Ia Broăi women change their thinking and way of doing things

Ms. Nay H'Ple (Broăi hamlet, Ia Broăi commune) takes care of her family's "safe vegetable garden". Photo: Vu Chi

Replicating the model "Safe vegetable garden"

Determining that economic development on the family garden is an effective direction, for the past 2 years, Ms. Nay H'Ple's family (Broăi village) has renovated 40 square meters of garden land to grow all kinds of vegetables, each season. By taking advantage of the source of organic fertilizer composted from the family's livestock, the vegetable garden grows and develops well all year round, not only improving family meals but also contributing to increasing income, ensuring environmental hygiene in the residential area.

Ms. H'Ple confided: Her garden was previously abandoned and overgrown with weeds. After participating in a safe vegetable growing class organized by the Commune Women's Union in collaboration with Gia Lai College in 2024, she cleared the grass, dug the soil, and bought seeds to plant in the garden. With the guidance of the sisters, Ms. H'Ple put a net around the garden to prevent chickens and ducks from destroying it.

Clean vegetables such as cassava leaves, water spinach, amaranth, Malabar spinach, squash, and pumpkin help enrich the family's meals. If she can't finish them all, she brings them to the market to sell for extra income. "This morning, I sold 3 bundles of cassava leaves for 30,000 VND. The vegetables are clean, so everyone is satisfied. They told me to bring them to their house whenever I have vegetables to sell, so I don't have to go to the market," Ms. H'Ple happily said.

Mrs. H'Krem Buôn Yă (Broăi village) is diligently weeding her lush green vegetable garden. This is considered a big change in her family's way of thinking and doing, because before, she often picked vegetables from the fields such as wild vegetables, cassava leaves to eat or buy at the market, instead of growing vegetables at home. When the Association's officials propagated and saw the benefits of the model, she implemented it. After nearly 1 month of planting, the vegetable garden has created a safe food source for the family as well as saving on living expenses.

Thanks to the "Safe Vegetable Garden" model, Ms. H'Krem Buon Yă's family (Broăi village, Ia Broăi commune) has a safe food source and saves on living expenses. Photo: Vu Chi

Currently, Mrs. H'Krem raises 20 Muscovy ducks, 100 chickens, 8 cows and cultivates 2 hectares of rice and 8 hectares of cassava, creating a closed chain. Waste from livestock and farming that was not used before is now fully utilized by her. Dry straw is stored as feed for cows. Livestock waste is composted to fertilize crops.

Ms. H'Krem shared: "Along with economic development, the family has moved the barn away from the house, built a hygienic toilet and bathroom. Thanks to that, the environment of the house is greener, cleaner and more beautiful. The family also has a stable income, improving the quality of life."

Production links

As a favorable land for agricultural development with many key crops such as rice, corn, tobacco, in early 2022, the Commune Women's Union established a sweet corn growing interest group with 10 members. After more than 2 years of implementation, the group has now increased to 15 members, cultivating 12 hectares of sweet corn. The women regularly exchange and share ways of planting and caring for the crop to achieve the highest yield.

Taking us to visit her family's sweet corn area ready for harvest, Ms. Rcom H'Dom (Ia Rniu village) said: Sweet corn plants will be ready for harvest in about 70 days. The biggest advantage of sweet corn is that they grow strong, hard, and have good resistance to pests and diseases. The corn kernels are beautiful yellow, with thin shells, and when eaten, the kernels are soft and sweet. Her family also invested in a drip irrigation system for the entire area to help increase crop yields.

The sweet corn growing model of Ia Broăi women brings high economic efficiency. Photo: Vu Chi

“With the experience shared by the sisters in the group, this season I planted 1 hectare of sweet corn. Compared to other local crops such as rice, wheat, and biomass corn, sweet corn is much more economically efficient. After harvesting the corn, the stalks and leaves are sold as animal feed. With 4 crops/year, each hectare of sweet corn earns an average profit of more than 100 million VND,” Ms. H”Dom calculated.

The Ia Broai Commune Women's Union currently has 1,138 members, including more than 200 poor members. Implementing the campaign " Changing the thinking and working methods of ethnic minorities to escape poverty sustainably", the Commune Women's Union has deployed many economic development models to help women gradually abandon backward farming practices, know how to do business, apply science and technology in production to improve economic efficiency. In particular, the " Safe Vegetable Garden " model alone is currently implemented by over 80% of female members. Through the model, many female members have helped to eliminate hunger, reduce poverty , and become rich legitimately.

In the coming time, the Association will continue to promote propaganda, mobilization, and replication of effective models; do a good job of discovering and praising typical individuals who are good at economics so that women can visit, learn from their experiences, and apply them to their families; thereby gradually eliminating gender prejudices, affirming the role of women in the new era who are good at both public and housework.

Source: https://gialai.gov.vn/tin-tuc/phu-nu-ia-broai-thay-doi-nep-nghi-cach-lam.81976.aspx