A gift from the land to the Xo Dang people

Mang But mountain land, Kon Plong district, Kon Tum province gives the Xo Dang people in the misty valley a special type of red rice, carefully cultivated from the land and containing a lot of sweat, so this type of red rice has created the unique flavors of this mountainous land. When we went up the mountain in the bitter cold at the end of the year, the sluggish trucks full of goods also quietly went downhill. And, on it, we encountered not only chickens, pigs, upland sticky rice, dong leaves... but also peach branches leaving the mountain carrying a bit of the border's fragrance to the lowlands. On January 9, in Pa Tan border commune, Sin Ho district, Lai Chau province, the Border Guard Command (BĐBP) and Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee jointly organized the program "Border Spring Warms the Hearts of the Villagers" in 2025. On January 9, in Hanoi, the Board of Directors (BOD) of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) held a regular meeting for the fourth quarter of 2024. Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) Nguyen Thi Hong - Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of the Social Policy Bank chaired the meeting. Arousing pride, creating motivation for students to love school, love class, compete in studying... is the motto that the Education sector of the mountainous district of Si Ma Cai, Lao Cai province has been implementing. In particular, the organization of club models, promoting national cultural identity is being effective, contributing to improving the comprehensive education quality of the locality. Implementing Project 2, National Target Program on Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minorities and Mountainous Areas for the period 2021 - 2030, Phase I: From 2021 - 2025 (abbreviated as National Target Program 1719), Kon Tum province is currently implementing 16 projects to arrange and stabilize residents for 9,231 households. Currently, investors are speeding up the construction progress to soon complete the items and arrange land for people to build houses. The primitive, rustic but sophisticated handicraft products made from natural materials and the skillful hands of ethnic minority artisans in Kon Tum have made many tourists, people and students excited and impressed when coming to the space "Demonstration and display of traditional handicrafts of ethnic minorities". When the weather turns cold, our immune system is often affected, leading to coughs, colds and respiratory problems. While Western medicine can help reduce symptoms, many people turn to natural, safe and effective herbal cough remedies. Today's column will introduce you to herbal cough remedies when the weather turns cold. General news of the Ethnic and Development Newspaper. This afternoon's news on January 9, 2025, has the following notable information: Yen Bai strives for an index People's happiness reached 68.3%. "Green gold" on Danh mountain land. Keep the shuttle's sound. Along with other news in the ethnic minority and mountainous areas. Muong Khuong is district 30a of Lao Cai province, with about 90% of the population being ethnic minorities. In recent times, the district has been focusing on developing agriculture in the direction of goods. Thanks to that, people's lives and incomes have gradually improved. Mang But mountain land, Kon Plong district, Kon Tum province gives the Xo Dang people in the misty valley a special type of red rice, carefully cultivated from the land and containing a lot of sweat, so this type of red rice has created the unique flavors of this mountainous area. With the potential of natural landscapes and unique cultural and culinary identities, ethnic minority and mountainous areas have great potential to become the world's leading destination for community tourism development. To promote the development of community tourism, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) recently issued Decision No. 3222/QD-BVHTTDL approving the Project on developing community tourism in Vietnam. The project is expected to create conditions for community tourism to develop systematically and sustainably. According to statistics, storm No. 3 affected 17,252 houses in Lao Cai province, causing damage of about 807 billion VND; 403 high-risk landslides in residential areas with more than 5,000 households needing to move to safety. In 2019, Bac Ha organic tea products produced by Ban Lien Tea Cooperative (HTX), Ban Lien commune, Bac Ha district, Lao Cai province were certified by the Central OCOP Council as achieving 5-star OCOP status. Thanks to that, up to now, 90% of the cooperative's tea output has been exported to European countries, the US, Japan... with a selling price of 100-120 USD/kg. Over the past 5 years, the cooperative has helped hundreds of Tay and Mong households have jobs and stable incomes. The person who made this "miracle" is Mr. Pham Quang Than, Chairman of the Board of Directors (BOD) and Director of the cooperative.

Red rice is a purebred rice variety in this Mang But valley.

Gift from the earth

Mang But is entering the dry season at the end of the year, each cold wind is wandering over the hills near and far, through many vast fields after the harvest. The rice has been stored, the Xo Dang people are busy with their red rice products. Holding in her hands the finished product of vermicelli from the local red rice, Ms. Y Sieu, Mang But commune is more satisfied when the local red rice can be processed into attractive products for consumers everywhere, opening up a direction for developing livelihoods from the mountainous land of this land.

