The start of winter also marks the harvesting season of taro in Son Thuy commune (Mai Chau district). The local tuber has gained popularity thanks to its good taste. It was granted the "Phuc San Taro" trademark by the National Office of Intellectual Property of Vietnam in 2020.
Cultivating taro brings good income for people in San Sop hamlet, Son Thuy commune (Mai Chau district).
Compared with taro grown in other localities, Phuc San taro is bigger and has better taste thanks to favourable weather and soil conditions. The area under taro cultivation in Mai Chau district has been expanding, contributing to raising the value of their agricultural production.
Dinh Van Thanh, who resides in Not hamlet, said his family has grown taro on 1ha of land since 2020. With guidance from agricultural extension staff, this year’s taro plants yield bigger tubers at larger volume than in previous years, he said, adding that the family has harvested more than 400kg of taro so far, earning over 13 million VND (about 535 USD).
Currently, the commune has nearly 20ha under taro cultivation, concentrated in San Sop and Not hamlets, with each ha yielding over 40 tonnes of tubers. Taro is harvested from late September to early January of the following year.
Ha Van Anh, a resident of San Sop hamlet, said that previously his family grew taro in a small area. However, they have expanded the cultivation area to nearly 2ha due to its price and popularity. This year, taro is sold at prices ranging from 25,000-40,000 VND per kg.
To turn taro into a key commodity product, the commune has been promoting the product on e-commerce trading floors, connecting with businesses that buy the produce and giving guidance to farmers on how to plant, harvest and preserve, ensuring the products meet safety standard, said Ha Van Duc, Chairman of Son Thuy Commune Farmers' Association.
In the coming time, the commune will continue to complete planning for production areas, help farmers to improve quality, output, and meet market demand. It will encourage people to expand taro cultivation areas and strive to build a sustainable trademark for Son Thuy taro.
It can be seen that the granting of "Phuc San Taro" trademark has boosted production and business development. Farmers have complied with the production process to ensure product quality, thus creating more jobs, and improving their income while contributing to hunger eradication and poverty reduction in the locality.
Once a mountainous province facing many challenges, Hoa Binh has, after more than a decade of implementing the national target programme on new-style rural area development, emerged as a bright spot in Vietnam’s northern midland and mountainous region. In the first quarter of 2025, the province recorded positive results, paving the way for Hoa Binh to enter a phase of accelerated growth with a proactive and confident mindset.
Hoa Binh province is steadily advancing its agricultural sector through the adoption of high-tech solutions, seen as a sustainable path for long-term development.
The steering committee for key projects of Hoa Binh province convened on May 14 to assess the progress of major ongoing developments
A delegation of Hoa Binh province has attended the "Meet Korea 2025" event, recently held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea (RoK) in Vietnam, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, and the People's Committee of Hung Yen province.
Hoa Binh province joined Vietnam’s national "One Commune, One Product” (OCOP) programme in 2019, not simply as a mountainous region following central policy, but with a clear vision to revive the cultural and agricultural values in its villages and crops.
From just 16 certified products in its inaugural year to 158 by early 2025, the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme in Hoa Binh province has followed a steady and strategic path. But beyond the numbers, it has reawakened local heritage, turning oranges, bamboo shoots, brocade, and herbal remedies into branded, market-ready goods - and, more profoundly, transformed how local communities value and present their own cultural identity.
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