Farmers compete, rural areas flourish

Eliminate poor and near-poor households

The border area of ​​Loc Thanh commune has a large area of ​​agricultural land, however, most of it is dry and rocky, so growing short-term crops or long-term industrial plants such as rubber, pepper, and cashew is a difficult problem. In order not to let the land fallow, through many years of experience, people have brought mango trees from Cambodia to plant. From a few hectares at first, this area now has more than 30 hectares of mango trees that are being harvested and has established the Loc Thanh Fruit Tree Cooperative, which operates effectively, attracting 21 members to participate.

Commune leaders visit the mango growing model of Loc Thanh fruit tree cooperative

The pioneer in bringing the mango tree to the locality to plant is Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Chi, Director of Loc Thanh Fruit Cooperative. With many years of experience in agricultural economics in Cambodia, Ms. Chi said: The soil in the Loc Thanh border area is very bad, arid, and rocky, so it is only suitable for mango trees originating from Cambodia. Because this type of tree is not picky about soil, in the dry season there is no water for irrigation but the mangoes still live and bear abundant fruit.

Keo mango is an easy-to-grow and easy-to-care-for tree. In addition to being drought-resistant, Keo mango does not use chemical fertilizers or pesticides, so its quality is clean and safe. In addition, its low price makes it very popular in the market. “This is a poverty-reducing crop. If the price at the garden is only 4,000 VND/kg, growers still make a profit. Currently, the selling price is 6,000 VND/kg, so the profit is quite high. In particular, this is a super clean mango that can be eaten raw or cooked. In addition, it can be peeled and dried for export, so there is no need to worry about output. Along with that, the investment level is not much, so it is easy to compete with other types of mango,” Ms. Chi shared.

With outstanding advantages, the cooperative members are planning to invest in building a drying and peeling workshop to increase product value, aiming for export as well as completing the documents and procedures for OCOP product certification in the near future.

As a border commune with a large number of ethnic minority households, the people always have the will to develop production and escape poverty. From 2024 to present, Loc Thanh has no more poor or near-poor households. This is a bright spot in the implementation of the national target program for sustainable poverty reduction in this border commune.

Vice Chairman of Loc Thanh Commune People's Committee Nguyen Van Hai shared: In 2023, the commune still had 8 poor households, but from 2024 to now, 100% of them have been eliminated. To escape poverty sustainably, the commune reviews and supports them by repairing houses, providing materials, seedlings and other necessities for them to rise up. The commune Party Committee also assigns associations and organizations to be in charge of each poor and near-poor household. When there are signs of re-poverty, the commune mobilizes and mobilizes resources to support, so for many years there has been no re-poverty.

To increase income for people, the Commune Party Committee directed the authorities and organizations to guide people to intercrop to increase income on the same area; at the same time, actively change the structure of crops and livestock appropriately. Along with that, Loc Thanh is being invested by the province to build industrial zones and clusters. When completed and put into use, it will create many jobs for local workers, contributing to increasing income for people in the area.

Secretary of the Party Committee of Loc Thanh Commune Hoang Van Loi

With the will and determination of the people, the living standards have gradually improved. However, with a purely agricultural commune, the average income per capita in Loc Thanh has only reached 77 million VND/year. Meanwhile, the criteria for an advanced NTM commune requires reaching 84 million VND/person/year, so the Party Committee and the government of Loc Thanh commune are looking for every solution to increase the income of the people in the coming time.

Strive to reach the finish line on schedule

By the end of March 2025, after reviewing, Loc Thanh commune achieved 13/20 advanced NTM criteria. There are 7 criteria that have not been met, including: Planning, average income per capita, OCOP products, transportation, rural infrastructure, model residential areas and universal health insurance. Secretary of the Commune Party Committee Hoang Van Loi shared: To reach the advanced NTM target according to the roadmap, the commune has issued a specialized resolution directing the Commune People's Committee and departments, branches and organizations to review all advanced NTM targets and criteria; for any targets and criteria that have not been met, the District People's Committee will advise the District People's Committee to invest funds to build infrastructure. On that basis, the commune will develop an implementation roadmap, striving to complete all advanced NTM targets and criteria by October 2025 to submit to the appraisal levels.

“When there is a specialized resolution of the Party Committee, the Commune People's Committee develops an implementation plan and assigns specific tasks to each member and civil servant directly responsible for the 20 criteria in the set of advanced NTM criteria. In addition, advise the Party Committee to direct and coordinate with departments, branches, and mass organizations of the commune to coordinate in mobilizing and propagating to create consensus and unanimity among the people in investing human and financial resources in building rural infrastructure" - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee Nguyen Van Hai shared.

Loc Thanh has 2 schools, of which the kindergarten has been recognized as meeting national standards level 1, while Loc Thanh Primary and Secondary School is being allocated 20 billion VND by the district to build additional works and items towards meeting national standards by the end of 2025. Along with that, the transportation system is also being invested in maintaining, repairing and building new roads, especially in remote areas, ethnic minority areas to ensure convenient travel for people.

Thanh Phu Hamlet has more than 200 households, of which 75% are ethnic minorities. Far from the commune center, many ethnic minority households live, so in addition to investing in cement concrete for about 5km of inter-group roads, the hamlet is being invested by the district in paving and drainage ditches for the main inter-hamlet road about 1.3km long. After completion, it will connect traffic conveniently, creating momentum for socio-economic development here.

The main road to Thanh Phu hamlet is being invested in construction to create convenient conditions for people to travel.

Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee Nguyen Van Hai added: In addition to the works and projects invested by the Loc Ninh District Construction Investment Project Management Board, to complete the construction of the advanced NTM, Loc Thanh Commune needs about 13 billion VND in capital. Therefore, the commune is integrating capital from programs and projects, calling for contributions from businesses to create a comprehensive resource; especially actively mobilizing people to build the advanced NTM according to the motto "people do, the State supports", creating a strong effect in the whole society.

Source: https://baobinhphuoc.com.vn/news/81/171696/nong-dan-thi-dua-nong-thon-khoi-sac