Mr. Negi has personally turned the barren land in the cold desert of Himachal Pradesh into a green oasis. (Source: YouTube) In 1977, the Government of India began an ambitious program to reduce the negative effects of desertification in the hot and cold deserts of this Asian country. Mr. Anand Dhawaj Negi was working in the finance department in charge of the Desert Development Program at the time and had seen millions of dollars spent with no real results. Whenever he asked the scientists and program officials about the results, the answer was always that they lacked the technology to grow any sustainable crops in harsh environments. desert . The son of a farmer himself, Negi was tired of excuses and took a leave of absence in 1999 to fix the problem himself. In 2003, he decided to quit his job to focus all of his energy on his growing desert oasis. Mr. Negi has personally turned the barren land in the cold desert of Himachal Pradesh into a green oasis just for everyone, especially the farmer struggling in the region, seeing desert reclamation as entirely possible. It was not an easy thing to do, but the former official knew what he had to do and had the ambition and patience to get through it. Mr. Negi’s first attempt failed as the seeds did not have enough water to grow. He overcame this first challenge by planting by contour, tilling the soil along a consistent height to capture rainwater and reduce soil erosion. At the same time he works with the local community to create irrigation canal The shallows channel runoff from glaciers about 25km away. After witnessing this process, the local irrigation department also began to cooperate. “The irrigation department supplies water to this area. Before that, water was not provided until before June. I connected to the Kuhls area and managed to get a water supply in April and May. When we did, the Irrigation Department also cooperated and ensured a regular water supply here,” Mr. Negi told Down to Earth. But water is just one of the challenges this frigid desert region poses. Sandy soil lacking nutrients is another problem. To provide enough nutrients for the crops he wanted to grow, Mr. Negi started a farm with about 300 Chigu goats and mixed their manure with earthworms to effectively double the nitrogen content of the soil. . This also helps the clover hectares he planted around the oasis to thrive. In the past, clover would fade away as new plants grew. It was the clover growing area that overcame the problem Mr. Negi had at first, a rodent attack. These species will come to eat the delicious plants, so the farmer must plant clover in the legume family around the more valuable crops. Because hares love clover, when there is an abundance of this plant, they don’t bother with other plants. Since starting his job in Himachal Pradesh, Mr. Negi has spent all his money experimenting with combining local farming techniques with more scientific farming methods. It’s a laborious process, but over time the tree mortality rate drops from about 85% to just 1%. After proving that valuable crops such as peas, potatoes, green beans, apples and apricots could be grown even in harsh desert environments, the former official began to focus on long-lasting greenery. years, as he considers them essential to combat climate change in the region. “My first priority here is reforestation. Fake acacia is the most planted. Then there are willows and wild apricots. As for fruit trees and other crops, including green beans, I planted them only as a model for people to replicate,” said Mr. Negi. With just the help of two volunteers, Mr. Anand Dhawaj Negi transformed a cold desert area of ​​more than 90 hectares into a green oasis, receiving praise from both locals and scientists. People come from far and wide to witness this real-life miracle, some buying Negi’s natural fertilizer to grow their own crops and others bringing their livestock to eat clover, the fodder for livestock. cattle are considered the best in the region. Mr. Anand Dhawaj Negi has turned a cold desert area of ​​more than 90 hectares into a green oasis. Sadly, Anand Dhawaj Negi, the desert healer, passed away last month at the age of 74 from a stroke. He will be remembered as a local hero and the green oasis project hopes to be preserved as a reminder that nothing is impossible. Negi’s family intends to continue his work, but has asked the government to take responsibility for the oasis and help the family in its conservation. Virender Sappa Negi, Mr. Negi’s wife, told The Better India news site: ‘Before he said goodbye to us, he planned to plant some evergreen or conifers such as pines and deciduous trees. We want to fulfill these last wishes of his. In addition, we want the state government to take responsibility for this oasis so that his work can inspire future generations.” Anand Dhawaj Negi has become one of the many Indian legends who devoted their lives to afforestation like Uttarakhan’s “Tree Man” or Aditya and Poonam Singh.

