Suoi Hoa commune in Tan Lac district, located next to the Hoa Binh lake bed, boasts favourable conditions to branch out the caged-fish farming model, helping build local caged-fish brand, better residents’ income, and improve local livelihoods.
Bui Thi Thoa, a resident in Suoi Hoa commune, Tan Lac district, has studied and applied advanced technology into her caged-fish farming model.
Stable market in the end of 2023 help secured farmers in Ngoi hamlet a bumper fish crop. Bui Thi Thoa, a local resident who bred various kinds of fish in 30 cages, said her fish was sold at higher prices than in the previous crop.
Last year, Thoa gained some 150 million VND (nearly 6,200 USD) from selling 5-6 tonnes of fish. She said she has spent all of the profit on purchasing fries and investing in a cage system, and attended training classes on technical transfer to prevent diseases, adding the move aims at developing the caged-fish model. Besides, her family has worked with hotels and restaurants to ensure stable market for the fish.
Suoi Hoa commune is now home to nearly three hectares of aquaculture areas with more than 600 fish cages. Currently, local farmers are focusing resources to develop their cage system, while popularising their products on social networks such as Facebook and Zalo to access more consumers. Total aquaculture production in the commune in 2023 was estimated at 55 tonnes.
With a view to supporting and developing the aquaculture sector, local authorities have urged farmers to capitalise on the commune’s potential and advantages to branch out caged fish farming. Along with joining hands with relevant authorities to organise training courses, they have created favourable conditions for local people to get access to consessional loans from the district’s bank for social policies.
However, challenges remain on the horizon for the commune to develop brand for its caged fish, including small-scale production, poor linkage among households engaged in the caged farming model, traditional farming habits, among others.
According to Vice Chairman of the communal People’s Committee Dinh Van Buong, the caged fish farming has shown efficiency, making contributions to sustainable poverty reduction.
However, to turn caged fish farming into an economic spearhead, authorities at all levels should pay further attention to creating favourable conditions for farmers to stabilise production.
They should bring farmers into cooperatives to strengthen linkage and develop value chain for their fish, he said, adding it is necessary to improve product quality, enhance popularisation work, and expand markets for the products.
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.