Red rice takes longer to grow, but is of better quality than regular white rice.

Red rice is a purebred rice variety in this Mang But valley. Y Sieu said, rice is called “bao prang”, and has been cultivated for generations. The Xo Dang people can only grow one crop a year, usually in February, after Tet, the people prepare the land and sow rice seedlings. When the land has “absorbed water”, they start planting in April. The growing period of rice is 6 months, from the time of planting rice to the cold of October, November is when it is harvested. Bao prang rice is as resilient and resilient as the Xo Dang people, the rice does not need fertilizer, nor is it affected by pests, it only needs to be weeded and watered well to grow strongly in the sky and earth to flower and have firm grains. The special thing about this red rice is that it is initially opaque white, but when soaked and incubated, it turns red, creating a unique brand of the Xo Dang people.

Rice flour for making noodles.

In this Mang But valley, villages such as Dak Lanh, Dak YPai, Dak Pong, Vang Loa, Mang Buk... all grow bao prang rice. Bamboo tubes of rice, jars of wine during the festival season imbued with the strong smell of the earth are made from this red rice, carrying with them the quintessence of heaven and earth. This red rice is still used by the Xo Dang people to offer and thank Jang as a gift from the earth.

Mr. A Vinh, Vice Chairman of Mang But Commune People's Committee, shared that after a long time of converting to planting new varieties, currently, the commune only has about 60 hectares of red rice, accounting for more than 10% of the total rice field area of ​​the commune. As an original, long-standing variety, all levels and sectors are currently considering and researching the process of increasing productivity on the basis of organic and safe production. In Dak Lanh village, this is the fourth crop year, the red rice planting model of the women is maintained, through the activities of the ethnic minority women's cooperative. The activities of the cooperative have contributed to raising awareness about the conservation of indigenous plant varieties.

People soak rice to prepare to grind rice to make vermicelli.

Raising the bar for red rice

A few years ago, the Kon Tum Provincial Agricultural Extension Center invested in building a model for red rice, determining the process of planting and caring for it in natural conditions. Along with that, building a chain of links from planting, caring for rice to producing and consuming products from red rice. With the guidance of local authorities, currently, the Xo Dang people not only use red rice as food, make wine, but also process it into many other products such as red rice vermicelli, red ginseng rice vermicelli, super grain red rice bars, super floss red rice bars and red rice tea... These are products that meet the needs of fast, convenient meals while still ensuring nutrition with a low glycemic index, rich in antioxidants.

To increase the value of Mang But red rice and increase income for the Xo Dang people, Kon Plong district established the T'Mang Deeng Cooperative in August 2024 in Mang Buk village with 10 members, led by Y Sieu. Authorities at all levels have supported machinery systems for making vermicelli, 1 vacuum forming machine, printing packaging, labels and supporting a portion of red rice for members to produce. Members of the Cooperative Group for producing and processing red rice products from But bamboo shoots also contributed additional funds to carry out the project together.

Y Sieu dries rice noodles to create a dry product that is easy to package and transport.

The cooperative group divides the work clearly, making 3 batches of noodles a week, each batch is assigned to 3 people. Each working session is clearly and specifically timed. The majority of the machine operation is done by the men, the women have other jobs such as soaking rice, washing noodles, drying noodles, packaging... All the income from selling noodles is being aggregated by the cooperative group to continue to be used as production capital in the future.

Ms. Y Sieu said that currently, one kilogram of red rice vermicelli is packaged, labeled and sold for 60,000 VND, and if imported in bulk, it costs 45,000 VND/kg. The red rice vermicelli product is made 100% from red rice grown by people in Mang But, completely free of preservatives or very good for health. This product is often present at tourist areas in Mang Den, at fairs, at agricultural product exhibitions, and is chosen by many consumers.

Mang But red rice vermicelli products are popular with consumers, creating sustainable livelihoods for the people.

The initial success of the Cooperative has helped the Xo Dang people increase their income. In the coming time, the government and related units will organize training courses to help the Cooperative improve its knowledge of sales and budget management to operate most effectively. At the same time, it will equip the Cooperative with basic knowledge to make products that ensure food hygiene and safety and health to serve consumers.

Mr. A Vinh, Vice Chairman of Mang But Commune People's Committee

Jiangdong is different...

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/mon-qua-tu-dat-tang-nguoi-xo-dang-1736411517826.htm