(VOVWORLD) - An Hien is one of seven hamlets leading new-style rural building in Hoang Dieu commune in Hanoi’s outlying Chuong My district. An Hien is trying to meet the enhanced criteria for new-style rural villages.
 The communal house and library of An Hien hamlet. (Photo: Ngoc Anh)
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In March 2020, An Hien was re-established as an agricultural village with 400 households and 1,480 people. In 2015, Hoang Dieu commune was recognized as a new-style rural area and An Hien was one of the hamlets praised for rural building quality.
The development of large-scale fields has increased the productivity of crops and livestock and reduced labor costs. An Hien now has more than 200 hectares of agricultural land and 13 farms.
The agricultural production areas are planned to form production chains and increase product value, according to Nguyen Van Hung, the hamlet chief.
“As planned, there are separate areas for fruit trees and rice farming. A number of longan and pomelo farms enjoy bumper harvests, each earning 22,000 to 27,000 USD per year. The chicken farm alone nets a profit of 13,500 USD per year after all expenses,” said Hung.
He told VOV, “The hamlet has signed contracts with the owners of land cultivators and rice harvesters to keep villagers focus on harvesting. The hamlet’s economic section always has new, high-quality seed for the villagers. Last year, for example, the new rice variety QR15 was grown on 50 hectares, helping local farmers gain a yield of 230 to 240 kilos per 360 square meters.”
Three groups have been established in An Hien to help farmers borrow capital for production and trading. Each group manages more than 88,000 USD. After paying his loan by the due date, a farmer can get another loan for production.
According to Dang Xuan Chien, the hamlet’s deputy chief and one of the successful local businessmen, “In the past, each household had a small rice field where machinery couldn’t be used. But after the fields were merged into large-scale fields and access roads were widened to accommodate industrial farm machinery, productivity increased and labor was reduced. In 2013 a low-yield rice cultivation area was converted to a garden-pond-pigsty model. My 2-hectare land now earns a profit of 6,600 USD a year after expenses.”
 A fresco depictsvillagers working in the rice fields (Photo: Ngoc Anh)
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An Hien hamlet has a prosperous look. The communal house, temple, pagoda, and cultural house are new, newly repaired, or newly decorated with a beautiful fresco. All village roads have been paved, and sewers in residential areas have been capped, creating a cleaner environment.
Tran Quang Huy, Secretary of the hamlet’s Party cell and head of the hamlet’s Fatherland Front, said, “We make socialization the foundation of new-style rural building. Each citizen should be aware that they are the main part of the process.”
Huy took the construction of a martyrs’ cemetery from private donations as the most typical example, adding, “The donated work was worth more than 44,000 USD. A 3,000-square-meter stadium was built by private donations of land and completed in 2011. The hamlet’s main road, more than 300 meters long, is decorated with 100 flower pots. Many other hamlets in Chuong My district have come to learn our model.”
There are no longer any poor households in An Hien. The villagers’ current per-capita income is between 2,400 and 2,600 USD a year. This is expected to increase soon to 2,700 USD.
Tran Quang Dien, an elder in An Hien, says the local economy has improved, resulting in a better life.
“Our library was built 5 years ago and has more than 1,000 book titles covering literature, art, sports, law, agriculture, animal husbandry, child care, and health. It is reserved for villagers, who can borrow books for free,” said Dien.
An Hien intends to meet the enhanced criteria for new-style rural building by the end of 2023 or early 2024.