Vinh Thuan grows rich and beautiful

Vinh Thuan is one of four districts in the U Minh Thuong region (also known as the Mien Thu region), including: An Bien, An Minh, Vinh Thuan and U Minh Thuong, in Kien Giang province, established in January 1964. Vinh Thuan has just been honored to receive the First Class Labor Medal awarded by the President.

Farmers in Vinh Thuan district, Kien Giang province harvest giant freshwater prawns.

Once the “alum center”, the most difficult district of Mien Thu region and Kien Giang province, today, Vinh Thuan district has developed strongly. The countryside rich in revolutionary tradition, poor and isolated in the past, is now the center of giant freshwater prawn of Kien Giang province...

Rich in revolutionary tradition

92 years ago, Ranh Hat Party Cell, the first Party base and the predecessor of Kien Giang Provincial Party Committee (now in Ranh Hat Hamlet, Vinh Thuan Commune, Vinh Thuan District) was born, opening a turning point in the struggle for independence of the Party Committee, government, army and people of Kien Giang Province. Located in the core area of ​​the resistance base, Vinh Thuan was considered a "base of the people's hearts", providing absolute safety for the Southwest Regional Party Committee, the Central Office for the South, Rach Gia Provincial Party Committee, etc.

Vinh Thuan is also a "red address" for educating revolutionary traditions, such as: the 200-day and night assembly area at Chac Bang estuary; the Bang Bien Phu Melaleuca forest war relic site; the Ranh Hat relic site; the final assembly place of the 1C strategic transport route, the legendary road.

According to Kien Giang Provincial Party Secretary Do Thanh Binh, during the resistance war, the U Minh Thuong region, including Vinh Thuan district, suffered much pain and loss. In about three years (from April 1955 to 1957), the enemy launched many sweeps, arresting more than 10,000 cadres, revolutionary soldiers and patriots, of which more than 1,500 people were killed by the enemy here.

“Despite having to endure brutal torture and sacrifice their lives, with a steadfast revolutionary fighting spirit, the patriotic communist soldiers did not surrender or confess. They stood firm before the enemy, always firmly believing in the leadership of the Party and Uncle Ho, believing that the revolution would definitely win completely, the two regions of the North and South would be unified and move towards socialism,” Secretary of the Kien Giang Provincial Party Committee Do Thanh Binh emphasized at the inauguration ceremony of the Bang Bien Phu Melaleuca Forest War Remnants Site in Vinh Thuan on January 6, 2024.

The war has ended, the Party Committee, government and people of Vinh Thuan district joined hands to rebuild their homeland. Vice Chairman of Vinh Thuan District People's Committee Le Van Du shared that from a poor countryside, "salty water, sour fields", with rice and pineapple as the main crops, today, Vinh Thuan district has emerged as a large-scale giant freshwater prawn farming locality in Kien Giang province.

The district's economy has developed quite well, the potential and advantages of agriculture and aquaculture have been promoted. People's lives have been constantly improved. Up to now, the average income per capita of the district has reached more than 65 million VND/person/year; the poverty rate is only 1.81%. Vinh Thuan district was recognized as meeting new rural standards in 2020.

Taking us through newly completed concrete roads and visiting giant freshwater prawn farms in the area, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Vinh Binh Bac Commune, Vinh Thuan District, Tran Nhat Thuat, excitedly said: "The inter-commune and inter-hamlet roads are now asphalted and concreted. The whole commune has 4,722 households with nearly 16,000 people, now there are only 81 poor households; there are no more dilapidated houses. Over the past 10 years, many solid and spacious houses have "sprouted" thanks to giant freshwater prawns...".

Giant freshwater prawn farming center

We visited Mr. Pham Quoc Doan (42 years old) in Dong Tranh hamlet, Vinh Binh Bac commune in the late afternoon, and were treated to green-legged shrimp boiled in coconut water and talked about the life-changing events in the locality. Mr. Doan said that about 15 years ago, the people of Dong Tranh hamlet were extremely poor because they relied on pineapples and ineffectively grew two rice crops. When it was time to harvest, pineapple prices dropped, rice was saline, and people had to run around to borrow money to send their children to school.

