Just two years introduced to Dien Bien district, Dien Bien Phu province, rubber plant has become popular as “white gold” to ethnic minorities in the site of historic interest that marks the fall of French colonialism in Indochina 56 years ago.
The industrial crop originated from the sunny south has quickly covered barren hills and mountain flanks in the cool northern highlands. The tree has contributed to not only preventing land erosions but also bringing in a better life to locals, mostly from the Thai and Mong ethnic groups.
The project on rubber plantation in Dien Bien has so far benefited over 400 local families with an average monthly income of 2.2 million VND per capita.
Lo Van Cuong of the Thai ethnic minority in Thanh Nua commune, Dien Bien district, said rubber has earned him some 2.5 million VND a month over the past two years, thus enabling his family to afford a television set, a motorcycle and construction of a wooden house, a lifetime dream for a farmer family, especially in remote mountainous areas.
The Thai man talked with a happy smile about the job, saying that the project has covered his insurances along with providing labour safety suits and technical training.
For a sustainable development, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has planned to expand large-scale plantations to turn them into a giant supplier of raw material for adjacent processors and a marketing network.
Department Director Pham Duc Hien pledged favourable conditions for all investors interested in rubber growing in the province.
A rubber latex processing factory is to be build soon, he added.
The province has so far grown over 2,200 ha of rubber, concentrating in Dien Bien, Muong Nhe, Tuan Giao and Dien Bien Phu city. The area is expected to expand by another 7,700 ha by 2015.
The northwestern mountainous region has proven to be ideal for rubber growing as its productivity is as high as the one recorded by famous rubber producers in the southeastern region and the Central Highlands.
The national rubber development master-plan for 2015 and the 2020 vision has called for intensive investments in major sites, namely the southeastern region, the Central Highlands, the south and north central coastal regions and northwestern region./.
The industrial crop originated from the sunny south has quickly covered barren hills and mountain flanks in the cool northern highlands. The tree has contributed to not only preventing land erosions but also bringing in a better life to locals, mostly from the Thai and Mong ethnic groups.
The project on rubber plantation in Dien Bien has so far benefited over 400 local families with an average monthly income of 2.2 million VND per capita.
Lo Van Cuong of the Thai ethnic minority in Thanh Nua commune, Dien Bien district, said rubber has earned him some 2.5 million VND a month over the past two years, thus enabling his family to afford a television set, a motorcycle and construction of a wooden house, a lifetime dream for a farmer family, especially in remote mountainous areas.
The Thai man talked with a happy smile about the job, saying that the project has covered his insurances along with providing labour safety suits and technical training.
For a sustainable development, the provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has planned to expand large-scale plantations to turn them into a giant supplier of raw material for adjacent processors and a marketing network.
Department Director Pham Duc Hien pledged favourable conditions for all investors interested in rubber growing in the province.
A rubber latex processing factory is to be build soon, he added.
The province has so far grown over 2,200 ha of rubber, concentrating in Dien Bien, Muong Nhe, Tuan Giao and Dien Bien Phu city. The area is expected to expand by another 7,700 ha by 2015.
The northwestern mountainous region has proven to be ideal for rubber growing as its productivity is as high as the one recorded by famous rubber producers in the southeastern region and the Central Highlands.
The national rubber development master-plan for 2015 and the 2020 vision has called for intensive investments in major sites, namely the southeastern region, the Central Highlands, the south and north central coastal regions and northwestern region./.
