, resulting in sedges, rushes, and other wild plants growing as tall as an adult's waist.

According to Nguyen Viet Thiem, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoang Ha commune: "Previously, the situation of people abandoning their fields in the locality had been going on for many years, causing land waste. Some abandoned fields, mainly bordering villages and cemeteries, were heavily damaged by rats. Another reason is the difficult internal transportation of the fields, resulting in low agricultural production value. Meanwhile, local people have supplementary occupations such as selling popcorn, providing electronic weighing services, and selling children's toys in larger provinces and cities, leading to a labor shortage... The total population of the commune is 4,300 people, but at many times, there are fewer than 1,000 people left in the village, mostly the elderly and children."

According to information from the People's Committee of Hoang Ha commune, the entire commune has 190 hectares of agricultural land for annual crops, mainly rice paddies. The commune has 4 villages, but Ngoc Dinh village is predominantly religious, with many families having secondary occupations, so they are no longer interested in farming. This is also the largest village with nearly 500 households, owning rice paddies in two large fields, one near the Cach bridge and the other behind the Ngoc Dinh parish church, both of which have been left fallow for many years.

Following feedback from Thanh Hoa Newspaper and directives from higher authorities, in 2024, the Hoang Ha Commune Party Committee issued a separate resolution outlining solutions, including the commune organizing support for land improvement, encouraging and assisting people to consolidate their land into larger plots, and reinvesting in cultivation.

Chairman of Hoang Ha Commune People's Committee, Nguyen Van Khang, shared: “In implementing the resolution, the commune determined that by the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, plowing and preparing the land must be organized, striving to sow and cultivate 70 to 80% of the rice land area. The slogan "plowing and drying the land" was put forward by the commune, and simultaneously implemented in each village and intensified with mobilization efforts, so many households have supported it. Households lacking labor or not enthusiastic about production, who previously refused to give up or rent out their land, have now agreed to allow other households to consolidate their land into larger areas to bring in machinery for cultivation.”

Lush green rice fields in Ngoc Dinh village during the 2025 spring crop season after reclaiming barren land.

With the determination of the entire political system and the consensus of the people, a land reclamation movement took place in Hoang Ha before the recent Lunar New Year of the Year of the Snake. Many fragmented rice fields were consolidated into larger plots for households needing to rent, creating larger areas. Plows and tillage machines were put into operation, and field boundaries were reshaped and widened. By the 2025 spring crop season, 80% of the commune's abandoned land had been quickly reclaimed. The green of rice plants spread, replacing the vast stretches of weeds and reeds.

Returning to the Ngoc Dinh rice fields, the sedges, rushes, wild water spinach, and water hyacinths are basically gone. In the fields that were abandoned a few months ago, rice plants have sprouted, creating a lush green landscape. Mr. Luu Van Huyen, a resident of Ngoc Dinh village, shared: “My family has 2 sao (approximately 2,000 square meters) of rice fields in the village, but they were left fallow for almost ten years. The entire village, with nearly 500 households, also had abandoned land. However, in preparation for this spring rice crop, the local government has encouraged most households to rent machinery to reclaim the abandoned fields and resume cultivation.”

The successful reclamation of dozens of hectares of abandoned farmland in just a few months in Hoang Ha commune has offered a solution and a direction for eliminating abandoned farmland that wastes land resources in many areas of the province. In reality, many localities still lack solutions to overcome this situation, making it a "bottleneck" in the province's agricultural production. With determination and the involvement of both the government and the people, it is entirely possible to transform weed-filled fields into prosperous production areas.

Text and photos: Le Dong

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/xanh-lai-dong-hoang-248793.htm