Tidal flat in Quan Lan island, Van Don district, Quang Ninh province. Photo TTH Fresh sa worms sold at the tidal flats cost more than 300,000 VND/kg, reaching the consumer’s table can be up to millions of dollars and preliminarily processed and dried depending on different prices, the most expensive can be up to nearly ten million VND. /kg. So enough to see, Sa worm is more expensive than many rare and precious specialties from the sea. Sa worm is less distributed, easy to exploit and reproduce, it is more difficult to maintain the natural breed, meanwhile, it is not possible to artificially breed this high-value seafood. In the Northeast Sea, which is geographically located in the Gulf of Tonkin with many bays, conifers and coastal saltwater ponds, it is the ideal habitat of the Sa worm. In addition, the tidal flats must have primary flora and mangrove trees for the slugs to reside. This layer of mangroves keeps the plankton in the water and is the food for the worms and many other bivalve molluscs such as clams, clams, oysters, blood cockles… Sa worm is mentioned as a specialty of Quan Lan and Minh Chau islands, Van Don district, Quang Ninh province because in the tidal flats along Quan Lan island, there is the best kind of worm. Another reason is that the oldest fishery of worms originated from the inhabitants of the island. There are families whose profession of digging and catching fish is passed down from generation to generation, supporting many generations. Increasingly, this item is more and more expensive due to scarcity and there was a time when sage was hunted and sold. Officers of Quan Lan Border Guard Station (Quang Ninh Border Guard) stationed in the area always integrate propaganda content to protect aquatic resources whenever there is a meeting or propaganda sessions. But only the fisherman understands better, if not protected, not “saved” for the next season, the risk of worms will also disappear like blood cockles, boredom, silk clams… Most of the fishers are women. They understand the characteristics of this intertidal marine species. With a specialized sand shovel, they arrived at the tidal flat early in the morning. At night, the worms in the nest come up to eat plankton, they use a shovel to quickly roll up the sand layer to catch it. The sun is up, the temperature is high, the sand is hot, the animal will hide deep down, not being caught anymore. It is important that the fishing profession is completely manual. If mechanized or used tools to plow the sand, the slugs will no longer be able to reproduce and will disappear until they disappear. It has happened in other sea areas such as Tien Yen, Ha Long, and Quang Yen of Quang Ninh province, when the tidal flats dried up, mangroves were cut down, over-exploited, encroached on the sea, and sucked sand. make the sage disappear. The People’s Committee of Quang Ninh province has regulated the period of banning the exploitation of worms in June and July every year (the breeding time of the worms). Mining is only allowed by the traditional manual method of using apricots and spades and only for worms that have reached a size over 10cm long. Along with people’s lives, Quan Lan Border Guard Station, when receiving people’s feedback, authenticates information and coordinates with many levels and branches to protect the intertidal area. Due to the large profits, many traders instigate people to use high-pressure pumps, pump out water, and plow the tidal flats to catch worms. The whole coastal shoal area was overturned, the environment was polluted, and large and small seafood was destroyed. There are times, early in the morning, when people go to the beach to “hunt” sa worms, Border Guard officers also come out to support people in protecting the intertidal area, propagandize and mobilize so that people do not exploit in the form of fishing. extermination, peace of mind to pursue their livelihoods, and at the same time, severely punish households who do not comply with the general regulations, exterminate fishing, and destroy the environment. Van Don has more than 2,000 hectares of tidal flats and nearly 1,000 fishermen make a living by hunting worms and natural intertidal mollusks. The original people in the island very well understand that seafood is their source of life, but when people from other places come, traders only buy for profit, there are always fishing activities that go against the interests of the community. this population. Especially, sand mining activities have been boycotted, protested and petitioned by fishermen, causing the locality to suspend this activity and rearrange order and stability in coastal residential areas. Accordingly, all acts of encroaching on the tidal flats, destroying the habitat of marine resources, local authorities encourage people to detect, denounce and clarify. Recently, Quan Minh Co., Ltd., an enterprise that dredging creeks and exploiting silica sand, has been accused by people of affecting the environment and attacking tidal flats, dumping waste, polluting the environment. affect the growth of the worm. In many places, people see both young worms and the fear of the extinction of worms is real. Van Don district immediately suspended the project’s construction to protect marine resources and at the same time maintain security and order in the area.

