When it comes to drought areas, Ham Thuan Nam is probably one of the most severely affected localities in the province. Since the province has invested in irrigation and canal systems, the lives of local people, especially ethnic minority people, have changed significantly thanks to the exploitation of water resources for production.
Value-added farming areas
Coming to Ham Thuan Nam district in early December, wherever you go, you hear farmers talking about the high price of dragon fruit. This is the time when people light up the lights for the Tet market, so the output is often lower than the crop season. However, the price of dragon fruit is gradually increasing, making the dragon fruit market, considered the largest growing area in the province, more bustling than ever. Currently, the price of white-fleshed dragon fruit sold in bulk at the garden is from 14,000 - 18,000 VND/kg depending on the type. Particularly, red-fleshed dragon fruit is purchased by export enterprises at a price ranging from 25,000 - 40,000 VND/kg depending on the type. With the above selling price, most gardeners make a profit, so farmers invest in careful care to serve the market before, during and after the 2024 Lunar New Year.
Having such hope is also worthy for farmers who have persevered with the "green dragon" fruit despite the market fluctuations in recent years following a sine wave graph, causing the dragon fruit growing area in many places to shrink. Not to mention, to become the "capital" of green dragons, the Ham Thuan Nam district government has gone through many difficulties, turning the once arid land into a key dragon fruit growing area of the province. Remember, every March, the peak of the dry season, people in Ham Thuan Nam district cannot help but worry about the lack of water for daily life and production. But in recent years, thanks to the irrigation reservoirs that have been repaired and built next to water transfer works, water sources have been ensured for daily life and agricultural production of the people. Thereby, specialized dragon fruit growing areas have been formed, contributing to increasing income for the people.
Thanks to that, people's lives have gradually improved, the rate of poor households in the locality has decreased year by year. According to the District People's Committee, after 5 years (from 2016 - 2020) of implementing poverty reduction policies in the whole district, 700 households have escaped poverty. During this period, the Social Policy Bank has disbursed more than 178 billion VND to 5,256 poor and near-poor households to borrow to serve the needs of production and business development... Thanks to irrigation, the district's agricultural sector has developed rapidly, contributing positively to hunger eradication and poverty reduction, ensuring food security, and rapidly increasing the number of farming households getting rich legitimately.
It can be seen that from a district without any significant irrigation works, up to now the irrigation system has been invested in many large projects, with a total annual water flow of over 49 million m3 and a total active irrigation area of over 6,500 hectares. However, currently, in two highland communes of Ham Can and My Thanh, the irrigation system has not been connected, so the lives of the people here face many difficulties.
Longing for Kapet Lake
Returning to this highland area at the end of the year, one can see glimpses of green patches from the dragon fruit, rubber, and tram plantations of the people, and even mango orchards laden with fruit. That said, it does not mean that this place is rich in water resources, the story of irrigation water is still a concern for this highland area. In addition to 1 corn crop and 1 rice crop, the local government has instructed people to switch to suitable crops, applying scientific and technical advances to make the most effective use of spring water and underground water in the dry season. The issue of water for production and daily life is a burning desire of the people of these 2 communes, so it is obvious that they are looking forward to the early construction of Ka Pet lake to have water for production and a new life. When the Ka Pet lake investment project with a capacity of more than 50 million m3 of water is implemented, it will become an important driving force to promote the development of the district's agriculture and change the lives of the people of these 2 highland communes.
From an unstable corn crop, Ms. Nguyen Thi My Bong (Ham Can commune) has worked hard to apply the correct technical process in cultivation, thanks to which the annual agricultural productivity has been quite good. After many years of saving, since the water for production in the region is no longer scarce, she has borrowed capital, borrowed more from her family, and bought a dragon fruit plantation with high productivity. She has worked hard to access production knowledge, apply technology to reduce costs, save water, save labor... Thanks to that, her family's life has improved significantly, investing in her children's university education.
According to the People's Committee of Ham Can commune, up to now, the whole commune has more than 547 hectares of dragon fruit continuing to produce according to VietGAP standards. In 2023, the locality coordinated with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to implement the SACCR project of Binh Thuan province for 325 households benefiting from the project, including poor and near-poor households, ethnic minorities, people in difficult circumstances and the elderly. Accordingly, many households were supported with an energy-saving irrigation system of VND 3,900,000/household; agricultural materials support of VND 22,000,000/household; support for pond construction and digging of VND 24,000,000 to VND 35,000,000/household. Of which, the total number of households participating in the pond benefit was 24 households, the total number of households benefiting from agricultural materials was 301 households. Thanks to that, the lives of people here are less difficult, production is taken care of and many households have risen out of poverty.
When the necessary conditions are met, meaning having land for production and a stable source of irrigation water, the households here must strive to produce and work hard to stabilize their lives soon, through loan support from the Social Policy Bank. Since the beginning of the year, the Social Policy Bank has resolved loans for 1,757 households with a total loan capital of more than 58 billion VND, of which, 45 poor households borrowed capital for production, with a capital source of 2,883 million VND; 142 near-poor households borrowed capital for production, with a capital source of 9,790 million VND; 1 household that has just escaped poverty borrowed capital for production, with a capital source of 70 million VND; 9 households in difficult areas borrowed capital for production and business with a total loan capital of 420 million VND. In addition, clean water and sanitation loans were also provided to 994 households with a total capital of 18,960 million VND; 45 ethnic minority households borrowed more than 4 billion VND to support production development...
With many policies for poor and near-poor households in ethnic minority areas, it is believed that the lives of the people and the rural appearance of the district will increasingly improve. In particular, when the irrigation system, especially the Kapet Lake project, is put into use, the story of two mountainous communes being covered in green will no longer be a distant story.
According to the results of the general review of poor households in the period 2022 - 2025, in the district, there are 839 poor households accounting for 2.73% and 1,186 near-poor households accounting for 3.87%.
MINH VAN, PHOTO: N. LAN
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