Impression of Bach Thong

From the provincial administrative center, it took us nearly 3 hours to go in the opposite direction by a “hard-to-drive” motorbike to reach Bach Thong commune. Right from the start, we had a good impression of this land. Covering the entire hilly area, the fields were interwoven with green leaves, with fruit orchards stretching out one after another; under the fields, season after season, the rice grains fed the people.

Dao people in Phieng An village produce tea according to VietGAP standards.

Based on the merger of 3 communes: Dong Thang, Duong Phong and Quang Thuan, Bach Thong commune now has 20 villages, more than 2,000 households, nearly 8,300 people. Promoting the achievements in previous years, the Party Committee, government and people of Bach Thong continue to unite, strive to rise up, confidently enter a new stage of development, accompanying the general development of the province and the whole country.

Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, Mr. Ha Ngoc Viet, confided: Bach Thong's strength is agriculture and forestry. For sustainable development, the locality focuses on restructuring the agricultural sector, increasing the value per unit area; promoting the conversion of crop structure; linking agriculture with service and tourism development, contributing to job creation and increasing income for people.

Looking at the orange and tangerine gardens full of fruit and the tea fields waiting for harvesters, I know that generations of cadres and people of Bach Thong commune have agreed to change the face of the land. The poor villages and hamlets such as Ban Men, Tong Ngay, Na Coong... now have clean and beautiful concrete roads.

When arriving at Na Van village, Mr. Nguyen Huy Hoa, the village chief, proudly said: To build a new rural road, in addition to voluntarily donating more than 2,000 square meters of land, the villagers also proactively demolished fences and fruit gardens. With clear roads, farmers' agricultural products can truly become commodities. Leaders innovated their management thinking, farmers boldly changed their ways of doing things, actively converted crops and livestock, applied scientific and technical advances to production, thereby forming a commodity production area, mainly models of growing trees with high economic value such as: Fruit trees, peanuts, cucumbers...

Currently, the commune does not have any large-scale production enterprises or cooperatives, but there are 12 small forest product processing workshops and 12 agricultural cooperatives in operation. Forest product processing mechanisms and cooperatives have played a role in linking production, creating jobs, supporting agricultural product consumption, and contributing to increasing local people's income.

Talking to us, many people in Bach Thong commune were excited: In the past 5 years, Bach Thong land has completely "transformed" to turn a new page. Previously, it was 3 communes: Dong Thang, Duong Phong and Quang Thuan, although at that time they were not "in the same house", but the cadres and people of the 3 communes actively competed, joined hands and united to change the appearance of the place where they live. Especially in the past 5 years, the National Target Program on New Rural Construction in 3 communes, now Bach Thong, has mobilized a total of over 13 billion VND, of which the state budget was over 8 billion VND, and the people contributed over 5 billion VND.

Accordingly, more than 40 essential infrastructure works such as: Inter-village traffic, cultural houses, water canals, sports fields ... have been implemented. Up to now, the commune has 5 villages that meet the new rural village standards. With the "open door" mindset to welcome businessmen inside and outside the province to cooperate in development, at the same time, valuing and encouraging workers to participate in vocational training, changing jobs, working at companies inside and outside the province or working abroad for a limited period under contract.

Star anise products of FOODS High-Tech Agricultural Cooperative, Bach Thong commune are highly appreciated by customers.

Currently, the whole commune has 650 workers working in companies; 32 people are working under fixed-term contracts abroad. With the meaning of having more savings to have better conditions for family economic development in the future, this labor force also learns industrial working style, experience in capital use, and improves communication skills to build their homeland.

Back to the story of the crop season on Bach Thong land: With more than 2,800 hectares of agricultural land, of which more than 1,200 hectares are rice fields, with a yield of 48 quintals/ha, the average food reaches 462 kg/person/year. In addition to proactively producing food, people in Bach Thong commune actively develop fruit tree growing models such as: Orange, tangerine, guava, grapefruit, seedless persimmon and some other crops that bring high economic efficiency. Along with cultivation are small-scale concentrated livestock models, associated with environmental protection.

The forestry sector is focused on, the whole commune currently has nearly 1,000 hectares of planted forests. In the forest, people grow medicinal plants such as purple velvet antler and yellow flower tea. The material and spiritual life of the people of Bach Thong commune is constantly improved and enhanced...

By 2024, the average income will reach more than 50 million VND/person/year. The whole commune still has 99 poor households and 76 near-poor households that are being helped by villagers by providing seeds, livestock, and production experience. Strive to have no poor households in the commune by 2030 according to the multidimensional poverty standard for the period 2022-2025.

In the story of poverty reduction, people in the area remember the family of Mr. Luu Minh Choong, Booc Khun village; Mr. Luu Tran Thu, Na Thoi village; Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, Na Chap village, who boldly destroyed mixed garden trees and converted the land to grow oranges and tangerines, which earned billions of dong each year. Then, like the family of Mr. Ban Huu Thanh, Phieng An II village, who escaped poverty thanks to growing citrus trees.

Thanks to growing citrus trees, many people and tourists inside and outside the province know the family of Mr. Luu Dinh Chap, Na Vai village. His family's tangerine garden of more than 2 hectares is considered the most beautiful in the region by the provincial authorities, and was chosen by the local government as a place to visit and experience in a major event about citrus trees and local OCOP products.

Bach Thong has left us a good impression. That is the open-minded, progressive mindset of today's successor cadres. Along with that is the hard-working, industrious, and patient manner of the farmers. All the hard work and diligence of the people have changed the land of Bach Thong every day. Not only is it the land of the province's specialty oranges and tangerines, Bach Thong also has green tea, yellow flower tea, medicinal plants such as purple velvet anise, star anise, JO2 specialty rice... and some attractive tourist destinations such as Bo Tau cave, Phieng An village; Tat Tang waterfall, Ban Mun. And the hospitality of the people.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202509/an-tuong-bach-thong-eac2536/