Black-headed caterpillars cause 70-80% damage in the coconut orchard they appear. According to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (Agriculture and Rural Development) of Ben Tre province, since the discovery of the black-headed pest in July 2020 to the beginning of April 2021, the whole province of Ben Tre has more than 160 hectares of coconut orchards. black attack, in which the area heavily infected with burnt leaves was 51ha. This is the area where more than 40% of the leaf boats are damaged out of the total number of leaf boats surveyed based on the guidance of the Southern Plant Protection Center (Plant Protection Department). Currently, the blackhead worm continues to cause harm in districts of Binh Dai, Chau Thanh, Mo Cay Nam, Mo Cay Bac, Ben Tre City and Cho Lach. The largest outbreak was in Huu Dinh commune of Chau Thanh district with over 66ha of infected coconut orchards. Mr. Dang Thanh Hai, in Huu Nhon hamlet, Huu Dinh commune, has 2,000 square meters of coconut over 40 years old that are being attacked by blackhead worms, causing heavy damage. Mr. Hai said that because the coconut tree is 30-40m high, it is impossible to spray this insecticide, so he had to destroy it. “Coconuts grown for a long time, used to suffer many diseases but did not die, now the black-headed worm eats them, causing mass death of coconuts, irreversible. Blackhead worm is very dangerous because it eats coconuts very quickly, within 2 months it has spread, cannot be cured “- Mr. Hai said. Up to now, the areas of coconuts heavily damaged by blackhead worms in Phu Long and Dinh Trung communes, Binh Dai district, are basically controlled by functional agencies. However, the application of mini aircraft to control the epidemic is ineffective. In other harmful blackhead worm detection locations, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has coordinated with local authorities to organize workshops and trainings to guide farmers in implementing control measures. Up to now, farmers are basically aware of the harm level as well as basic control measures, self-treatment and spraying. Mr. Phan Tan Loc, Head of Agriculture and Rural Development Division of Chau Thanh district, said: “The black-headed worm attacked about 80 hectares of the district’s coconut garden. The locality has organized the spraying of drugs according to the instructions of the authorities, but it is not effective. Therefore, the district proposes the Provincial People’s Committee to extract funding for researching special treatment drugs, soon going to the army to spray simultaneously to stamp out the epidemic, to avoid widespread spread; deploying extensive propaganda to people about temporary management measures for people to know and implement ”. Implement temporary management measures The black-headed worm attacked the coconut garden in Ben Tre. After the outbreak of black-headed worm, Ben Tre Plantation and Plant Protection Department coordinated with Southern Plant Protection Center to take samples of harmful pests and send identification samples. Center for Plant Inspection and Inspection, the Plant Protection Department has identified this pest with the scientific name Opisina arenosella Walker – a serious pest originating from southern India and Sri Lanka. In Vietnam, the blackhead worm that harms coconuts is a new pest that has not been researched and has a registered pesticide for control. Therefore, the Plantation and Plant Protection Department of Ben Tre province has issued a temporary control measure based on the reference information of the Southern Center for Plant Protection and some actual records of the unit. At the same time, to carry out propaganda and training on knowledge of blackhead pest prevention for farmers in Ben Tre. In addition, the District Plantation and Plant Protection Station also actively coordinates with relevant sectors to actively propagate, organize training courses, guide coconut farmers to recognize and manage blackhead worm. . Regarding the temporary management measures, the Department recommends that farmers regularly visit the garden to timely detect and implement preventive measures. In case of detecting a black-headed worm, people quickly prune, destroy leaves and leaves that are damaged by worms, burn or bury them in water to reduce the pest population effectively and safely for people and the environment. . This is an important and necessary measure to take immediately after a pest is detected. People should also balance fertilizer, divided into many fertilization times a year. Mr. Huynh Quang Duc, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Ben Tre province, said: The view of the Ben Tre Agriculture sector is to coordinate with companies and businesses inside and outside the province to immediately apply quarantine measures to reduce honey. number of worms, limit the spread while waiting for research results to have a complete process. Pest control with the motto of environmental protection, organic coconut production has been successfully built by businesses and farmers. To stamp out epidemic diseases, but ensure a stable production environment and especially protect