(HBO) – Sao Bay commune (Kim Boi district) of Hoa Binh province has been widely known for local farmers’ dynamism in crop restructuring. Coming to the commune any time of the year, visitors could see the green colour of various vegetables and food crops.
The commune’s proactive switch to plants generating high economic income has improved the livelihood of local people towards sustainable poverty reduction.
Residents in Dam Gian village, Sao Bay commune (Kim Boi
district) grow wax gourd which brings in high economic value.
The commune relies
completely in farming. Earlier, local people lived on the cultivation of rice,
maize, potato and cassava. Farm
productivity heavily depended on weather, resulting in unstable output.
After learning of big consumers’ demand for tuber and fruit vegetables,
the Party committee and People’s Committee of the commune guided local people
to cultivate new plants with high economic values.
Since 2012, local farmers have grown various types of vegetables such as
wax gourd, cucumber or melon, raking in higher income compared to maize and
rice. Currently, pumpkin, wax gourd, melons and cucumber has become key crops of
local residents. Those crops have generated good earnings for many households
in communes of Dam Gian, Sao Bac, Doi Boi and Sao Dong.
We travelled to Sao Bay at the time local people were growing the 2018
winter crop. Accompanied by Bui Huy Ban, the commune’s agricultural official,
we visited a model farm where wax gourd is grown using trellis, with its roots
being covered by polyethylene membranes to keep moisture in soil, while preventing
weeds. The 3-ha model farm in Dam Gian village is owned by three families of
Bui Van Huy, Bui Van Luc and Bui Van Nguyen.
The farm has created permanent jobs for four labourers and temporary
jobs for 20-30 others. In 2018, the average output of gourd at the farm hit
about 70 tonnes per ha, with selling price in the spring crop at 3,000 VND per kg.
According to Bui Van Luc, his family grew pumpkin and wax gourd on 6,000
sq.m., raking in 300 million VND (12,815 USD) a year. Meanwhile, Bui Van Huy’s
family earned 350,000 million VND (14,950 USD) a year from wax gourd.
At present, people in Sao Bay are growing winter crops such as wax
gourd, cucumber, kohlrabi, cabbage, cauliflower and potato. Locals have already
harvested the first crop of wax gourd and are planting the second. Other crops
are growing well, giving hope to local people about a bumpy crop generating high
income./.
According to data from the Hoa Binh Provincial Party Committee, the industrial production index for the first six months of 2025 is estimated to have increased by 20% compared to the same period last year. This marks the highest year-on-year growth rate for this period since 2020.
In the first six months of 2025, Hoa Binh province’s export turnover was estimated at 1.145 billion USD, marking an 18.11% increase compared to the same period in 2024. Import turnover was estimated at $ 804 million, a 17.15% increase, which helped the province maintain a positive trade balance.
The lives of the ethnic minority farmers in Tan Lac district have gradually improved thanks to the new directions in agricultural production. This is a testament to the collective strength fostered through the professional associations and groups implemented by various levels of the district’s Farmers’ Union.
With the motto the "product quality comes first,” after nearly one year of establishment and operation, Muong village’s Clean Food Agricultural and Commercial Cooperative, located in Cau Hamlet, Hung Son Commune (Kim Boi district), has launched reputable, high-quality agricultural products to the market that are well-received by consumers. The products such as Muong village’s pork sausage, salt-cured chicken, and salt-cured pork hocks have gradually carved out a place in the market and they are on the path to obtaining the OCOP certification.
In the past, the phrase "bumper harvest, rock-bottom prices" was a familiar refrain for Vietnamese farmers engaged in fragmented, small-scale agriculture. But today, a new spirit is emerging across rural areas of Hoa Binh province - one of collaboration, organisation, and collective economic models that provide a stable foundation for production.
Maintaining growing area codes and packing facility codes in accordance with regulations is a mandatory requirement for agricultural products to be eligible for export. Recently, the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Hoa Binh province has intensified technical supervision of designated farming areas and packing facilities to safeguard the "green passport" that enables its products to access international markets.
