Taro brings high income to many farming households in Van Ho commune.

Van Ho commune has more than 20 hectares of taro, grown mainly in Suoi Lin village and Thuong Cuong, Bo Nhang, Chieng Di villages... Taro here has a large main stem and grows from 5 to 7 branches, looking like an elephant's foot, so it is also called elephant foot taro; the taro is planted in the 12th lunar month every year and harvested around September and October of the following year; each tuber weighs an average of 400-600 grams, the inside of the taro is smooth white, when cooked it is very fragrant and crumbly.

Suoi Lin village has 20 households growing taro with an area of ​​nearly 8 hectares. At this time, many households in the village are starting to harvest taro. Mr. Dang Van Phong, Party cell secretary and head of Suoi Lin village, said: This year, taro yields 5.5-6 tons/ha, with a selling price of about 25,000 VND/kg. Households are very excited because all the harvest is purchased. In recent years, with support from specialized agencies of the district and province to implement models, the native taro variety has become a typical agricultural brand. Thanks to that, the taro growing area has been increasingly expanded, the output is relatively stable, helping many households earn hundreds of millions of VND.

In 2023, Mr. Dang Van Vinh, Suoi Lin village, earned over 100 million VND from taro. From the economic efficiency, this year, he continued to grow 2,000 m2 of taro. Sharing about this crop, Mr. Vinh said: My family is currently growing nearly 1 hectare of taro, from the beginning of September until now, we have harvested about 2.7 tons, earning nearly 70 million VND. The weather in Van Ho has a lot of rain and high humidity, so growing taro is very suitable, but it is necessary to regularly cultivate the soil, clean weeds and check for pests and diseases to have preventive measures.

From 2017-2019, Suoi Lin village was implemented by Son La College to implement the Project "Conservation and development of man taro varieties towards commodity production", researching and applying cultivation techniques to help improve the productivity and quality of native taro varieties. By 2021, Van Ho District Agricultural Service Center continued to support fertilizers, seeds and materials for 7 households in Suoi Lin village to replicate the man taro area model.

Ms. Mui Thi Lien, Deputy Director of the Van Ho District Agricultural Service Center, informed: Through assessment, the investment cost for 1 hectare of taro is only about 17 million VND, but can bring a profit of over 90 million VND. With low production costs and high economic efficiency, man taro is a crop that helps many households in Suoi Lin village and Van Ho commune get rich. In the coming time, the Center will continue to accompany and support households in training on technical processes of planting, care, pest control, harvesting and post-harvest preservation to improve farming skills, increase intensive farming to increase productivity and product quality. Build the brand of Van Ho man taro to become an OCOP product.

Van Ho taro is harvested in early winter, which is also the time when Van Ho tourism welcomes visitors. Delicious dishes made from taro such as: Taro soup with bones and vegetables; charcoal-grilled taro with sugar... are prepared by restaurant and homestay owners, bringing a delicious, chewy flavor that makes tourists love and choose to buy them as gifts.

From now until 2025, Van Ho district plans to develop an additional 2.5 hectares of taro in Thuong Cuong and Bo Nhang villages, Van Ho commune and neighboring communes such as To Mua and Long Luong. At the same time, mobilize households to build and establish taro growing cooperatives, develop the area based on contracts with units that consume output products. Strengthen promotion and introduction to increase the value of taro products, associated with community tourism development.

According to: baosonla.gov.vn