people and animals living under coconut canopy … In the long term, deep management of blackhead by biological means to ensure the environment, ensure the quality of coconut products with the quality of food safety accepted by the domestic and foreign markets. According to Mr. Duc, Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry is speeding up the implementation of the project “Research and assessment to determine the harmfulness of coconut leaf-eating worms and build models and propose solutions. biosafety management and prevention in the province of Ben Tre ”to apply results in production. The school has set up a room for propagating parasitic bees at the Department of Planting and Plant Protection, expanding one room at the Center of High-tech Agriculture to both research and release quickly parasitic bees. Good on black-headed worm pupae and larvae. Mr. Vo Van Nam, Head of Plantation and Plant Protection Department of Ben Tre province, said: The Department has recorded many natural enemies of the black-headed worm that harms coconut in gardens in Binh Dai district. Typically, parasitic bees, stink bugs catching prey, weaver ants, pincer beetles … Therefore, the Ben Tre Department of Cultivation and Plant Protection recommends that people choose pesticides that are less toxic, less harmful to the kind of natural enemy. In the coming time, will aim to control blackhead worm with biological measures because Thailand has successfully applied this measure with parasitic bees. In addition, the Department is also cooperating with the Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry to conduct research as well as to breed this natural enemy. “Can Tho University has also studied and tested a probiotic to prevent blackhead worms with plant extracts. Initial testing on some infected areas has been effective, farmers are very excited. Ben Tre is building organic coconut gardens, so the protection of these coconut areas with bio-products is extremely necessary. Next time, this unit will continue to test to complete the process and products. If the product continues to achieve high efficiency, we will put into the process to recommend farmers to use “- Mr. Nam said.

I am Nguyen Thi Lien, retired female soldier with the rank of major. Many people are supposed to settle in old age at this time, but for me this is the time to fulfill my dream of owning a farm that I have cherished for a long time. The predestination of farming came to me very casually. Once I accidentally saw the worm raising techniques of expert Nguyen Lan Hung and read the document translated by former Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Cong Tan, I decided to explore the model of raising earthworms. I am more and more passionate about this job. The reality of raising earthworms is quite simple. Worms feed are mainly agricultural by-products such as buffalo, cow, pig, and chicken manure … Worms on the farm are processed in many forms such as: dried worms, worms epidemic, earthworms, and powdered worms. Dried cinnamon, frozen earthworms … Especially, earthworms are also very effective food and medicine. To find the complete wormwood recipe, I had to learn from a lot of documents. In which, there is a remedy of Mr. Nguyen An Dinh, the son of Mr. Nguyen An Ninh, a famous revolutionary in the early twentieth century. Mr. Dinh also used earthworms, but they are earthworms (geese) to cure dengue fever during the war years in the country. After a period of about 45 days, I proceed to harvest the worms. When harvested, just pick up cow dung on a canvas and leave it outdoors where there is a lot of light, worms will go down because they like the dark. The worms are nearly the size of chopsticks, about 20 cm long, and washed away. Worms are treated by boiling method and brought into the oven with green beans to shrink. Drying takes 15 to 16 hours. The process of treating fresh worms to this stage, usually takes about 2 days. One of the most important worms that I created was to put in a pot of gold stars, bring it down and crush it by hand. After crushed earthworms, they will be canned and preserved. All steps are done by myself and by the people. In particular, the box will have a barcode, buyers can check the origin and complete information of the product. In fact, my goal is not to make money from earthworms because the money earned from selling food worms and medicinal worms is just enough to pay and buy by-products as food for them. The main income of the farm today is still raising pigs, raising chickens with earthworms with good quality and clean meat. Pigs raised by earthworms have very good resistance, less disease and the smell of meat is very delicious and delicious. Each month I feed the clean food stores in Hanoi about 50-60 pigs. The total income of the whole farm from selling earthworms, pork, and chickens is about 400-500 million / month. I also let pigs listen to French music, the music with a very wonderful, soothing, deep melody … will help the pigs relieve stress effectively and improve the quality of meat. Currently, clean pork from my farm is present at a number of big chains and supermarkets in Hanoi.