Beautiful and clean roads in Viet Dan commune (Photo: VOV)

Traveling along  Highway 18 and arriving at Viet Dan commune, visitors are surprised by what they see there. Located at the foot of Yen Tu mountain range, the paved roads run through golden rice fields and lush fruit orchards. Tree and flower fences on the road sides are carefully trimmed. The red-tile houses are intermingled with fruit orchards. 

After being recognized as a new style rural area in 2013, Viet Dan has worked harder to become a role model in Vietnam. Local households have been supported in the plantation of custard-apples, the locality’s main fruit trees, in accordance with the Vietnamese Good Agriculture Practices (VietGap) standards, and in high tech application to increase productivity, stamp origin traceability, and connect consumption.

Chu Thi Dua of Tan Thanh hamlet said her family has built a 12,000-square-meter model garden, adding: “The application of VietGap standards has helped the locals increase efficiency as compared to previous years. In the past, a kilo of custard-apples was about 1.3 USD but now sometimes it costs 2.2 USD a kilo. The fruit has been much sought after in the market. My family is very happy as we earn more than 30,000 USD a year since we applied the VietGap regulations.”

Viet Dan, a mountainous commune, has restructured crops and re-planned the specialized production area with 300 hectares for quality rice farming, 200 for custard-apples, 45 hectares for segment citrus fruit trees, and improved the irrigation system.

The commune’s income per capita last year reached 2,400 USD, nearly doubling the initial figure from 2013.

For Viet Dan, poor households are a thing of the past, as they move forward and cultivate beautiful environs.  All waste in the commune has been sorted, collected, and properly treated. Breeding facilities have been hygienic while local households haven’t used chemical pesticides. Villagers have donated land and workdays to take care of trees and clean village roads and alleys on Green Sundays.

Nguyen Thi Minh Tu, chief of Phuc Thi hamlet, said: “Party members and organizations are examplary in planting and pruning trees, tidying up the surrounding environment, and involving others to join hands. This way, villagers can get into the habit of self-reliance and  beautifying their local areas.”

The locals have benefited from health check-ups and treatments while their children are able to attend national standard schools. All hamlets have spacious cultural houses where villagers can  exercise or practice cultural or sports activities every afternoon.

In July this year, Quang Ninh province recognized Viet Dan as a new-style rural model commune pursuant to the government's direction.

Nguyen Ngoc Tien, Vice Chairman of Viet Dan People's Committee, said that the achievements were attributed to the determination and consensus on the part of both officials and residents and the local administration’s leadership, which  galvanized local solidarity.

Custard-apples farm in Viet Dan commune (Photo: VOV)

Over the past 2 years, 2.9 million USD were spent for new rural construction, more than half of which was contributed by the people.

Tien explained further: “Once people reach a consensus, it will create a great source of strength.  We have gathered together groups of families to be united, reconcile, and develop model hamlets, households and roads towards contributing to building the hamlet’s cultural house. When the economic conditions have improved, the spiritual life and cultural institutions will improve as well.”

Dong Trieu township is targeted to become a new-style rural model by 2020, said Nguyen Van Ngoan, Deputy Chairman of the township People’s Committee.

“Building new rural has begun and will never end. The success of the movement is predicated on the people. In the future, we’ll focus on improving the criteria, the production planning by chain, and the goods’ value to raise villagers’ income and ensure that rural people will have a healthy lifestyle and beautiful village roads and good services,” said Ngoan.