“The booming shrimp farming movement in Ca Mau and Bac Lieu, which are adjacent areas with similar land and water resources, has urged Vinh Thuan farmers to find ways to escape poverty on their homeland’s land. I researched and tried raising giant freshwater prawns in pineapple ditches (ponds), and unexpectedly the shrimp yield was very good,” said Mr. Doan.

Mr. Le Minh Gioi (52 years old) continued: “At that time, I thought I could change my life here and nowhere else. Harvesting shrimp from pineapple ditches and selling them at a very high price at the market, I earned hundreds of millions of dong from just a few pineapple ditches raising giant freshwater prawns. My family became better off thanks to giant freshwater prawns. From a few hectares of land, I have now bought more than 100 hectares of land...”.

However, to convert from two rice crops and improve the pineapple area to shrimp and crab farming is a very difficult process. “The authorities at that time firmly refused to allow the conversion to shrimp farming for fear of disrupting the planning and affecting the quality of the land. But then, since 2000, the results have proven the necessity of converting from two ineffective rice crops to rice cultivation combined with shrimp farming, especially in areas with brackish water sources such as Vinh Binh Bac commune and Vinh Binh Nam commune,” Mr. Gioi said...

Former Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kien Giang province Nguyen Van Tam recalled that in order to shift the agricultural structure to suit the local advantages, help farmers escape poverty, and respond to climate change, Kien Giang province at that time oriented the development of shrimp in areas suitable for shrimp farming, not necessarily relying on rice and pineapple. Vinh Thuan in particular, and many other coastal localities with shrimp farming in general, not only aimed at raising "clean" shrimp, but also rice had to be "clean" rice for sustainable production...

Vinh Thuan district currently has about 30,000 hectares of rice-shrimp rotation land; of which, about 80% of the area is intercropped with giant freshwater prawns and tiger prawns, yielding about 23,600 tons/year. Vice Chairman of Vinh Thuan District People's Committee Le Van Du said that the district has Cai Lon River and Chac Bang canal running through it with low salinity, very suitable for intercropping giant freshwater prawns with a rice crop. This area used to be a mixed garden, fallow, growing 1 rice crop, then 2 rice crops, however, due to salinity, only some places can grow rice, the rest cannot grow rice, and growing fruit trees is also not very effective.

Since the conversion of production, this saline and acidic land has been very suitable for raising giant freshwater prawns. In the dry season, people use brackish water to effectively raise prawns, along with crabs and fish, bringing high value. When the rainy season comes, farmers grow rice on shrimp very successfully..., showing that the policy of converting crops and livestock is very suitable. Thanks to that, from 2000 to now, the lives of people in Vinh Thuan district have been significantly improved.

Currently, Vinh Thuan district is aiming to build the brand of "Vinh Thuan green-legged shrimp". Mr. Le Van Du affirmed: "Vinh Thuan green-legged shrimp is mostly natural shrimp, growing and developing thanks to algae, plankton from straw and stubble left on the rice fields; the meat is firm and delicious. The district encourages farmers to try to maintain 1 rice crop on the shrimp fields to take advantage of straw as shrimp feed in order to move towards clean agriculture, improving quality, value and competitiveness".

Giant freshwater prawns are now “destined” to the land of Vinh Thuan, helping thousands of farmers in the district escape poverty and become rich. Thanks to the favorable conditions of nature, along with the will to rise up, farmers like Mr. Le Minh Gioi and Mr. Pham Quoc Doan can annually sell dozens of tons of prawns on the vast water fields, earning billions of dong. They are rising up on difficult land, building their hometown into the giant freshwater prawn farming center of Kien Giang…

Quoc Trinh

Source: https://nhandan.vn/vinh-thuan-vuon-minh-giau-dep-post846712.html#846712|region-highlight-30|0