The household of Mr. Hoang Kim Oanh and Ms. Nguyen Thi May in Viet Hong commune (Tran Yen district, Yen Bai province) is one of the first 30 members participating in the Farmers' Union branch of raising mallard ducks, planting medicinal plants in association with developing traditional tourism in Yen Bai province.
Agricultural production in association with tourism is one of the models of the Provincial Farmers' Union in order to implement the Project on building a professional branch ofgrowing mallard ducks (dubbling ducks), planting medicinal plants associated with traditional tourism in Viet Hong commune, Tran Yen district in the period of 2020-2023 with a total budget of over VND 4 billion; in which, support from VNFU is over 3.2 billion dong, reciprocal capital is over 830 million dong.
Mrs. Nguyen Thi Phuong Dong - Chairman of Tran Yen District Farmers Union said: "The establishment of this professional branch is aimed at promoting the available potentials, creating a close link from members to members provided thatFarmers’Union - Cooperatives - Enterprise participate in the branch ".
Thereby, the model contributes to the local socio-economic development associated with new rural development; effectively implemented model will be replicated, contributing to innovation, quality improvement ofVNFU activities, affirming the pivotal role of VNFU in participating in socio-economic development.
Sharing withthe VNFU delegation about medicinal plant production of his family, Mr. Hoang Kim Oanh said: "When I first started planting ardisia silvestris, the family couldn't stop worrying because this is a brand new kind of medicinal plant that hasnot ever been grown in the locality, no one has any knowledge or experience".
In addition, the spent money on buying seedlings and hiring labor to care for the tree is not a small amount, if the tree does not grow well and has a stable output, we will face many difficulties.

The Chairman of Vietnam Farmers’ Union crossed mountains to visit “medicinal garden” in Viet Hong commune

"However, all concerns were resolved when participating in the professional branch of the Farmers’ Union. In addition to being supported with 50% of the initial seed cost, wealso participated in technical training on planting ardisia silvestris, are supported by authorities at district and commune levelin findingoutputs and will be supported by the district in investment in the leaf dryer "- Mr. Oanh shared.
According to Mr. Oanh, ardisia silvestrisare is less susceptible to pests. However, it is necessary to regularly cultivate around the base, remove invasive grasses, water the plants with enough humidity and apply decomposed animal manure or NPK fertilizers to increase fertility and add new nutrients to help plants grow well.
It is expected that by the end of this year, the whole area of Oanh's medicinal plants will start to be harvested. Ardisia silvestris is a valuable medicinal herb used in the treatment of stomach and abdominal pain, with high economic value, so it is estimated that each year ardisia silvestris trees are averagely harvested from 3 to 5 litters, each crop harvests about 1 kg of fresh leaves / tree and the volume increases year on year.
With the selling price ranging from 200,000 to 250,000 VND per kilogram of dry leaves, until the tree matures, each year, Mr. Oanh's family and the members whom participate in the professional branch will have an income of 30 million to 40 million VND per hectare per year and the revenue will be much higher over the years.

Knowing that the characteristics of ardisia silvestris trees are moist and glossy, can be intercropped with some other plants under the forest canopy so as to take advantage of the land, most of the households participating in the professional branch intercrop them with acacia, cinnamon, Bodhi in combination with raising mallard ducks along streams and foothills around the house. In the near future, people gradually promote ecotourism development in their homeland.

Crossing the mountain to visit Oanh's model of medicinal plants on rainy day, Mr. Thao Xuan Sung was very happy to see that the people here knew how to exploit and take advantage of the natural advantage to develop medicinal plants which bring high economic value.

The head of the Central Vietnam Farmers' Union affirmed: "The forest will pay back “gold" if we have appropriate and creative methods of exploitation, production. To do that, Mr. Thao Xuan Sung advised Mr. Oanh and his relatives in Viet Hong commune continue to make best efforts to study and learn new knowledge and experiences in production to apply in the development of medicinal plants under forest canopy in combination with raising ducks and promoting eco-tourism for higher and more sustainable income.

"If we want to go far, we must associate and unite to produce high-value products towards export markets," said the president of the Vietnam Farmers’ Union.

The head of Vietnam Farmers’ Union discussed with the leaders of Yen Bai province and farmers of Viet Hong commune about the effectiveness of medicinal plants production under forest canopy.