Waterpipe tobacco is dried full of sugar in Vinh Bao The season of “harvesting” waterpipe tobacco starts from the end of May and lasts until the end of June. It is no longer as bustling as it used to be, but these days, stepping into the barn of “mutual love” in Tien Lang (Hai Phong), Everywhere is filled with the pungent smell of pipe tobacco. Many households give up planting because they work too hard In the middle of the hot summer afternoon of June, Mr. Nguyen Tien Su, in Ly Hoc commune, Vinh Bao district, Hai Phong city is still working hard with his wife and children while trying to make new Thai medicines – morning exposure. The rectangular screens have an area of ​​​​about 2m2, filled with waterpipe tobacco. The pungent smell of pipe tobacco rose in every corner. Pointing to dozens of rolls of waterpipe tobacco lying inside the house, Mr. Su said that after days of planting and caring, it was time to break the medicine and cut it. If there are drugs, they must be incubated and stored carefully in the house. In those days, people had to go out in the yard, in the summer to sleep, to make room to brew pipe tobacco. Each batch of pipe tobacco will be incubated for about 4-6 days. “Waterpipe tobacco can’t be soaked in rain, drying with dew only has time and stages, so when brewing, you have to spend an area in the house for the medicine, people can sleep outside,” said Mr. Su. According to Mr. Su, pipe tobacco is a “specialty” that is grown in many places, but the most delicious is the water pipe grown in Tien Lang, Vinh Bao. This is considered to be the land that produces tobacco to advance to the king. “The land here does not grow rice, but grows waterpipe tobacco. There are many houses growing 1-2 samples of waterpipe tobacco. If cared for well, each pipe tobacco tree also gives 50-70kg, selling at current market prices from 100-200 thousand VND/kg, special types up to 700-800 thousand VND/kg, some types up to both million VND/kg. With a value many times higher than that of growing rice, many households have given up growing waterpipe tobacco because it is too hard, “said Mr. Su. Keeping the “fire” of the profession Ms. Vinh, from the same commune of Ly Hoc, said that compared to the old days, the production of waterpipe tobacco is easier now, thanks to the machine, there is no need to cut by hand. But the stages of pressing the tops, breaking buds, watering, picking leaves, drying dew, drying in the sun, incubating … still have to be as complete and thorough as before. “Growing waterpipe tobacco is 3-4 times more economical than growing rice, one tree of medicine can give 10 million dong. But every day I have to go to the field to press the tops, break the buds, water, pick the leaves, and then spend the whole house on the potion, I go out to the yard to sleep… It’s so hard, so many people quit their jobs,” said Vinh . Mr. Su added, after hard care for about 4-5 months, it is time to harvest waterpipe tobacco. Waterpipe tobacco, after being broken, will be pulled out and rolled up. The healthy leaves are used to make clothes, and the torn leaves are used to make intestines. The roll of pipe tobacco is 2-2.5m long, about 20cm in diameter. After rolling up, is to arrange the waterpipe tobacco close to each other and keep it indoors or on a cool shelf to incubate for 4-6 days, until the tobacco leaves from the inside to the outside are golden, then proceed to cut the medicine. “Each roll of medicine must be the same length and size before it can be put on the slicer. That’s why people who make waterpipe tobacco must be very careful in rolling up the tobacco, arranging the leaves so that they do not break. It takes 45-60 minutes for each roll to manually cut medicine, now it takes only 5-10 minutes to finish one roll,” said Mr. Su. After cutting, the pipe tobacco will be shaken evenly, then dried. Waterpipe tobacco is dried on the screen, on the floor must be evenly hand, to avoid lumps, it will not dry evenly, leading to bad smell or damage. If it rains, it is not possible to dry the medicine, it must be dried, using dry straw to smoke at the bottom until the fiber dries. When the batches of waterpipe tobacco are completed, cover with blankets and nylon to keep the heat for the tobacco to dry evenly and the next day in the sun, continue to dry until it is dry and golden. “The burning will make the color of the pipe tobacco not as yellow as the sun, but it will increase the smell of smoke, making the pipe tobacco more delicious, richer and more sought after by buyers,” said Mr. Su. Ms. Vinh still remembers, more than a decade ago, every time during the tobacco season, the families exchanged labors to harvest the medicine. At the end of a working day, families will gather to have dinner with a “fun like a festival” atmosphere. Waterpipe smoke will spread in the afternoon that evening, men and even women can smoke, older women will pick up pipe tobacco, place it in betel leaves, and eat areca pieces to make them more spicy and warm. hot. “Today, wage jobs are paid, the exchange of jobs and shared meals are no longer available, so the scene of men sitting and smoking by the cup of tea at the end of the day, and women eating betel leaves and adding medicinal fibers. But every season when the water pipe comes back, I still feel happy because the cultivation of waterpipe tobacco in recent years has been stable, the medicine has a good price, and people’s lives are getting better and better,” said Mr. Su. The “capital” of medicinal plants in both area and quality belongs to Kien Thiet commune (Tien Lang district) and Ly Hoc commune (Vinh Bao district). These two communes are adjacent to each other, separated by the Han River. According to data from Hai Phong Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the two districts have nearly 2,500 hectares of waterpipe tobacco, with a total output of 3,264.6 tons in 2020. The productivity of waterpipe tobacco reaches 1.6 tons/ha, many households earn 500-600 million VND/year from waterpipe tobacco.

