Along with plums and bananas, mangoes are another product of Yen Chau district, Son La province.
It has been exported to European and Chinese markets.

This place was once known as one of the largest corn-producing areas in the country… To address the issue of inefficient corn cultivation, encroachment, and erosion of forest land, Son La has successfully restructured its agricultural sector with a sound policy of shifting towards fruit trees as the main crop of the locality, contributing to transforming Son La's agriculture into a leading economic sector.

Since the 1990s, along with the strong development of corn cultivation on sloping and forest land, fruit trees also began to appear as part of Son La province's new economic development model. However, at this time, low-yield corn fields encroaching on forest land are still being strongly developed and maintained by people throughout the communes and villages in the districts and cities...

By 2015, the area of ​​fruit trees in Son La had reached 23,600 hectares. In those years, due to limited scientific and technological advancements, most of the fruit trees were old varieties with very low yields and quality. By the end of 2015, many households began cutting down their fruit trees to return to planting corn, cassava, and other similar crops.

The effectiveness of a sound policy.

Comrade Hoang Van Chat, former Secretary of the Son La Provincial Party Committee (2015-2020 term), recounted: Before the 14th Son La Provincial Party Congress, many meetings were held to summarize and evaluate the models and tasks of socio-economic development in the 2010-2015 period. These meetings highlighted Son La's outstanding potential and advantages, while also frankly acknowledging the difficulties, unfulfilled tasks, and bottlenecks hindering development, which have kept Son La a poor province.

In light of this situation, the provincial leadership unanimously agreed that innovation was necessary to find a suitable direction for the transformation of the Northwest mountainous region. Accordingly, the Resolution of the Son La Provincial Party Congress for the 2015-2020 term outlined seven key programs, including a program for developing high-tech agriculture in the production and processing of agricultural, forestry, and aquatic products, linked with geographical indications and product branding.

Based on that orientation, on November 30, 2015, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee issued Conclusion Notice No. 12 on some policies for planting fruit trees on sloping land, with the goal of strongly converting areas currently planted with corn, potatoes, and cassava to fruit tree cultivation. It also identified this as a key task for the entire political system from the province to the grassroots level, requiring focused leadership, guidance, and coordinated and timely implementation.

Based on Conclusion No. 12, the Son La Provincial People's Council issued a resolution providing 200,000 VND in support to each household involved in grafting and renovating their unproductive gardens. Although a modest amount, within two years, more than 90,000 households received support totaling over 18 billion VND.

In addition, in 2015, Son La also piloted the use of provincial budget to support 70% of drip irrigation models combined with soluble fertilizers. With such initial assistance and support for the people, the province created momentum to stimulate demand, encouraging ethnic minority communities to actively switch to different crops.

As soon as the policy of developing fruit trees on sloping land was adopted, Son La province determined that it needed to establish agricultural cooperatives with the aim of consolidating production forces and accumulating land on a large scale to build concentrated production areas, instead of developing small-scale production by individual households. This was because reality had shown that fragmented production models made it difficult to achieve consistent quality and hindered the formation of a stable supply of products to the market.

The H'Mông ethnic people in Co Mạ commune, Thuận Châu district, harvest Queen pineapples on sloping land.

Therefore, the province has issued mechanisms and policies to encourage and mobilize people to participate in building cooperative alliances. To date, Son La province has more than 300 fruit-growing cooperatives, 11 science and technology enterprises operating in the agricultural sector, and more than 500 agricultural product processing facilities. The establishment of a large cooperative force has created a strong linkage chain between enterprises, cooperatives, and farmers.

Comrade Nguyen Thanh Cong, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, stated: The Government, central ministries and agencies, the Politburo, and the Secretariat acknowledge Son La province's breakthroughs in agricultural development, especially in high-tech agriculture and fruit tree development. These models, implemented by agricultural production facilities adhering to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards, have attracted numerous delegations for study and research…

Breakthroughs in agriculture

By shifting its focus to fruit trees as the main crop of the locality, Son La has effectively implemented the task of restructuring its agricultural sector. This success stems not only from sound policies and the selection of suitable crops, but also from investment and strategic planning to transform Son La's agriculture into a leading economic sector.

