Upland farmers compete in production and good business

Promoting the potential and advantages of the locality, farmers in ethnic minority and mountainous areas (DTTS&MN) of Thanh Hoa province have been actively competing in labor and production. Thereby, many typical examples of successful start-up innovation and household economic development have emerged. These are good production and business households (SXKD) that not only bring income to the household, create jobs for people in the area but also contribute to socio-economic development (KT-XH) and new rural development in the locality.

Mr. Nguyen Van Doan (second from right), Director of Thach Cam Agricultural Service Cooperative - a typical household in good production and business, along with officials of the Farmers' Association, the Ethnic Affairs Department of Thach Thanh district and Thach Cam commune visited the sugarcane field.

Let's compete!

We went to Thach Cam commune (Thach Thanh) - a locality with a large number of ethnic minorities living. We visited the family of Mr. Nguyen Van Doan, Muong ethnic group, Xuan Thang village, currently the Director of Thach Cam Agricultural Service Cooperative, and also a typical family in production and business of Xuan Thang village in particular, Thach Cam commune in general. Mr. Doan said that more than 10 years ago, his family was very difficult, mainly growing rice and raising small-scale livestock, so the family boldly bid for 1 hectare of land, 5% of the commune, to grow sugarcane, and at the same time rented uncultivated land from households in the area to expand the sugarcane growing area; raising more pigs. Later, the family boldly invested in developing fruit orchards (dragon fruit, Dien grapefruit) combined with grocery stores, supplying agricultural supplies; Invested in buying 2 trucks, 1 excavator and upgraded the excavator into a sugarcane picker to bring efficiency, reduce labor costs for people when it comes to harvesting raw sugarcane. Every year, the family has an income of more than 800 million VND, profit reaches 400 million VND, creating jobs for 10 workers with an average salary of 4.5 million VND/month/person. Along with developing the family economy, as the director of the agricultural service cooperative, Mr. Nguyen Van Doan also has many contributions to the development of the cooperative. As the head, Mr. Doan and the board of directors propagate and mobilize farmers to change the crop structure, bringing productivity and quality, especially converting from ineffective crop areas to growing sugarcane. Currently, the raw sugarcane area managed by the cooperative is 336 hectares/nearly 500 hectares of raw sugarcane in Thach Cam commune. The cooperative invested in buying sugarcane picking machines, reducing costs and labor for members, increasing productivity.

Among the outstanding farmer members of Thach Thanh district, we also know Mr. Bui Anh Kieu, Van Bao village, Thanh Tam commune, director of Thanh Tam guava cooperative, who has actively participated in the association's movements, especially in good production and business. Currently, Mr. Kieu's family has 5 hectares of land growing guava and pineapple, earning over 500 million VND annually after deducting expenses. Mr. Kieu also actively supports members with seedlings and care techniques. He has pioneered in bringing the cooperative's guava products to markets outside the province, distributing them on the Co.opMart supermarket system, registering and achieving the title of 3-star OCOP product at the provincial level, and is favored by consumers. Mr. Kieu's family farm model and the linkage model of Thanh Tam guava cooperative have become an advanced example that many individuals and organizations inside and outside the district have visited and learned from. In 2023-2024, his family helped 2 households escape poverty, creating regular jobs for 3 workers and 15 seasonal workers. In village 4, Thanh Tien commune (Thach Thanh), there is also Mr. Bui Ngoc Huy (born in 1991), a young farmer who dares to think, dares to do, and brings new occupations to his hometown. After a period of vocational training, in 2017, Mr. Huy returned to his hometown to open a stone art production facility. Initially, there were only 5 workers, but up to now, the facility has always maintained vocational training and created jobs for more than 20 regular workers, and the facility earns over 1 billion VND in profit every year. The examples of Mr. Nguyen Van Doan, Mr. Bui Anh Kieu, Mr. Bui Ngoc Huy... are typical individuals among farmers in the ethnic minority and mountainous areas of Thach Thanh district who have been boldly innovating, daring to think, daring to do, taking advantage of the potential and advantages of the locality to take the lead in production development.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Van, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Thach Thanh district, said: As of August 2024, the total number of farmer members in the district was 25,948 people. In recent times, farmers' associations at all levels in the district have always been the core of farmers' movements, in which the movement "Farmers compete in good production and business, unite to help each other get rich and reduce poverty sustainably" stands out, contributing to the restructuring of agriculture in the district in the direction of developing large-scale production, applying high technology, linking production with processing and consumption. Farmers' associations at all levels have closely coordinated with People's Committees at all levels in carrying out active support activities for farmers, focusing on the fields of agricultural material services, implementing policies on loans to develop agricultural production. In the period of 2021-2023, the number of households registered to strive for good production and business in the district averaged 9,585 households or more. Households have actively linked and joint ventured with enterprises, many good production and business households have participated in establishing cooperatives, enterprises and cooperative groups. Typical examples include Mrs. Nguyen Thi Dung's household in Hamlet 1, Van Du town, establishing an agricultural enterprise; Mr. Bui Anh Kieu in Van Bao hamlet, Thanh Tam commune, establishing a guava cooperative; Mr. Quach Van Hien in Quang Cu hamlet, Thach Quang commune, establishing an essential oil cooperative... Good production and business households have attracted and created jobs for more than 6,800 rural workers. Good production and business households are also pioneers in implementing food safety regulations, building product brands, applying high technology in production, and are the core for organizations and enterprises implementing the One Commune One Product (OCOP) program. The movement has promoted the spirit of overcoming difficulties, creativity and determination to get rich, increase income, and improve the lives of farmers. Typical good production and business households in localities are examples for poor households to rise up, eliminating the mentality of waiting and relying on a part of farmers in difficult areas, building new rural areas of the locality, contributing to completing the goal of Thach Thanh district meeting the standards of a new rural district by 2025.

