Good income from converting vegetable garden into banana garden

In late March 2024, dozens of families with gardens growing wild banana leaves in Luu Thong village, Luu Kien commune, Tuong Duong district sent members to the fields and gardens to harvest banana leaves. This is a model undertaken by the Women's Association of the village to raise funds for common activities.

The banana leaf growing model has been implemented by the Women's Union of Luu Thong village since the end of 2022. The head of the Women's Union of Luu Kien commune, Vi Thi Chien, said that the women in the village realized the economic benefits of growing bananas to sell leaves and using banana stems as feed for livestock and poultry very effectively, so at the end of 2022, the women of Luu Thong village decided to convert some vegetable garden areas to banana growing.

bna_chuối lưu kiến.png — Members of the Women's Association of Luu Thong village help each other harvest banana leaves. Photo: HT

At first, the women went into the forest to dig young banana trees to plant. After just over a year, in the gardens of the members, the banana trees were green and lush, taller than a person, and gradually ready for harvest. This is a model undertaken by the Women's Association of the village to raise funds for common activities.

Since mid-2023, banana gardens have begun to harvest en masse, with an average harvest every 3 months. On March 28, households growing wild bananas in vegetable gardens in Luu Thong began cutting new batches of banana leaves for traders. The natural source of seeds in the forest, with little care, makes the profit from wild banana trees quite high.

Currently, after cutting the leaves into bundles and packaging, banana leaves in Luu Thong are bought directly from the garden by traders at a price ranging from 4,000 - 5,000 VND/kg, and at peak market times, the price can be double, from 8,000 - 10,000 VND/bundle, such as the time near Lunar New Year. Thanks to the steady income from selling banana leaves, every quarter, the Women's Union of Luu Thong village harvests the leaves once, each time about 1 ton, equivalent to an income of 4 - 5 million VND. The money earned from selling banana leaves by the cooperative will be used to help disadvantaged households borrow capital to develop the economy, gradually eliminate poverty; visit and encourage members in times of difficulty and hardship.

bna_chuối.png — Banana leaves are purchased by traders in the garden for 4 - 5 thousand VND/bunch. Photo: HT

In Luu Thong village, the model of growing wild bananas for sale is gradually being expanded, increasingly affirming the economic efficiency of this crop that can be utilized from root to tip. Luu Thong village has 54 households of Mong ethnic people living. With the terrain being mainly mountainous and steep, it has long been difficult to cultivate crops, but it is very suitable for wild bananas. Since 2016, the first person to bring wild bananas to grow commercially in Luu Thong was Mr. Vu No Lu.

Initially, Mr. Lu planted more than 1 sao of wild bananas for the purpose of raising chickens, pigs, and cows. Later, traders asked to buy banana leaves. Seeing that the price of banana leaves brought in high income, he invested in expanding to 1 hectare of bananas. Mr. Lu harvested leaves quarterly, about 4 times/year, each harvest averaged about 1 ton of leaves, bringing in an income of about 20 million VND/year.

bna_chuối lưu kiến.jpg — Growing bananas for leaves in Luu Kien commune creates stable income for nearly 100 households. Photo: HT

In Luu Kien commune, not only in Luu Thong village but also in many other villages, people have also developed a model of growing banana leaves for quite high income, such as Mr. Loc Van Thin's household, Mrs. Vi Thi Mai's household... In 2017, Mrs. Mai planted about 1 hectare of wild banana, and now her household has expanded the banana garden to 3.5 hectares. Regularly harvesting banana leaves in rotation every month according to each region brings Mrs. Mai's household an average income of 10 million VND/month from selling banana leaves.

Currently, the whole Luu Kien commune has 94 households growing banana leaves with an area of over 24 hectares, of which Luu Thong village has 62 households growing bananas in their gardens, and also receives protection of banana areas growing under the natural forest canopy, helping local people have a stable source of income, helping branches and organizations have more funds to serve activities of building the community's common movement, building rural roads and helping people facing difficult circumstances in life.

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