(VOVworld) – In the northern mountain province of Son La, the cooperative model has shaped the province’s new rural program. The cooperatives provide services to boost household economies, trading, and people’s living conditions.
Growing vegetable in greenhouses has improved output and quality (photo: sonla.gov.vn) |
Chieng Ban commune in Mai Son district, which was selected to pilot the new rural development program, has achieved 9 of 19 criteria. The commune has 2 cooperatives to buy and process coffee. The cooperatives have 40 members and generate stable jobs and incomes for hundreds of coffee planting households. Pham Van Khanh, Chairman of Chieng Ban commune’s People’s Committee, says more cooperatives will be opened this year specializing in services, purchasing, and processing farm produce. Khanh says: “The commune will support the cooperatives by allocating land to them for new factories and offices. They’ll be given contracts to build paved roads and other infrastructure. They are encouraged to help poor hamlets and households build new rural areas.
Ha Duy Thuong of Chieng Xom says that in 2005 he invested 10,000 USD in growing flowers. He opened the Ha Duy Thuong floriculture cooperative in 2011. It now has a 17-ha rose farm. Thuong says the revenue is 100,000 USD and after deducting costs he makes a 3,000 USD profit. Thuong’s cooperative generates stable jobs for 20 people with an average monthly income of 150 USD. Thuong will launch the first high-quality flower growing program in Son La. Thuong said: “My flowers are mainly sold in Hanoi, Hai Phong, and adjacent provinces. I expect that the city will license my high-quality flower growing program. This year, I plan to grow 5,000 lilies in greenhouses. If the program is implemented, it will raise the economic output of each hectare from 40,000 USD to 50,000 USD.”
Son La province has 150 joint work groups and 127 cooperatives with 23,000 members. The total value of their assets and capital is over 14 million USD. The cooperatives’ revenue last year was 7.2 million USD and they paid 200,000 USD in taxes. As economic organizations supporting and developing the local community, the cooperatives have been involved in generating jobs, promoting unity, and developing the community. While implementing the new rural areas program, the cooperatives have launched campaigns to reform and improve their own performance and take the lead in poverty reduction. Nguyen Huu Tang is Chairman of Son La province’s Alliance of Cooperatives. “The Alliance will work with functional agencies to consult the province to issue compatible policies to encourage the development of cooperatives according to Party and State policies. We’ll propose measures to solve obstacles for cooperatives and improve the capacity of the cooperative managers. We’ll boost programs to improve the cooperatives’ efficiency and cooperatives taking the lead in poverty reduction and building new rural areas.”
For Son La province, offering incentives to cooperatives aims to generate jobs and reduce poverty while promoting the community’s role in building new rural areas.
Lan Thuy