From VAC (integrated farming system) to household gardens and model gardens.

The VAC (garden - pond - livestock) economic model is considered a comprehensive production area that maximizes the value of garden land and forest land. However, these somewhat rudimentary, extensive farming models have been "upgraded" by household gardens and model gardens that the National Target Program for Building New Rural Areas is encouraging.

Mr. Mai Van Hao's family garden in Nga Thanh commune (Nga Son district) is a model garden for growing medicinal herbs and developing greenhouses for producing yellow melons.

The VAC (Garden-Pond-Livestock) model was launched and encouraged in the 1990s and has been maintained until recent years. Historically, it represents a step forward in garden-based economic production because, for generations, and even during the difficult period of the centrally planned economy, large home gardens were mostly overgrown with weeds and unwanted plants. Many people remember the image of rice trees and other ancient trees in the garden, maintained to provide leaves for composting each year. Tall fig and other fruit trees, left unpruned, provided shade over a large area. Other trees planted in the shade did not yield significant productivity.

From there, the VAC model was encouraged – a step forward in transforming unproductive gardens to form household economic development models, addressing hunger and income for people in rural areas. In this model, "V" represents crop production, "A" represents aquaculture, and "C" represents livestock farming right in the home garden. This is also considered a circular, closed-loop production system, as manure from livestock farming is used as fertilizer for crops and fish feed. Water from ponds and dredged mud are used for irrigation and fertilization. By-products from crop production, such as vegetables, are used as animal feed. For a long time, this model proved effective in poverty reduction, and later developed many variations such as: VACR (garden - pond - livestock - forest), VAH (garden - pond - lake), VACB (garden - pond - livestock - biogas)...

However, with changing realities, many VAC (Garden-Pond-Livestock) models are no longer suitable. Firstly, the development of livestock farming in home gardens causes pollution in residential communities, and a change in lifestyle is necessary. The models are still largely self-sufficient and need to be specialized to ensure sustainable market access for their products. The application of technological advancements in production, and the construction of high-tech agricultural greenhouses, is becoming increasingly necessary, even in home gardens...

To address these shortcomings, the "Organization of Production and Rural Economic Development" criterion of the New Rural Development Program stipulates that communes achieving advanced and model new rural development standards must have at least 30% of their home gardens transformed into model gardens, with model gardens having an area of ​​500m2 or more. Furthermore, neglected gardens must be renovated to create "household gardens" to maximize the use of garden land for economic development. Specifically, model gardens must utilize science and technology, have proper design and planning, and produce products with stable consumption. During implementation in Thanh Hoa, many communes have exceeded targets with dozens of model gardens. Throughout the province, neglected gardens have been transformed into greenhouses for growing yellow melons, high-tech flower cultivation, and specialized medicinal plant farming, sometimes generating incomes of up to billions of VND per hectare per year.

For example, in Nga Son district, communes such as Nga Thanh, Nga Tan, and Nga Phuong have established 10 to 20 model gardens, along with dozens of household gardens. At the age of 68, Mr. Mai Van Hao in Ho Dong village, Nga Thanh commune, has been working alongside the government in building new rural areas, transforming his home garden into a medicinal herb and low-growing fruit trees such as custard apple, dragon fruit, and pomelo. Most notably, the 1,200m2 greenhouse for growing Kim Hoang Hau yellow melons right behind his house brings in a profit of approximately 220 million VND per year, raising the total income of the model garden to 550 million VND/year.

In Chinh Da village, Quang Chinh commune (Quang Xuong district), with just over 1,000 square meters of garden land, including the strip of land in front and on the side of his house, Mr. Mai Ngoc Hue has arranged it into a modern production area. He raised the ground level, erected a steel frame system, and covered it with netting to produce vegetable seedlings and rotate leafy vegetables year-round. Notably, he applies modern scientific and technical advancements right in his garden with a smart sprinkler irrigation system, using biological products and organic fertilizers for safe production. The strips of land along the yard and side of the house are also mounded to grow double-flowered peach blossoms – a local native plant that is in high demand during Tet (Lunar New Year). In the yard is a system of orchid trellises, which also contributes significantly to the family's income.

With specialized vegetable cultivation and a very high land rotation rate, coupled with accumulated experience in peach tree care, he earns nearly 150 million VND annually from his small garden. According to him, during the period leading up to the Lunar New Year, customers come directly to the garden to inquire about buying peach trees, with many trees selling for 8 to 10 million VND, averaging about 5 million VND per tree. Therefore, peach trees and orchids alone bring in an annual income of up to 70 million VND. Except for the years affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the profits from the garden have remained stable.

According to Mr. Hue, this is a model garden that the Quang Chinh Commune People's Committee encouraged the creation of in 2018 to fulfill the production criteria in the New Rural Development program. At that time, his family boldly cut down all the weeds, rebuilt the boundary wall to ensure good ventilation, and allowed the entire garden to receive sunlight year-round. The flooding problem in the garden was also completely solved when the family decided to invest in adding more topsoil to raise the garden level and build a scientific drainage system.

After more than half a decade of operating the model garden he established, Mr. Hue concluded that the difference compared to his previous garden lies in the production mindset. The model garden helped him change his way of thinking and doing things. Agricultural production requires investment, the application of science and technology, and a focus on specializing in a few crops to ensure stable output, rather than trying to cultivate and raise everything at once.

The movement to build household gardens and model gardens in the province has developed strongly in recent years. Even the Provincial Rural Development Coordination Office doesn't have an exact number, but many estimate there are thousands of household-scale production gardens. These model gardens basically meet the requirements of minimizing environmental pollution, have a sustainable product market, and provide a fairly stable income.

Text and photos: Linh Truong

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/tu-vac-den-vuon-ho-vuon-mau-223938.htm