(HBO) – The year-end marks the harvesting season of Phuc San small taro in Mai Chau district. The specialty has increasingly well-known thanks to its good quality.
Phuc San taro put up for sale in a market in Mai Chau town.
Ha Thi Thoan, a local trader, has sold Phuc San
taro for many years in a market in Mai Chau town. She said taro put up for sale
must be carefully selected and cleaned to attract customers. Many have bought
Phuc San taro for their families and as a gift.
Customers often flock to Mai Chau at in weekends
to buy Phuc San Taro. Nguyen Thi Minh Thuong from Hanoi said she has enjoyed
the specialty for many times, and other members of her family like taro when it
is cooked with pork ribs or duck.
like her friends, Thuong bought up to 40kg of
taro for her family, relatives and friends during the trip.
According to Tran Manh Tan, deputy head of the
district's Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Development, Phuc San taro has made
its name in the market. As compared with taro grown in other localities, Phuc
San taro is bigger and has better quality thanks to favourable weather and soil
conditions.
This year, farmers in former Phuc San commune
(now Son Thuy commune) has maintained an area of 40ha of taro, with each ha
yielding about 18-20 tonnes. Notably, the product has an origin-tracing stamp,
helping to increase its competitiveness in the market.
With a limited output, Phuc San taro is mainly
sold in the Mai Chau town market, stores selling specialties in Hoa Binh city,
and a number of stores in Hanoi.
This year, Phuc San taro is sold at prices
ranging from 23,000 - 25,000 VND per kg. It has been harvested from
mid-October, and would be sold out in mid-December.
Through tourism and services, the product has
become increasingly popular among consumers nationwide.
Over recent years, the Farmers' Union of Mai Chau district has implemented numerous specific programmes and activities to support its members in developing products under the One Commune One (OCOP) programme. These efforts have contributed to enhancing local agricultural branding, increasing goods value, and improving incomes and living standards for residents.
Since 2022, the Hoa Binh Department of Education and Training has provided advice for the provincial People's Committee to issue Plan No. 219/KH-UBND on November 17, 2022, which outlines the implementation of a project titled "Enhancing the application of Information Technology (IT) and Digital Transformation in Education and Training for the 2022–2025 period, with a vision to 2030.” As of now, the local education sector has made significant progress in IT adoption and digital transformation.
Hoa Binh allocated over 30 trillion VND (nearly 1.18 billion USD) to develop infrastructure systems in ethnic minority and mountainous areas during 2019 - 2024. Priority was given to transport and irrigation infrastructure; markets; schools; medical stations; communal houses; and power grid, telecommunication, radio, and television systems.
The Hoa Binh provincial organising committee for anniversary activities on December 17 held a ceremony to unveil a ceramic mural on the local military-civilian ties and release a book on the Party and political work of the provincial armed forces during 1947 – 2024, in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army (VPA) and 35th anniversary of the All-People Defence Festival.
In recent years, Hoa Binh has allocated significant resources to foster cooperative economy, helping ethnic minorities capitalise on their potential and advantages to escape poverty.
As a mountainous district still facing numerous challenges, Da Bac has made notable progress in advancing administrative reforms across various areas. The district has prioritised reorganising and streamlining its administrative apparatus, operating "one-stop-shop” units, and applying information technology (IT) in the handling of administrative procedures. Efforts have also been directed toward upgrading infrastructure and equipment to enhance service quality for residents and businesses.