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Located next to the Be and Dong Nai rivers, North Tan Uyen district has favorable conditions for riverside economic development. Many people in the area have taken advantage of these strengths to develop home-based businesses, contributing to changing poor villages into a land with many "billionaire farmers".

Dong Nai and Be rivers with fertile alluvium and guaranteed water source are favorable conditions for North Tan Uyen district to develop specialized citrus fruit cultivation. In photo: Hieu Liem ferry port daily brings people back and forth and trade goods.

A makeover of the poor countryside

Hieu Liem Commune ferry terminal has many sailings every day to transit people and goods back and forth. Standing on the banks of the river, watching the Be and Dong Nai rivers calm, and looking at ferries carrying heavy goods, it seems to open up a vibrant and bustling economic picture over recent years.

Chanh Hung Hamlet and Cay Dau Hamlet (Hieu Liem Commune) were formerly a poor residential area in Hamlet 5, Lac An Commune, people mainly depended on growing melaleuca trees with low efficiency. Today, the name "poor hamlet" is no longer exists, but it has become "affluent hamlet" of the commune. According to Mai Duc Quy, Chairman of Hieu Liem Commune People's Committee, since the separation the commune, taking advantage of riverside advantages, people have switched to growing citrus fruits. At first, only 2-3 households from Dong Thap and Ben Tre planted fruit trees and gained high efficiency. Then the local government oriented people to learn from experience to redirect the development of citrus fruit trees, such as oranges, tangerines, and pomelos, to rise up on their homeland.

“The population of Hieu Liem commune is small and sparse, but the land area is large, hence these are favorable conditions for agricultural economic development. The water source of Be and Dong Nai rivers ensures irrigation; the soil is suitable for growing citrus fruit trees. Currently, total area of fruit trees in the commune is more than 1,400 hectares, in particular, two hamlets of Chanh Hung and Cay Dau account for two thirds of the area with 1,200 hectares. Trademarks of "North Tan Uyen Orange", "North Tan Uyen Grapefruit", "North Tan Uyen Tangerine" are now well-known in the domestic and export markets", Quy proudly said.

Ly Van Cu, Head of Cay Dau hamlet, said: “The hamlet has 130 households of permanent residence, many of them live next to the river. People in the hamlet earn income mainly by growing citrus fruits, many other households have good water sources, thus they develop very strong fruit trees. Indeed, in North Tan Uyen, Ba Tham, Tam Thuong, Tam Vung, Nam Tinh, Tu Co, Pham Ngoc Minh... are popular names. With an area of about 100 hectares, these farms have an average output of 25-30 tons/ha, annual revenue of several tens of billions of VND, their customers spread throughout major cities in the country. To facilitate farming, these farms 99% utilize water from two rivers by applying high technology to create a fully automatic irrigation system.

For example, Lam Thanh Thuong's farm (group 4, Chanh Hung hamlet) was very successful in bringing Lai Vung pink tangerine from Lai Vung district, Dong Thap province to plant on Hieu Liem land. Thuong confided: "Bringing a plant variety from a clay soil to a new land and making success is not easy, besides the favorable water source, it requires technique and experience. Growing a tree is very easy and anyone can do it, but on harvest day, we must achieve the good quality that are beautiful, succulent fruits".

Indeed, the alluvial water and experience of the passionate farmer brought him sweet fruits. With an area of 15 hectares of Lai Vung pink tangerine, the average harvest is 30-40 tons/crop, each Tet harvest of up to 100 tons has brought him significant economic benefits.

Talking about the change of this land, Tran Huu Quyen, Head of Chanh Hung hamlet, showed his emotion and joy: “I have lived on this land for more than 34 years, have been working as the head of the hamlet for more than 20 years, witnessed changes of this land year by year, and feel really proud. Previously, this land was still poor, since the development and expansion of citrus fruit trees, the people's lives and income have changed a lot. People with little land have jobs, people with lots of land focus on cultivating and growing fruit trees to help the local economy develop.

Lai Vung pink tangerine orchard of Lam Thanh Thuong (Tam Thuong) located next to the Be River generates a great source of income for him every year. In photo: Tam Thuong's family member takes care of the orchard.

The old job has become a memory

Also a commune with many people living along the river, Lac An is a poor commune, but the people have been working hard to make a living. In a slow voice with a bit of nostalgia, Tran Van Trung, Head of Hamlet 1, Lac An Commune, said: "In Hamlet 1, there used to be a group of riverside households who lived by fishing on the Dong Nai River. More than 10 years ago, they developed fish raft, but later to ensure water hygiene, this aquaculture was discarded. Hamlet 1 is poorer than other hamlets because of limited land, hence young people mainly work for factories. Households having their own land develop citrus fruit trees, and have become relatively well off.

Do Hoai Vinh, Head of Hamlet 3, said that the hamlet has a total of more than 500 households, of which 20 households live along the river. Due to the right mobilization and orientation of the district government, households doing fish raft began to settle ashore. The number of people who go fishing for a living is very few now, most of them are in special difficult circumstances. The rest mainly invest in citrus fruit trees, grow rice, do small animal husbandry or work in companies.

Currently, along with the restructuring of crops, focusing on developing citrus fruit trees, Lac An is the commune having the largest rice area in the district, accounting for 280 hectares. Lac An people are making efforts every day to take advantage of the riverside to grow crops in order to improve people's living standards, stimulate the development of local economy.

With suitable natural conditions, knowing how to take advantage of rivers to develop strengths, in a short time, the area of citrus trees in North Tan Uyen district has increased rapidly, forming a large specialized cultivation area, facilitating the economic - cultural development of the whole district. The riverside location, the right orientation of the government, the right time when the economy is open, and the acumen of the people have turned poor villages into an innovating and developing area.

Reported by Tien Hanh - Translated by Ngoc Huynh