"Sprint" to complete goals in fields and factories

Passing through the old days of many shortages, worries and wishes, October now returns to every Ha Tinh resident with an eager, bustling mindset as they enter the winter crop production plan, racing to complete goals at construction sites and factories...

Farmers in Tan An village, Cam Binh commune (Cam Xuyen) plant corn for the 2023 winter crop.

Old wishes

“October days are dark before they smile”, a proverb that refers to the change of time and also the season in our country in October every year when, in the Earth’s rotation cycle, the Southern Hemisphere tilts towards the sun. This is also the time when the Central and Northern regions have unusual weather, with many storms accompanied by floods or the first cold air waves of the season.

For the farmers of the North in general and Ha Tinh in particular, October brings many worries and wishes. This comes from the traditional farming method that relies mainly on nature. Usually, there are only two main crops each year, the winter-spring crop (also known as the winter-spring crop) harvested in May and the summer-autumn crop harvested in October. After many months of care, October is the month of anticipation for a prosperous new rice crop. However, there is another reason, which is that this rice crop also carries many risks when storms and floods often appear during the production period. Only after getting through August and September can there be hope for a bumper rice crop in October. That is why there is a folk song "When will October come/ Cook a pot of sticky rice and laugh while eating".

October is the time in Ha Tinh when heavy rains often appear, causing floods. Photo: Archive.

My mother is over 80 this year, her hair is gray, her legs are slow. One morning in October, after a heavy night of rain, she sat on the porch looking out the alley and said to her children and grandchildren: “If it were in the past, with heavy rain like last night, the whole village would have been flooded. The rice in the fields would have been lost, many families would have worried about what to find for their children to eat and study. But now, you talk about golden rain, silver rain.”

My brother was rearranging the bags of rice to avoid the wet spots in the yard, smiling slightly at my mother: "The summer-autumn rice has been harvested, it's all dry, mom. After the hot summer, now there's a rain that makes the land moist, very good for growing winter vegetables, so it's called golden rain, silver rain, mom." My mother nodded, "Yeah, right?" then chewed betel, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the pile of rice that had been packed into bags, piled higher than a person's height in front of the porch.

Thanks to the Nghen River's sweetening, thousands of hectares of agricultural land in Can Loc and Thach Ha have enough water for intensive crop cultivation. In the photo: Farmers in Vuong Loc commune (Can Loc) harvest summer-autumn rice in 2023.

The story of my mother and brother brought me back to October in the 90s of the last century. At that time, like many rural areas in Ha Can at the foot of Hong Mountain, poverty still haunted every villager in my village. Lacking water for production, the fields were dry and cracked in the summer. After the winter-spring harvest, around the seventh lunar month, people planted the October rice crop. The weather was erratic, so sometimes this rice crop was completely lost, especially when it rained or stormed...

At that time, my father was a village cadre. After much thought, he experimented with summer-autumn rice cultivation to find a way for the people. However, after 3 crops of complete failure, due to lack of water, the rice could not flower, and when the rice had just flowered, there was a flood. He could only sigh, helpless.

The Bara Do Diem project was completed in 2008, helping to realize the dream of prosperity for people in the lower Can Loc, Loc Ha and Thach Ha areas.

Then the wish of my father as well as the people of Ha Can came true. That was when the Bara Do Diem project was invested in by the province. An entire section of the Nghen River with millions of cubic meters of water was sweetened, irrigating thousands of hectares of agricultural land in Ha Can. The first summer-autumn crop was more than 15 years ago (2008), the people of my hometown were joyful and happy. Since then, along with the policies and strategies for building new rural areas, the countryside has become more spacious, the system of canals and flood drainage has been complete, and life has become increasingly prosperous.

October comes and there is no longer any worry about floods or crop failures. Instead, people in my hometown are preparing for winter vegetable production. Vegetables, tubers, and fruits that were once luxury items are now produced by my hometown people, brought to supermarkets, and distributed to the provinces such as: kohlrabi, cabbage, cauliflower...

Excited new day

Thach Lien Commune (Thach Ha) is a purely agricultural countryside. Previously, people mainly grew 2 rice crops (winter-spring and summer-autumn rice). For more than 20 years now, thanks to a stable source of irrigation water, the summer-autumn crop has been replaced by the summer-autumn crop and people have an additional winter crop to produce vegetables, tubers, and fruits as the main crop for high income.

Farmers in Thach Lien prepare to plant vegetables and fruits for the 2023 winter crop.

These days, farmers in Thach Lien are busy with the stages of preparing the land, plowing, and making beds to prepare for sowing vegetables, tubers, and fruits. The farmers carry with them the wish for a favorable season with favorable weather and many victories.

Mr. Tran Van Huong - Chairman of the People's Committee of Thach Lien commune said: "Currently, the whole commune has 30 hectares of winter vegetable, root and fruit production. Since 2011, thanks to the policy of building new rural areas, the commune has started planning the area for people to produce goods. In recent years, thanks to the active application of science and technology in production, on average, each hectare of vegetables, root and fruit (produced from October to February of the following year) brings in an income of 220-240 million VND".

Turning the winter crop into a commodity production crop, many farmers have built high-tech production net houses in localities such as Hong Loc (Loc Ha), Tung Loc (Can Loc), Luu Vinh Son (Thach Ha)... and are also sowing flower varieties to serve the 2024 Lunar New Year.

Can Loc farmers grow flowers in greenhouses to serve the Lunar New Year. Photo: Document.

October is also the official time to enter the 4th quarter, the "sprint" stage of production competition at construction sites and factories to complete the targets and plans set at the beginning of the year.

Mr. Le Quoc Khanh - General Director of Ha Tinh Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company said: "At the end of the third quarter, the company's revenue reached 330 billion VND (nearly 79% of the yearly plan). The staff, workers and employees of the company are making every effort and determination to boost production and business to achieve and exceed the plan set at the beginning of the year. In the coming time, the company will continue to apply science and technology, research products, promote digital transformation to upgrade production and management processes, focusing on producing seasonal products such as: pain relievers, anti-inflammatory, flu treatment...".

Workers of Ha Tinh Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company pack products in preparation for orders.

By the end of the third quarter of 2023, Ha Tinh tourism industry welcomed more than 2.9 million visitors, an increase of 2.2 times over the same period and exceeding the target and plan set at the beginning of the year by more than 400,000 visitors.

Mr. Le Tran Sang - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said: "Based on the results achieved, in October, we will develop many tourism promotion programs in the southern provinces and the northeastern region of Thailand to attract tourists to Ha Tinh. At the same time, the department will also coordinate with Ha Tinh University and Nguyen Du College to organize many professional training courses for tourism staff".

October also witnessed the spirit of competition to complete the criteria for building new rural areas in many localities. As a unit that set the goal of reaching the new rural district standard in 2023, currently, Ky Anh district has 5/9 criteria meeting the new rural district standard, of which 30/36 criteria have met the standard according to the set of criteria. Some communes have performed well such as: Ky Van, Ky Son, Ky Thu, Ky Tan, Ky Dong.

Of which, Ky Chau has achieved the standard of a model new-style rural commune, Ky Thu has achieved the standard of an advanced new-style rural commune and has been recognized by the province. The last 3 months of the year are the "sprint" time for the Party Committee and the people of Ky Anh district to strive to complete the criteria to achieve the standard of a new-style rural district.

“When will October come...”, the old folk song is no longer a dream, an aspiration to end poverty, instead, October comes to every Hong mountain - La river countryside, bringing the bustle of prosperity and happiness. October also brings ambitions, is the motivation for each person to have more will and determination to build their homeland to be more prosperous and strong.

Angel

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