Fading craft village
Nearly 2 months after the Provincial People's Committee decided to revoke the title of Ha Trang silk weaving village, Thang Long commune, people here still talk about this story.
Ha Trang silk weaving village had its title revoked because it did not meet the criteria stipulated in Decree 52/2018/ND-CP dated April 12, 2018 of the Government. According to regulations, craft villages must have at least 20% of the total number of households in the area participating in the industry, but this craft village has stopped operating.
Mr. Pham Huu Hanh, Party Cell Secretary and Head of Ha Trang village, said that in the past, when the silkworm breeding profession was still developing, people brought cocoons to dry and filled the village streets, and vehicles were always bustling.
Mr. Ta Van Da, the first person to grow mulberry and raise silkworms and also the last person to stop working in Ha Trang, regretfully said: "Thanks to the silkworm farming, my family has enough to eat and enough money to send my children to school. I also grow 4 sao of mulberry and raise 6 rounds of silkworms."
According to Mr. Da, the profession is fading away, the title of craft village is no longer synonymous with the loss of great economic values.
Duong Nham stone carving village in Pham Thai ward also had its title revoked at the same time. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ly, owner of Vu Nghia fine art stone establishment, one of the two remaining establishments working in Duong Nham, said that losing the title of craft village would greatly affect the overall brand, affecting the economic benefits of the remaining households like hers. “Buy with friends, sell with a ward. If the craft village develops well, with many people working together, our business will be more favorable,” Ms. Ly said.
Not only bringing economic value, craft villages also contain cultural and historical values, creating a unique mark for each region and being the pride of local people.
Since the Le Dynasty, Duong Nham stone carving has been noticed and continuously developed. Up to now, the stone steles in Kinh Chu Cave (Kinh Mon), Con Son Pagoda (Chi Linh) or Ho Dynasty Citadel... all bear the mark of Duong Nham stone workers. "Without the title of a craft village, our descendants will no longer know the cultural and historical values that our ancestors left behind," said Ms. Ly.
Kinh Mon town currently has two craft villages producing and processing onions in Hien Thanh ward and rice paper production in Tong Buong ward, Thai Thinh ward, but they are also facing difficulties. Kinh Mon town People's Committee is taking steps to complete the dossier to request the revocation of the titles for the above two craft villages.
Why?
The craft villages in Kinh Mon town whose titles have been revoked or are at risk of being revoked are all due to the fact that the percentage of households practicing the craft is not sufficient as required. The situation of households abandoning traditional crafts has been going on for many years due to many reasons.
The main reason is that people develop the profession massively, without proper planning, and without investment in science and technology to improve product quality and competitiveness in the market.
Tong Buong residential area, Thai Thinh ward has 580 households. At its peak, there were over 100 households making rice paper. Due to lack of investment in machinery, handmade products, and low competitiveness, many households could not sustain their profession after a while. Currently, Tong Buong rice paper making village has only about 40 households, accounting for nearly 7% of the total households in the area.
However, in this craft village, there are also 2 households investing in semi-automatic production lines, improving productivity and product quality, creating stable jobs for many other local workers. This is proof of the need for in-depth investment in production in craft villages.
Some craft villages depend too much on local raw material areas and have not proactively sought raw material sources from outside, so they are easily stuck in a "difficult" situation. Previously, when the local source of fresh water was abundant, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lo in the craft village of producing and processing seasonal onions in Hien Thanh ward decided to invest all her capital in a facility for drying onions and water. Over the past year, due to the impact of pests, weather and storms, the source of fresh water has been limited, and her facility has often had to close. This is also a common difficulty for other seasonal onion processing facilities in the locality.
Factors such as policy mechanisms, capital support priorities, science and technology, natural disasters, pests, output markets, etc. also have a significant impact on the activities of craft villages. "The few remaining households that maintain operations like us only hope that the authorities and sectors will support preferential capital, lease premises to invest in production, and ensure environmental hygiene," said Ms. Nguyen Thi Ly, owner of Vu Nghia fine art stone establishment.
Mr. Le Van Dien, Vice Chairman of Kinh Mon Town People's Committee, said that continuing to develop local craft villages is a difficult problem. Households want to be supported with capital, technology transfer, and concentrated land, but relevant levels and sectors do not have specific support mechanisms to encourage them.
PVSource: https://baohaiduong.vn/lang-nghe-o-kinh-mon-gap-kho-402087.html
Comment (0)