Comrade Lo Minh Hung, Permanent Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, shared: In the last 20 years, Son La has cooperated well with research institutes, contributing to bringing fruit tree varieties to the province for trial planting, ensuring their adaptability to the soil and land conditions. From introducing tree varieties for testing to building models, Son La has now affirmed that it can develop fruit trees on sloping land.

In Mai Son district, for example, over the past nearly 10 years (from 2015 to 2024), the area of ​​fruit trees has increased from 1,500 hectares to 11,500 hectares, with the main crops being longan, mango, custard apple, passion fruit, and citrus fruits. The district's production structure has been adjusted to leverage the advantages of each region, each commune and town, linked to market demand and adapting to climate change.

Comrade Nguyen Viet Cuong, Secretary of the District Party Committee, said: The provincial resolution on converting inefficient crops to fruit trees on sloping land has resonated with the people because of its practicality and high economic efficiency. This is a legitimate desire of the people to get rich, and currently, people are very actively responding to the crop conversion movement.

To date, fruit trees have brought abundant harvests to Mai Son district every year, with an average yield of over 90,000 tons/year. Production efficiency has continuously increased over the years, and the average income per hectare of cultivated land in Mai Son district reaches nearly 88 million VND.

In Moc Chau district, there are currently 101 agricultural cooperatives established, of which 40 are operating within the value chain. The total charter capital of these cooperatives is over 169 billion VND, with 1,045 members, providing employment for more than 1,200 permanent workers and over 1,500 seasonal workers.

Agricultural cooperatives in the area have contributed to expanding the cultivation of the district's key fruit crops, increasing the fruit tree area to over 10,700 hectares, with a production of over 61,000 tons in 2023; the production value per hectare of agricultural land in Moc Chau has increased year by year.

Comrade Truong Hoa Bac, Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, said: In recent years, to effectively implement the policy of planting fruit trees on sloping land, the district has always proactively coordinated with departments and agencies to connect with businesses and traders for guaranteed purchase, consumption, export, and market linkages, and through that, economic cooperation contracts.

In addition to consolidating and improving traditional markets, the district focuses on the Chinese market for fresh fruit products, while also developing potential markets and countries that have signed free trade agreements with Vietnam, such as Japan and South Korea.

Not only Mai Son and Moc Chau districts, but Son La province has also established large-scale concentrated fruit production areas in Song Ma, Yen Chau, Muong La, Thuan Chau, Bac Yen, and Phu Yen districts. To date, the entire province has more than 82,000 hectares of fruit trees, of which over 63,200 hectares are in production, yielding approximately 378,530 tons.

There have been times when Son La's fruit-growing areas have been affected by prolonged heatwaves and droughts, and in some places, hailstorms and other natural disasters. However, thanks to the application of scientific and technological advancements, although the yield of some fruit varieties has decreased, the appearance and quality still meet the standards of domestic and export partners.

There are many models that generate high incomes ranging from 200 million to 400 million VND/hectare, especially custard apples which yield over 350 million VND/hectare; and strawberries which yield 420 million VND/hectare. Most of the fresh fruit is purchased by businesses and cooperatives to supply supermarkets and organic fruit stores in provinces and cities nationwide, as well as for export.

Currently, Son La maintains 280 safe agricultural and aquatic product supply chains, 294 planting area codes for export, 145 establishments applying agricultural production processes that meet VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards; and has 560 factories and agricultural processing facilities.

Son La has developed fruit production areas at three levels: national key products; provincial key products; and local specialty products under the OCOP program, integrating them into national and provincial industry development plans; moving towards organizing the issuance of planting area codes, creating recognition for high-quality fruits on the map of Vietnamese agricultural products…

After five years of effort, from 2020 to the present, Son La, once a locality where agricultural producers only sold cassava and corn, has undergone a spectacular transformation, maintaining its position as the largest fruit-growing area in the northern region and ranking second nationwide, earning the reputation as an "agricultural economic phenomenon".

The spirit of determination, boldness, and initiative, combined with the province's well-planned and correct approach, has created a memorable turning point from a previously challenging local initiative.

Source: Nhan Dan Newspaper