(HBO) – Bringing in Sachi and Gai Lai seedlings and encouraging local people to start planting the trees, agricultural engineer Trinh Thi Thanh Hoa, a Tay ethnic, has helped numerous mountainous commune households escape poverty.


Trinh Thi Thanh Hoa brings product to the business challenging contest. Her product gets attention from many investors.

 

Hoa is a Tay ethnic, born and raised in Da Bac district. From an early age, she understood the hardship of local farmers through trips to remote areas with her mother. At the time, her mother was an officer at the local agriculture and forestry extension department, with a passion for doing something meaningful to the community.

After defending her thesis with honors and graduating from the Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Hoa decided to come back to her hometown and work at the district’s agriculture and rural development bureau. This was a golden opportunity for Hoa to understand how local people were cultivating the soil and growing crops, so she could make recommendations and help develop the local economy.

Thanks to her field trips to local and neighbouring provinces, Hoa gained a great deal of experience in agricultural development. She decided to initiate the Sachi tree planting project in the Da Bac district material zone in 2016. Once the project received a green light from local authorities, Hoa mobilized local farmers to assist in planting the trees.

 

 


Sachi was planted on an area of 15 hectares spanning six communes of Da Bac district on a pilot basis in July 2017 by Hoa Binh agriculture service cooperative, of which Hoa is a member.

To date, the Sachi cultivation area in the district has expanded to 200 hectares, creating stable livelihoods for some 280 households.

A key supply chain for Sachi trees has been developed, generating jobs for 500 local workers.

The Sachi cultivation project has borne fruit. A wide range of products have been developed from the tree by Hoa Binh agriculture service cooperative, including the Omega-3 nutritional supplement, Sachi tea, protein powder and safe Sachi vegetables. All of the products have been warmly received by consumers.

Notably, the initiative of Hoa and her partners won first prize at the startup contest for the Women of Hoa Binh in 2019. After that, the initiative entered the finale of the startup contest for rural youth in the same year, sponsored by the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union.

Huge opportunities from sachi tree

 

 

The success of the Sachi tree inspired Hoa to carry out further initiatives and projects which bring benefits to the community. This time, Gai Lai (Ramie) tree was chosen and it became a "highlight” in Hoa’s career.

"Cultivation of Gai Lai tree is not difficult. Farmers needs to invest some 25-30 million VND (1,000 – 1,300 USD) at the beginning while the croplands can be harvested 4-5 times a year, and yield average 100-150 million VND per hectare”, Hoa said.

Thanks to support from the local authorities as well as agricultural engineers, local farmers feel secure to engage in supply chains, giving Hoa the confidence to carry out such projects.

Hoa and her partners began the project in December 2020, and after 70 days, they harvested the first crop, which yielded 400 kilogrammes per hectare.

Hoa has completed 60 percent of the project’s workload so far. Last year, she successfully mobilised local farmers to plant the tree in an area of 20 hectares. An additional 50 hectares will be developed in supply chain in Trung Thanh commune.

Hoa also won the contract to supply materials for the Nam Dinh Textile and Garment joint Stock Company, the An Phuoc Thanh Hoa Import-Export joint Stock Company, and the Hanoi Textile and Garment joint Stock Company.

"Besides dry Gai Lai fibre, byproducts from the tree are used to make organic compost fertilizer and animal food. Meanwhile,leaves are sold to establishments which make banh gai (glutinous rice cake blackened in a concoction of edible leaves), and the radix boehmeriae herb are provided for medicinal production workshops”, she said.

Currently, cultivation of Gai Lai is creating jobs for 120-150 local people, most of whom are ethnic women. If a 100-hectare material area is established, it will generate jobs for some 300 local workers.

 

Hoa won the gold prize at the European Union and Standard Chartered Bank Entrepreneurship Business Contest with the Gai Lai plantation project.

 

Hoa also received more than 10 billion VND in sponsorship from the "Technology Transfer, Investment Connection and Market Promotion” programme jointly held by the Vietnam Climate Innovation Centre and the Vietnam Women’s Union. Last year, she received Luong Dinh Cua award, an annual award of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union Central Committee given to young people in rural areas with outstanding achievements in production, business, application of modern science technologies, environmental protection and building new rural lifestyles.

The recognitions serve as motivation for Hoa to make further efforts in the journey to create sustainable livelihoods for local ethnic people right in her home community./.

 


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