Effective policies of supporting ethnic communities

“Since being able to attend training sessions on knowledge of livestock and poultry raising skills, the learned farming techniques have helped my family's husbandry and farming develop and achieve high economic efficiency," said Mr. Tri Quang, a Khmer residing at Nuoc Vang hamlet of An Binh commune in Phu Giao district.

Thanks to knowledge of husbandry learned from the training courses, Mr. Tri Quang has successfully developed his model of cow raising

Mutual helps for good economic outcomes

Mr. Tri Quang said that in the past, raising cattle and poultry as well as taking care of crops of his family only relied on available experience, so productivity and economic efficiency were not high. When the commune announced the opening of training sessions on livestock production, he participated. Being guided of husbandry techniques, he has effectively applied it to practice, making the animals less susceptible to diseases, and some diseases are also cured. “Since then, whenever I hear an announcement from the hamlet that there is a training class, even though I'm busy, I arrange to have time to attend and gain more useful knowledge. Since participating in technical training sessions on raising cows and chickens and how to build a barn to ensure the health of livestock and poultry and cultivation techniques organized by the commune People's Committee, I have learned a lot more about techniques as well as disease prevention in animal husbandry and cultivation, especially knowing how to choose breed and seedlings for high yield and quality, bringing high economic efficiency to the family," said Mr. Tri Quang.. Up to now, Mr. Tri Quang's family has developed a model of raising cows and chicken with the number of 7 beef cattle, nearly 200 hybrid yellow-legged chicken, 2 hectares of rubber and 1 hectare of cashew. Excluding investment and care costs, his family could earn more than VND 100 million annually. The family economy has been developed stably, so there are more conditions for children to study. Tri's three children have all attended universities and colleges and graduated for stable jobs and income.

As for the household of Mr. Niu Bu, a Khmer residing at Tan Thinh hamlet of An Binh commune, in addition to taking care of 2 hectares of rubber trees, his family also raises breeding cows. Mr. Bu said that since attending the training sessions, he has known that the 3b breed has higher weight, quick development, and economic efficiency, while the price of 3b breed is not too high. The characteristics of the cow breed are super-developed muscles, beautiful appearance, and delicious meat. In particular, after birth, calves grow more quickly in only about 4.5 months faster than other cow breeds. 3b cows are sold as breed right from the age of 1 month for about VND 15 million a cow while other cow breeds take 6 - 10 months to be sold at such a price. Up to now, his family has developed into a breeding pair of 3b cows. Annual income from selling 3b cows is more than VND 60 million. Despite achieving success, Mr. Bu did not keep his experience to himself, he shared the techniques with his surrounding households so that they know how to raise livestock in clean cages and vaccinate cattle and poultry to prevent diseases and sickness.

Mrs. Ung Thi Dao, an official in charge of Home Affairs, Ethnic Minorities, Religions and Emulation in An Binh Commune, said: “For many years, twice a year, the commune coordinates with specialized agencies of the district to organize knowledge training on farming, thereby contributing to economic development for local households. After a period of raising, most of the cows, pigs, chicken and so on of the households have developed well; the number of herds has increased rapidly. Many families actively expand their animal husbandry by investing more capital to chicken and pigs, thereby increasing their income.”

Plenty supporting policies

An Binh is a commune with the main agricultural economy which is accounted for 75% of the local economic structure. The whole commune has 265 Khmer households with more than 1,000 people. In order to help ethnic minority households in the commune have conditions for economic development, reduce poverty, and contribute to building happy and prosperous family, in recent years, the local Party Committee and authority have offered many policies, and, at the same time, together with associations and mass organizations of the commune, actively implement many economic development programs, disseminate scientific and technical knowledge to apply to production in accordance with the specific characteristics of the local advantages.

Mr. Vo Van Loi, Chairman of An Binh Commune People's Committee, said that the commune People's Committee always cares about the life and economic development of ethnic minorities locally. The commune People's Committee has implemented many policies and proposed to formulate the ethnic policies. Typically, in career orientation for the people, every year the commune People's Committee cooperates with local agencies to organize vocational training classes for workers, including ethnic minority workers participating in vocational courses and agricultural extension classes according to specific topics suitable to local production conditions such as methods of cultivating rubber trees, cashew, cassava and pepper, raising buffaloes, cows, pigs, and chicken.

Implementing the project of sedentary cultivation for ethnic minorities, up to now, the commune has 112 households that have been granted land for cashew and rubber tree cultivation with a total area of more than 116 hectares, helping the people to develop production and stabilize production for their settled lives. The work of education universalization among ethnic minorities is also focused. Every year, the commune mobilizes 100% of the children of ethnic minorities to go to school and coordinates with the Bank for Social Policies to offer loans to pupils and students who are children of ethnic minorities, to issue health insurance cards to poor and near-poor households, to coordinate with medical examination teams to give priority to ethnic minorities.

 “In the coming time, the commune People's Committee will continue to implement the guidelines, resolutions, policies and laws of the Party and the State into people's lives in the area including ethnic minorities to constantly improve the spirit of solidarity and jointly develop the economy sustainably and constructively," said Mr. Loi.

Reported by Do Trong – Translated by Vi Bao