difficulties at the beginning of the activity

The villages along the sand dunes of Le Thuy (Quang Binh) district gradually became specialized areas for growing vegetables and fruit.

Mr. Pham Minh Huan, chairman of the People’s Committee of Hong Thuy (Le Thuy) Municipality, said people have converted nearly 150 hectares of barren sandy land to plant vegetables.

“We mobilized people to expand the area and convert some inefficient rice-growing areas to vegetables. Thanks to this, many vegetable farmers have an annual income of hundreds of millions of dongs,” Mr. Huan said.

In order to have a vegetable harvest for the lunar new year, people plant from November of the solar calendar. Many short-term vegetables planted early were harvested first.

Especially long-term vegetables, tubers and fruits are carefully planted and tended to prepare supplies during Tet.

Mr. Ho Van Dong’s family in An Dinh Village, Hong Thuy Township has 1.5 sao of land to grow vegetables. His family earns about 100 million Dong per year on average.

In this year’s harvest he invested in planting stevia, chrysanthemums, lettuce, onions, coriander, chili… Although it was only planted last month, some vegetable plots were harvested and replanted.

After sowing, the weather is abnormal by cold rain, coal rain (acid rain), causing the vegetables to rot and the cotyledons wither.

“As I looked at the vegetable field, my intestines and liver withered. The weather has never been more unpredictable than this year. It rained heavily the day before, and the next day it was very hot, so the vegetables in the field died a lot,” said Mr. Dong.

Mr. Nguyen Van Xuan’s house (Hong Thuy Township) has 5 Sao sandy soil along the Kien Giang River to grow vegetables. The heavy rain softens the soil and rots the sown seeds. As the tree grew, it also wobbled so that it could not sit still. Every day he carried the hoe to the field to dredge, hoping the land would dry quickly.

“All kinds of beans and kohlrabi seem to be springing up, but not taking root like a few years ago. Everyone is worried that this year the vegetable season will be lost,” Xuan recalled.

According to Mr. Xuan, many vegetable-growing families had to hoe the ground again to replant a second time because the vegetables would not germinate or had root rot. The remaining areas are also heavily affected by productivity.

Vegetable prices have more than doubled…

In the days leading up to the Lunar New Year, the vegetable market is as lively as the waves of the sea. The vegetable section of the local traders is constantly being added and the price is increasing every day.

Having just harvested a batch of beans and sold them to traders, Mr. Xuan said excitedly that the price was very high. “Last year, the highest price was only 15-120,000 VND/kg. Today I sold it at 40,000 VND/kg,” Xuan said excitedly.

Many garden owners look satisfied in the face. At the beginning of the difficult season, the price of vegetables at the end of the harvest is high, so farmers are still making big profits. According to Mr. Ho Van Dong, the price for merchants who buy from the garden is high, so it is easy for people to sell. “The price of vegetables today has increased 2-3 times compared to last year. The price of kohlrabi was 7,000 VND/kg last year, now it is 25,000 VND. Cucumber 20,000 VND to 40,000 VND…”.

Thanks to the high price, farmers recalculate the vegetable field and earn about 120-150 million VND/ha.

Ms. Le Thi Hai, a small vegetable seller in Dong Hoi, told us that vegetable prices are increasing day by day. The closer the Lunar New Year approaches, the more signs of increasing heat. When asked about the price of the beans she sold, she didn’t dare challenge Ms. Hai: “A friend sells her for VND 70,000/kg. I bought you a few kilos to weigh in.”

During this year’s winter-spring harvest, the Le Thuy district planted over 1,100 hectares of all kinds of vegetables. The vegetable growing area is concentrated in Hong Thuy, Thanh Thuy, Cam Thuy and Hung Thuy communes.

As every year, farmers in the district mainly grow vegetables and fruits, such as broccoli, sprouts, chrysanthemums, spinach, onions, compresses, kohlrabi, green beans, sweet melons and bitter melons. …

Mr. Le Van Tan, head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Le Thuy District, said that the district has implemented the “VietGAP safe vegetable growing area linked with experiential tourism” project, the district has organized training, science and technology transfer and a visit to gain experience, support organic fertilizers and pesticides, packaging and labels for the farmers participating in the project.

After the model of the project is stably put into operation, the district will guide people to visit and experience delegations.

“Cultivating Safe Vegetables VietGAP also helps to raise awareness of growing clean vegetables for the people in the district, replicating the model and creating a specialized area for safe and clean vegetable growing in the region. This aims to increase people’s incomes,” said Mr Le Van Tan.