Hanoi encompasses a number of traditional craft villages and vegetable growing villages. Thúy Lĩnh village, 10km from the city’s center, has been growing and supplying vegetables to the capital city for a hundred years.
From 1 to 2 o’clock in the morning, vegetable fields in Thúy Lĩnh are filled with happy chatter as villagers pick the vegetables they will sell in the morning market session. 51-year-old villager Vũ Thị Hiền says: “We have to pick the vegetables at night, otherwise they will wither and be damaged by frost and heavy rains. Growing vegetables is much easier than before because we now have tap water available right at the field”.
A net-house farming project with a semi-automatic watering system was first piloted on 6,000 square meters in 2000. The experiment proved very effective and has helped to increase the productivity and quality of organic vegetables. The village has built a water-supply station, making it easier for local vegetable growers. Mrs. Hien again: “Many people have become reengaged in growing vegetables. We now no longer have to carry water”.
The net-house farming model has been a success and is now being applied on 20 hectares, enabling farmers to earn up to 16,000 USD per hectare per year. Lê Thị Ngọt is another local farmer: “Our vegetables are all organic. We use only clean water for watering and cleaning”.
Thúy Lĩnh village is currently one of the 4 main suppliers of organic vegetables to Hanoi and several of the city’s major supermarket chains. Mrs. Hien says they no longer have to worry about outlets for their products: “Our vegetables are in great demand and growing vegetables is now our main source of income”.
Mrs. Le Thi Ngot says they are preparing to grow vegetables for the lunar new year festival: “We mainly grow leafy vegetables and we grow different kinds of vegetable depending on the weather conditions”.
Thúy Lĩnh is currently trying to establish a produce collection and distribution system and the village is planning to apply advanced bio-technology to diversify their products with higher-yield and higher quality varieties.
To Tuan