Spread among the people

In recent years, the movement "Farmers compete in good production and business, unite to help each other get rich and reduce poverty sustainably" in Thanh Hoa province in general, and among ethnic minorities and mountainous areas in particular, has continued to develop strongly in both scale and quality. The movement has spread throughout the province, in all fields of agricultural, forestry, fishery and service production, creating strong changes in awareness and thinking, arousing the initiative and creativity of farmers to participate in economic restructuring, restructuring of crops and livestock, land accumulation and concentration, application of scientific and technical advances, development of high-tech agriculture, organic and safe agriculture, improving productivity and product quality, contributing to the development of agriculture and rural areas in the province.

Through the movement, more and more effective economic models have appeared, many farmers have achieved the title of good farmers at all levels, with high incomes. Every year, nearly 400,000 farming households register to strive to achieve good farmers at all levels, and over 200,000 households have achieved good farmers at all levels. Through the organization and launching of emulation movements, many units have appeared with good, practical and effective ways of doing things. From the movement, many households have established enterprises, cooperatives, and cooperative groups to attract and create jobs for many workers, forming chains of cooperation in production, business and product consumption. The movement has encouraged and motivated farmers to promote the tradition of solidarity and mutual love, helping poor households to escape poverty in terms of capital, seeds, agricultural materials, technical guidance, ways of doing business, and job creation; Sharing the difficulties and losses of people in areas affected by natural disasters and epidemics... In the period of 2018-2023, farmers' associations at all levels in the province mobilized good farming households to create jobs on the spot for more than 1,193,872 workers, of which 998,700 workers had regular jobs, more than 195,172 workers had seasonal jobs; providing capital, seeds, animals and production experience to more than 40,270 farming households, helping 20,082 farming households escape poverty. The results of the movement have contributed significantly to the socio-economic development and new rural development of the province and localities.

In the period of 2023-2028, Thanh Hoa Provincial Farmers' Associations at all levels will continue to improve the quality and effectiveness of the emulation movement for good production and business, attracting a large number of members and farmers to participate; linking the movement with improving product quality and processing, consuming agricultural products in the direction of goods, ensuring food hygiene and safety, protecting the environment, creating products that are competitive in the market and international integration. Strive to have over 400,000 farmer households register to become good production and business households every year, 250,000 farmer households achieve the title of good production and business at 4 levels, of which 2% or more achieve the title of provincial and central level. 100% of district, town and city associations and 100% of grassroots associations organize a summary of the movement "Farmers compete in good production and business, Farmers' Association organizes good movements" according to plan. Establishing groups and teams to link good farmers and businesses by profession and field; through training and vocational training, fostering good farmers and businesses as the core to apply high technology in production, forming new cooperatives, cooperative groups and agricultural enterprises. Actively coordinate with the government and enterprises, especially the agricultural sector, to transfer, guide and help good farmers and businesses develop large-scale production and business associated with convenient processing and consumption of products, applying modern and advanced production technology to achieve high efficiency. Building good farmers and businesses to become experts to promote the rural economy; consulting and supporting households with conditions to develop into enterprises; contributing to the transformation of economic and labor structures, increasing income, reducing poverty and social security, implementing the New Rural Development program.

Article and photos: Ngoc Huan

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/nong-dan-mien-nguoc-thi-dua-san-xuat-kinh-doanh-gioi-227243.htm