Supporting hundreds of households in Dam Rong to grow mulberry and raise silkworms to escape poverty

TPO – Mulberry cultivation and silkworm raising have become important economic sectors, contributing to improving the lives of people in Dam Rong district, helping hundreds of ethnic minority households escape poverty.

Silkworm cocoons in Dam Rong are of the highest quality in Lam Dong.

Sustainable development of sericulture industry

Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh, Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Dam Rong district (Lam Dong) said that if in 2015, the locality only had 130 hectares of mulberry, now it has expanded to 700 hectares, striving to reach 800 hectares by the end of 2023.

Especially in the past 5 years, when the district implemented the project "Sustainable development of the mulberry and silk industry", besides large-scale mulberry growing areas, Dam Rong has formed a chain linking production, consumption and processing of silkworm cocoons.

The agencies, departments and branches of Dam Rong district have organized dozens of training courses, transferred science and technology and opened vocational training classes for rural workers on mulberry growing techniques, silkworm raising, silk reeling, etc., attracting more than 1,200 participants. Thanks to that, the mulberry leaf yield reached 19.3 tons of leaves/ha, an increase of 4.3 quintals/ha; the estimated output reached over 10,000 tons of leaves/year.

Up to now, the district has about 20 concentrated silkworm breeding facilities, with an average quantity of about 200 egg boxes/facility/month in the dry season and 300 egg boxes/facility/month in the rainy season; 15 silkworm cocoon purchasing facilities and 1 silk reeling factory with a capacity of 2 tons of cocoons/day, producing silk products of 8.5 tons of silk/month.

According to Vice Chairman of Dam Rong Lieng District People's Committee Hot Ha Hai, Duy Phuong silkworm cocoon factory (Da Rsal commune) is expanding its links, producing, consuming and processing silkworm cocoons stably with more than 500 households, motivating people to actively convert ineffective crop areas to mulberry cultivation for silkworm raising.

The district's goal is to build and form at least 3 linkages in 3 sub-regions on organizing mulberry production, silkworm breeding associated with silkworm cocoon consumption and silk reeling by the end of 2023; striving to achieve over 1,200 tons of silkworm cocoons per year.

New jobs help people in remote areas escape poverty

With a capital of nearly 13 billion VND from poverty reduction programs, new rural construction, science and technology, etc., the district has supported over 370 households to develop mulberry growing areas with new varieties of high quality and productivity; supported households to build 3 new high-tech concentrated silkworm breeding facilities and build automatic mechanized mulberry growing and silkworm breeding models in the communes of Ro Men, Lieng S'rong, Da K'Nang, etc.

In addition, the district creates conditions for people to borrow capital to develop mulberry cultivation and silkworm breeding, especially poor and near-poor households in community groups, with production and product consumption links according to the value chain to ensure efficiency and sustainable poverty reduction.

According to the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Dam Rong district, in 2022, the locality supported silkworm farming tools for 38 households with a budget of 570 million VND.

As one of the first people in Da M'Rong commune to get acquainted with the silkworm farming profession, Ms. Ka M'Rao said that in the past, many households only grew corn and rice, two crops a year with little income and very unstable life.

Since 2018, when the Commune People's Committee supported bamboo baskets, nets and iron frames to encourage people to switch to growing mulberry trees to raise silkworms, I responded immediately. At first, it was very difficult, but thanks to participating in training courses, I learned how to take care of mulberry trees to have many leaves; got acquainted with bamboo baskets, approached the silkworm breeding market..., about 1 year later, I became proficient in the profession.

“My family now has 5 sao of mulberry; the silkworm cocoons meet the standards set by the purchasing facility, so they pay a high price, from 180-200 thousand VND/kg. Life is no longer as difficult as before,” Ms. Ka M'Rao confided.

Ms. Ka M'Rao has 5 years of experience growing mulberry and raising silkworms.

Thanks to the support of Da M'Rong commune in terms of farming tools, Mr. K'Xuyen's family boldly converted 2 sao of ineffective corn-growing land to mulberry farming and has raised 4 batches of silkworms. Because he had just switched to this profession and did not have much experience, the first batch he raised only 2.5 taels of silkworms. He said that in the near future, he will expand the mulberry growing area to raise more silkworms.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh said that there are many rivers, streams and alluvial plains in Dam Rong. This type of land is very suitable for mulberry trees; on the other hand, the price of silkworm cocoons on the market is stable at a high level, so the district actively encourages people to convert hundreds of hectares of rice and corn land to mulberry and silkworm farming. The average income from this profession is from 300 to 400 million VND/ha/year, 3 to 4 times higher than coffee cultivation and 9 to 10 times higher than rice cultivation.

Mr. Nguyen Quoc Huong, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Dam Rong District, shared: Determining that people's proactive awareness is a prerequisite for sustainable poverty reduction, functional departments and agencies have promoted and mobilized ethnic minorities to eliminate the mentality of waiting and relying on state subsidies. At the same time, the district and commune support investment capital and livestock and crop farming techniques so that people can boldly and confidently develop their family economy.

Cinnamon

Source: https://tienphong.vn/ho-tro-hang-tram-ho-o-dam-rong-trong-dau-nuoi-tam-de-thoat-ngheo-post1562119.tpo