Nung - Tay couple jointly run for commune People's Council in Lang border area

One early spring morning, the small road leading to the headquarters of Toan Thuong Agricultural Cooperative in Na Sam commune still smelled faintly of dried persimmon.

In the processing workshop, chewy golden pink trays are neatly arranged, the result of many seasons of hard work on the mountain slopes of the border region of Lang.

In that space, the story of the couple Mr. Dinh Van Toan (Tay ethnicity), Chairman of the Board of Directors of Toan Thuong Agricultural Cooperative and Ms. Vuong Thi Thuong (Nung ethnicity), Director of the Cooperative is being mentioned by many local people.

Not only accompanying each other in the journey of agricultural startups, this year, both participated in the election of delegates to the People's Council of Na Sam commune.

A few years ago, when witnessing many households in the area having a bumper rose crop but unstable selling prices, Ms. Thuong began to struggle to find a new direction for the specialty fruit of her hometown.

There was a year when people harvested a lot, but traders bought erratically, at low prices. At that time, I thought, if only selling fresh fruits, it would be very difficult to increase the value of agricultural products," Ms. Thuong recounted.

From that thought, she and her husband learned about deep processing methods, experimenting with making flexible dried persimmons and wind-suspended persimmons.

Thanks to persistence, Toan Thuong Agricultural Cooperative gradually formed and developed.

It was the process of being attached to production and the lives of the people that motivated Ms. Thuong and Mr. Toan to participate in the election of delegates to the Commune People's Council.

According to Ms. Thuong, if voters trust her to be elected as a delegate to the Commune People's Council, the first thing the couple cares about is practical issues for the people.

We are in agriculture, so we understand the difficulties of the people. Many areas are still lacking irrigation water, and the irrigation system does not meet the production needs," she said.

In addition, some roads to production areas are still narrow and difficult to travel, especially during the agricultural harvest season.

Improving the irrigation and drainage system and upgrading rural roads will help people produce more conveniently, reduce transportation costs and improve economic efficiency," Ms. Thuong shared.

And Mr. Dinh Van Toan said that besides agricultural infrastructure, he and his wife also want to continue to develop the Na Sam specialty pink brand.

We expect to expand the scale of the cooperative, build a stronger brand for local persimmons, and gradually make persimmon a key crop. When the value of agricultural products is raised, people will have more livelihoods and job opportunities right in their hometown," Mr. Toan said.

Sharing about balancing social work and family responsibilities, Ms. Thuong said that throughout the startup journey, the couple always received great support from both paternal, maternal and relatives.

According to Ms. Thuong, if one of the two people is elected as a member of the Commune People's Council, the other will still always stand side by side to support their partner to complete their tasks well.

“We always consider this a common journey. Whoever is elected is still willing to accompany and contribute to our homeland together,” she shared.

On the mountain slopes in the Na Sam border region, the persimmon gardens shine red every harvest season.

But from the rose seasons of their homeland, they carry simple aspirations, contributing to building an increasingly developed borderland, so that people have more livelihoods and faith in the future.