Mr. Vang A Vang (right) shares his experience in intensive cultivation of off-season plums.

After completing his military service and returning to his hometown, Mr. Vang realized that he could not escape poverty by planting corn and pruning rice on the fields... An opportunity opened up when the road to the commune was opened, Mr. Vang boldly changed his thinking, he borrowed money to buy a truck to buy corn from the people and transport it to the national highway to unload. At that time, the price of corn on the fields compared to the price of corn outside the district town was quite different. Since he had a car to transport corn for sale, the H'Mong people in Din Chi village sold corn at a higher price, increasing their income.

After a decade of selling corn, Mr. Vang gradually accumulated capital. He bought more cars and hired drivers to transport corn for sale. With two trucks, he became the "rich man" in the village! In 2017, he bought an excavator worth nearly one billion VND to open a road into the village and level the ground for the H'Mong people. Selling corn and working as an excavator, Mr. Vang reaped the rewards. In the following years, he bought two more excavators. Wherever the excavators went, they brought change. Each year, Mr. Vang earned half a billion VND from three excavators. Being a quick-witted person, he decided to convert all 5 hectares of corn fields of his family to plum fields. On the steep, dry hills, he diligently dug holes to plant plum trees.

Mr. Vang's house is located right next to the main road, not far from the Vietnam-Laos border. Surrounded by mountains and forests, his house is majestic and spacious. When he arrived, Mr. Vang was in the garden with rows of plum trees in full bloom. The scent of plum blossoms filled with night dew mixed with the scent of the forest wafting in the wind brought visitors a sense of peace.

Welcoming us right at the plum garden, Mr. Vang excitedly said: "Off-season plums are blooming like this, promising a bumper crop. Off-season plums sell for 6-7 times higher than the main-season plums. At first, I was still confused, but now the plum garden has bloomed as expected, I am very happy, it will open a new direction in intensive plum cultivation here. In the previous plum crop, my family earned more than 130 million VND from the fruit-bearing plum garden. This plum crop, the output and income are expected to increase 3 times. Currently, I have planted nearly 2,000 plum trees, of which 600 have been harvested."

According to Mr. Vang, the decisive condition for handling off-season plums is having water. Getting water to this area is a problem, but Mr. Vang has boldly invested in a modern automatic irrigation system, more than half a kilometer long. Thanks to that, the plum trees are watered 3 months earlier than the main-season plums. In early September, Mr. Vang sprayed biological products to supplement nutrients for the trees. In addition, the excess branches must be pruned so that nutrients accumulate in the young branches. Thanks to this scientific treatment, by early February of the following year, the off-season plums were ripe, with a very high selling price of 80,000 VND/kg. Notably, off-season plums are easy to sell, although the yield is only slightly lower than that of the main-season plums.

Ms. Hoang Thi Chuyen, President of the Farmers' Association of Chieng On Commune, Yen Chau District, informed: Mr. Vang A Vang is one of the typical farmers who dares to think and dare to do. Not only has he created an effective economic model for his family, getting rich legitimately in his homeland, he is also an example for the H'Mong and Xinh Mun households in the village to follow and develop the economy...

Quoc Tuan