According to Second-in-Command Officer of Ban May Border Post Major Vuong Dinh Vinh, Ban May in Hoang Su Phi district is located at an altitude of more than 1,000m above sea level, and is one of the extremely-disadvantaged border communes of Ha Giang province. There, trade activities are very limited. Market opens once a week and goods are mainly farm produce. Therefore, troops of the border post have to raise animals and grow vegetables to be self-sufficient in their daily meals.
Major Vinh said that yearly, from the end of November, the border guards plant a number of high quality vegetables and raise cattle and poultry, including local specialties, for the lunar New Year (Tet) and then invite local ethnic minority people to visit, study farming models to develop their household economy.
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Ban May Border Post’s troops take care of poultry. |
Meanwhile, at the Border Post of Xin Man Border Gate, where it is foggy all year round, the border guards are self-sufficient in over 90% of their food needs.
The post’s commanding officer Lt. Col. Do Dai Thang said that in recent years, the post has teamed up with Production Team No.3 of Defense-Economic Unit 313 under Military Region 2 to provide local people with plant and animal varieties, techniques, animal and crop disease prevention and control. The unit has also assisted local farmers in harvesting and even consuming farm produce, helping many families escape from poverty and stabilize their life.
According to Lt. Col. Luc Phat Dung, Political Commissar of Production Team No.3, since 2022, on realizing the project in which troops help ethnic minority people in economic-defense areas, the team has given dozens of families hundreds of indigenous black pigs, supported 20 households to develop a buffalo breeding model.
Last year, the team launched a sugar beet growing model for 30 households in three villages of Xin Man commune; a seedless persimmon planting model for 40 households and gave support to 77 households to raise goats and buffaloes in Nan Xin commune.
So far, these models have brought practical outcomes, particularly the sugar beet growing model, opening up a new economic development direction for locals.
Apart from Production Team No.3, four other teams from Defense-Economic Unit 313 have worked closely with local border posts and authorities to carry out various projects on infrastructure construction, large-scale farming model development, contributing to positive changes in the Northernmost province of Ha Giang and positive thinking of local people.
In 2023, many households with a stable source of income from farm produce did not need local support for Tet celebrations.
With wholehearted support from the border guards, local households have their life improved. As a result, the troops-people relations have been strengthened and the people’s heart disposition in border areas has been consolidated strongly.
Translated by Mai Huong