HOA BINH Mrs. Bui Thi Thuong - a farmer in Van Son commune (Tan Lac district) still vividly remembers her trip to Italy twice to attend the World Organic Conference.
HOA BINH Mrs. Bui Thi Thuong - a farmer in Van Son commune (Tan Lac district) - still vividly remembers her trip to Italy twice to attend the World Organic Conference.
The golden season in the highlands of Tan Lac.
After training and supporting the Muong people in Ms. Thuong's hometown on organic farming, the Japan Volunteers Organization (JVC) invited local leaders and advanced farmers to Italy twice, in 2006 and 2008, to attend the World Organic Conference, which included 141 countries and over 7,000 delegates. Each country set up a booth to showcase its agricultural products.
Ms. Thuong brought glutinous rice from her hometown to make banh chung (Vietnamese rice cakes), boiled them, and offered them to the international delegates. After tasting them, everyone exclaimed in admiration, saying that Vietnamese organic rice was delicious and Vietnamese organic cakes were wonderful. This was truly unusual for them because many countries participating in the organic conference did not grow rice like Vietnam, but only oats and wheat.
Previously, the Muong people in Tan Lac district ( Hoa Binh province) planted rice with many tillers, but the Japanese taught them how to plant rice with only one tiller, use manure fertilizer, and avoid chemical pesticides, thus minimizing pests and diseases and improving quality.
Mr. Bui Van Don, from Xom hamlet (Van Son commune), has 3 sao (approximately 0.3 hectares) of rice fields and still applies this organic farming method. Specifically, he collects grass and agricultural by-products, mixes them with manure, covers them with mud to generate heat to kill pathogens, and composts them from October to February of the following year to create organic fertilizer, which he then spreads out for application. During the rice planting process, he almost never sprays chemical pesticides, yet his crops are rarely affected by pests or diseases.
Today, traditional organically grown indigenous rice varieties are at risk of disappearing in the highland villages of Tan Lac district.
Unlike decades ago, when the old-style cooperatives existed, the more pesticides were used, the more pests and diseases proliferated. Farmers were completely dependent on chemicals, yet in some years, pests still ravaged the rice crops as if an entire herd of buffaloes were devouring them. Since farmers started using organic farming methods, pests and diseases have significantly decreased, and many rice crops here no longer require pesticide spraying.
However, the concern is that organic products often have less appealing packaging, and their selling price is only the same as conventional products, which discourages them from expanding their cultivation area. In addition, native rice varieties like glutinous rice and Taipei Tam only yield 1.2-1.4 quintals per sao (approximately 1000 square meters), so many farmers have abandoned them and switched to hybrid or purebred rice varieties.
Ms. Thuong recounted that many young people nowadays have abandoned the old rice varieties because they consider them to have low yields, but she remains determined to keep them. For example, the Taipei Tam variety, a local variety considered the most fragrant and delicious, has existed since she was a child; even elderly people in their 80s and 90s don't know when it first appeared.
This variety can only be grown in the spring and has the advantage of being very cold-resistant, so seedlings don't need to be covered. There were times in winter when the plants on the mountaintops froze and the water in the streams froze, but the seedlings of Taipei Eight still survived. Previously, several highland communes in Tan Lac district all had glutinous rice varieties like Taipei Eight, but now they are becoming increasingly rare because many people are chasing convenience in farming and prioritizing yield.
The fast-paced lifestyle and rapid production trends have led many to overlook sustainable farming models like rice-duck farming. Specifically, on the same rice-growing area, combining rice cultivation with duck farming saves weeding labor, reduces the cost of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and benefits both the environment and health. However, because selling rice and ducks under this organic farming model doesn't fetch a higher price than conventionally produced produce, many become discouraged and give up. This is also a common situation for many organic agricultural products in the Tan Lac highlands.
Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/nhung-giong-lua-ban-dia-cua-nguoi-muong-dang-dan-bien-mat-d405674.html
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