Raising pigs in a closed cold barn is a new direction in livestock development In 2019, according to professional statistics, Thap Muoi had nearly 10,000 pigs of 406 households destroyed due to African swine fever. Like other pig-raising households, Ms. Luong Thanh Huong’s farm of nearly 500 pigs in Hamlet 3, Tan Kieu Commune also destroyed 164 pigs, it is worth mentioning that in the same place, but the cages are raised in the traditional form. disease, and the cage in the form of a closed cold barn (just a few meters away) was completely unaffected. Ms. Huong said that last year, due to the African cholera epidemic, her traditional farm was also affected by the disease and had to be destroyed a lot, but in the form of a closed cold barn, she was not affected. rebuilt the barn, raising all in the form of cold barns. Raised in this form, pigs grow quickly, reduce a lot of costs and are consumed at a higher price than the market. The closed cold barn system is divided into 3 areas including: food processing area, pig raising area and biogas cellar complex to treat manure and wastewater. This is a modern farm with full equipment such as water cooling system, exhaust fan, automatic feeding and drinking trough, automatic temperature control system inside… Model of the barn. closed cold, the temperature is always stable, the pigs are less tired due to the influence of the hot sun, helping the pigs to exercise well, eat well and grow stably, less effort to take care and clean pigs should be consumed with price is higher than the market. Therefore, there are many breeding households coming to learn the model of livestock by a closed cold barn system. Also a large pig breeder, Ms. Nguyen Thi My Em from Hamlet 4, Tan Kieu Commune is intending to rebuild the barn in the form of a cold-closed barn, but is still facing financial difficulties. Raising pigs in a closed cold barn system is a new direction in livestock development today, but the initial investment is relatively large. Mr. Nguyen Hong Sang – Deputy Head of Technical Training and Technology Transfer Department, Thap Muoi Agricultural Service Center said: “Effectiveness when raising livestock in the form of closed cold cages is clear, but the common difficulties of farmers are obvious. raising livestock in the district is the source of capital, because raising according to this model requires relatively large capital. Dong Thap also has policies to support the development of household livestock production, but it is difficult for people to access this capital due to the habit of small-scale livestock production, which the policy is bound to be on a large enough scale, depending on the type of livestock. but have different regulations, must link consumption, environmental protection issues… so it is difficult for people to access”. In order to keep livestock from being affected by the epidemic, ensure environmental hygiene, safety and efficiency, in the coming time, Thap Muoi needs to strengthen the propaganda to change the practice of small and fragmented livestock to form of farm farming, concentrated, self-contained, sustainable livestock production.

According to Soc Trang Newspaper, the name of Soc Trang province has been recorded in books such as Khâm Định Đại Nam Congress, Directory Nam Kỳ, or research books by Vuong Hong Sen, Son Nam, Le. Huong, Hua Hoanh … Accordingly, the name Soc Trang is translated into Khmer is “Srok Khleang”. In which, “Srok” means “land”, “realm”, “Khleang” is “warehouse”, “barn”, which contains a lot of gold and silver of the king. Srok Khleang means the king’s gold and silver storehouse. Under the reign of King Minh Mang, Soc Trang was renamed Nguyet Giang province. Soc Trang Province is located downstream of the Hau River, where the Hau River flows into the East Sea at two estuaries of Dinh An and Tran De. Soc Trang province covers an area of ​​more than 3,000 km2 and a population of more than 1.1 million people. The population and area are both sixth in the Mekong Delta region. Soc Trang province currently has 11 administrative units at district level, of which 2 towns are Vinh Chau and Nga Nam. The capital of this province is Soc Trang city. Soc Trang province is bordered by Hau Giang province in the North, Bac Lieu province in the southwest, the Northeast bordering Tra Vinh and Vinh Long, the East and Southeast bordering the East Sea. In Soc Trang there is a Khmer ethnic museum, located in the city of Soc Trang. This is one of Soc Trang tourist attractions that attracts tourists. Tan Long stork garden located in Long Binh commune, Nga Nam town is one of the largest bird sanctuaries in the West. This place has a rare species of heron, the number in the garden is only a few hundred. Coming to Tan Long stork garden, in addition to seeing many rare and precious birds and storks, visitors can also enjoy specialties such as pancakes, noodle soup. Doi Pagoda is located about 2 km from the center of Soc Trang city. This is an ancient temple with a unique architecture in Soc Trang, built 400 years ago, now retaining a lot of precious treasures. On February 12, 1999, the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture – Sports – Tourism) issued Decision No. 05/1999 / QD-BVHTT recognizing Doi Pagoda as a national artistic relic.