What will life be like with a woman living in the countryside with five children to support? The answer must be "tough" in many people's eyes, but Tran Thi Thung gave a different one.
The 53-year-old Thung lives in the Dong Mai Village of northern Vietnam's Bac Ninh Province, owning 2,500 square meters of land suitable for growing rice, tomato and potato. Instead of struggling for a living, she manages to send all of her children to school and now see two of them grow up and become teachers.
"If not for receiving training on farming technique, my life could never be like this," Thung told Xinhua.
The turning point of Thung's life came in 1990 when Vietnamese agriculture authority initiated a program to train farmers on farming technique and pest-control measures. Thung's village was chosen for the program.
"It was a three-month program," recalled Thung. The training courses were offered during the daytime, so it did not take up the farming time, which is usually early morning and late afternoon when it is not so hot.
In the training, Thung, for the first time, learned the lifecycle of insects and what is the best time to spray pesticide. She came to know how to spray pesticide, and at which part of the plant to spray. She also learned how to read instructions on the product labels of pesticide.
The outcome of the training is obvious. Thung said the yield increases as she has become able to effectively get rid of pests that devour her crops.
According to Thung, the training is not a one time thing. It is organized every year and farmers are always welcome to participate. Thung said she gained a lot from training and the rice productivity was raised from previously 130 to 150 kilograms per sao, a Vietnamese measurement equaling to 360 square meters, to 210 to 230 kilograms per sao now.
What is more, she became more aware of her health through training in the following years. She started to use protective tools like mask and glove when spraying pesticide. Under the teacher's instruction, she even made protective clothes out of the sack of the pesticide. "It does not cost money, and it's effective," she said.
Vietnamese government has been taking steps to improve farmers' living standard by training farmers on effective ways to protect their crops. In recent years, the program has been enriched by some public and private partnerships, like Crop Life Asia.
CropLife Asia is a non-profit organization working in the plant science industry. It worked together with the Plant Protection Department of the Vietnamese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and extended the program to yield quality improvement, efficient use of water and responsible use of pesticides on vegetables, fruit and tea.
The form of program has now gone beyond classrooms, with new initiatives including mass media activities like TV contests for farmers.
According to the organizers, all the farmers can sign up for the contests and those who advance into the final rounds compete on TV and their performances are broadcasted throughout the country.
Nguyen Thi Hai is a loyal viewer of this TV program. She and her husband live in the countryside of Vinh Phuc Province, along with two children. Each time the contest is on air, the 37-year-old farmer is glued to her television. It has become a trusted information source, she said.
Besides helping farmers get a better life, the training and education program has a more far-reaching influence in eyes of Vietnamese agriculture officials. It will help retain the agriculture population and thus ensure food security in Vietnam, they believed.
Source: Xinhua
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