Along the banks of the Dong Co River, Ms. Le Thi Cam Hong, a farmer in Binh Duc Commune, Ben Luc District (Long An Province), experimented with growing pink taro. Unexpectedly, when the season came, she pulled up a lot of tubers, so Ms. Hong decided to grow pink taro on a larger area.
Experimental planting of pink potato tissue culture along the Vam Co Dong River
On the morning of March 7, Dan Viet reporters visited the first pink taro plantation in Binh Duc commune, Ben Luc district. The garden of Ms. Le Thi Cam Hong (47 years old, residing in Hamlet 4, Binh Duc commune, Ben Luc district, Long An province) is only more than 6 kilometers from National Highway 1 and Ben Luc bridge.
Ms. Le Thi Cam Hong (47 years old, residing in Hamlet 4, Binh Duc Commune, Ben Luc District, Long An Province) on the left - owner of 1 hectare of pink taro. Photo: Thien Long.
Not only is she famous for overcoming difficulties to become rich, but the owner of the potato land also helps many women have jobs, and at the same time guides each household to propagate potato varieties right on her land.
"Pink taro is suitable for the soil, climate, and natural conditions of the river region, so the plant grows quickly, has high productivity, and the quality is beyond words. Eat it once and you will be addicted and remember it for a long time," Ms. Hong happily said.
The owner informed that in 2012, she went to Soc Trang and discovered strange potatoes, so she was determined to buy them to breed. At first, she planted them on a small area of about 3,000m2 of land, gradually expanding the area to more than 1ha now.
Seeing her business was effective, many neighboring households began experimenting with growing the "black, fragrant, ripe root" plant on land specializing in growing lemons.
Freshly harvested pink taro is transported to the facility to prepare for sale to traders. Photo: Thien Long
According to Ms. Hong, taro should not be planted too densely. Before sowing, manure should be added and the seeds must be carefully composted.
Taro can be grown year-round, regardless of season like other short-term crops, but farmers need to intercrop with lemon, lemongrass, papaya... to increase income.
This type of pink taro takes an average of 5 months from planting to harvest, does not require much investment capital, only needs to fertilize and clean weeds for the plant to grow.
From growing specialty tubers to purchasing and trading specialty tubers
The garden owner said that on average, each hectare of taro yields about 15 - 16 tons of tubers. The selling price of grade 1 is 19,000 VND/kg, grades 2 and 3 are from 15,000 - 16,000 VND/kg. After deducting costs, Ms. Cam Hong earns a profit of more than 70 million VND/year from 1 hectare of taro.
Workers at Ms. Hong's pink taro purchasing facility have an average monthly income of 12 million VND. Photo: Thien Long
Not only growing potatoes, Ms. Cam Hong also decided to establish the "Hong Ban" facility to purchase taro and some other agricultural products from the people in the commune, contributing to creating jobs for nearly 20 female workers in the locality with an income of 10 - 12 million VND/person/month. Her facility's annual revenue reaches several hundred million VND from the main business of pink taro.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy (44 years old, living in Binh Duc commune, Ben Luc district, Long An province) said, my husband and I have been working for Ms. Hong for more than 5 years.
There were peak times, every day picking taro and transporting it to Ms. Hong's facility, the couple's income was more than 1.7 million VND, the income from this job helped the family stabilize and develop smoothly.
Not hiding her profession, Ms. Hong has repeatedly invited women from neighboring communes to come and see how to grow and harvest this type of potato.
Not only that, she also guides how to intercrop pink taro with seedless lemon, lemongrass... along the Vam Co Dong River, bringing in a revenue of several tens of millions of VND per hectare, not inferior to other crops in the countryside.
Currently, the demand for this specialty tuber is very attractive to customers. In addition to consumption in the province, Ms. Hong also sells to traders supplying to supermarkets, wholesale markets... in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring areas.
Ms. Dinh Thi Kim Cuong - President of the Farmers' Association of Binh Duc Commune, Ben Luc District, Long An Province said that currently, there are 893 members of the Farmers' Association of Binh Duc Commune, of which Ms. Le Thi Cam Hong is a good producer and business member of the commune. In addition, Ms. Hong is also an exemplary member in raising children and actively participating in the activities and movements of the Farmers' Association of the commune.
Source: https://danviet.vn/trong-khoai-mon-hong-ben-song-vam-co-dong-o-long-an-nho-len-la-liet-cu-dac-san-nong-dan-giau-20250307095529377.htm
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