President Truong Tan Sang on Jan. 29 launched an order for ploughing the rice field at the beginning of the lunar new year at the annual Tich Dien (ploughing) festival in Doi Son commune, in the Red River delta province of Ha Nam.

This year’s Tich Dien-Doi Son festival took place from Jan. 27-29 or from the fifth to the seventh day of the of the lunar new year, hoping for a bumper rice harvest in 2012 – the Year of the Dragon.

Addressing the ceremony, President Truong Tan Sang said the festival has become an important ritual of wet rice civilisation which should be preserved and developed for future generations.

Looking back on Vietnamese history, he noted that in all circumstances, agriculture, farmers and rural areas laid the basic foundation for national development.

Global integration poses numerous challenges, and agricultural development remains the cornerstone of maintaining social stability and food security, the President said.

The annual festival originated from the Le dynasty in 987 when King Le Dai Hanh decided to plough in Doi Son commune, Duy Tien district, to wish for bumper crops. Since then, it has become established as a fine tradition in early Spring every year./.