Dekalb Vietnam delivers spring warmth to Son La farmers

February 05, 2018 | 16:26

(0) user say

The freezing cold weather of the Son La mountains could not stop Dekalb Vietnam’s charity delegate from visiting Chieng On ward, Yen Chau District, where 87 per cent of households live in poverty. The delegate presented agricultural machines to the local to help them develop their household economy in the new year.

dekalb vietnam delivers spring warmth to son la farmers

12 agricultural machines were handed over to households in Chieng On ward

The ceremony to hand over the gifts was held at the People’s Committee of Chieng On ward, Yen Chau District, Son La province with the participation of local leaders, representatives from Dekalb Vietnam Co., Ltd. and its branches, as well as local farmers and people.

“Welcome Spring”–a meaningful charity programme

As its name suggests, the “Produce Together, Welcome New Year and Spring” initiative is a meaningful present. The donation came from Dekalb Vietnam to express the company’s gratitude to the belief and support the provincial people have shown the company over the past years. These machines will help impoverished households to raise their productivity, save labour force, and improve the household economies.

Aruna Rachakonda, Dekalb Vietnam’s CEO, said: “Instead of rice or food, we decided to hand over machines to help local people improve their production efficiency, and develop their own household economy. This is sustainable development. We hope that the households who received these agricultural machines will renew their mindset, and innovate production based on machines, and move towards hi-tech agriculture to create high-quality products.”

Aruna, Monsanto Vietnam's CEO, expressed great hopes for this programme

Happiness coming to Chieng On

Chieng On is one of the far reaching wards of Yen Chau District. Almost all local people and farmers are from an ethnic minority and are used to traditional farming methods involving buffalos and cows to plow, and hand labour to cultivate and harvest. Thus, yields are not as high as in other machine-based areas. Currently, the poverty rate in Chieng On is still very high at 87.3 per cent.

Vi Van Suong from Tram Hoc village talked of days of hard work at the corn field: “The corn field is very far from my home, the fields are far from each other, and the road is rough and bumpy. Productivity falls when we do not take care and harvest in time. We know agricultural machines are effective, but we do not have enough money among us to buy one and use it together.”

He was delighted to receive an agricultural machine, saying: “When we heard that Dekalb Vietnam will present 12 agricultural machines to the ward, we were overjoyed and thought this is our chance to produce more, end our poverty, and take our children to study.”

Song Lao Lenh, a farmer from Ta Lieu village at Chieng On ward, was also delighted: “Before, it took a lot of time to plow with buffalos, which was hard work with little yield—we literally earned money through hard labour. We are touched to receive the modern agricultural machines from Dekalb Vietnam. We will use these machines on the field to realize the dream of growing rich from the land. We will use these machines to help all people in the village to overcome poverty.”

Chieng On ward's farmers attending the introduction of the machinery

After over 20 years of engaging Vietnamese farmers, Monsanto said that it is necessary to do for all parties to do their utmost and unionise to realise the goal of sustainable agriculture. She said: “These 12 agricultural machines for Chieng On ward are just the first of a series of activities providing agricultural tools from Dekalb to Vietnamese farmers. We hope to spread hope and belief by bringing our products to Vietnamese people nationwide, contributing to accelerating productivity and the development of sustainable agriculture based on machinery and modernisation.”

Spring is coming to Son La, the time when the province is covered by peach and plum blossoms. Through the help of Dekalb Vietnam, farmers are growing hopeful to make their village rich and happy on the beautiful Northwestern land.

Dekalb Vietnam ranked among Vietnam’s Top 10 Sustainable Businesses

Dekalb Vietnam was voted for the second consecutive year among the Top 10 Sustainable Businesses in Vietnam. Dekalb Vietnam is also the only agricultural enterprise ...

Monsanto’s answer to Vietnam’s burgeoning nutrition demand

Dekalb Vietnam, a Monsanto's subsidiary, and the Institute of Preventive Medicine and Public Health (IPMPH) of Hanoi Medical University (HMU) today co-hosted a research scholarship awards ceremony with a total grant ...

Dekalb Vietnam: four years of fostering talent

On November 6, 2017, Dekalb Vietnam and the Faculty of Biotechnology of Vietnam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) will organise the fourth Monsanto-VNUA scholarship reward ...