Improving the production efficiency of Khau Lum Pua rice varieties on infertile land

(LSO) – Khau Lum Pua is an indigenous upland rice variety of the people in Tan Tien commune, Trang Dinh district with a unique flavor – fragrant, delicious, sticky flavor and so on. In 2019, Trang Dinh Clean Agricultural Product Cooperative in collaboration with Tan Tien Commune People’s Committee to propagate the people to expand the area of ​​growing this rice variety upland  to maintain and preserve the indigenous rice variety.

As a rice variety from ancient times, Khau Lum Pua rice is cultivated mainly in upland fields by people in Tan Tien commune. Although it is a specialty rice variety, favored by many customers, the number of cultivating households is not much, mainly to serve family needs due to difficulties in upland production and unstable productivity like other types of rice.

Mr. Hoang Van Hai, Director of Trang Dinh Clean Agricultural Product Cooperative, said that with advantages and quality of Khau Lum Pua rice variety, it is very necessary to preserve this indigenous rice variety, especially forward the goal of introducing Khau Lum Pua rice product to customers inside and outside the province, in 2019, the cooperative collaborated with Tan Tien Commune People’s Committee to revive this rice variety in upland areas. Accordingly, he as well as members of the cooperative went to villages and hamlets in the commune to propagate and mobilize people to cultivate Khau Lum Pua rice variety. The rice output is completely consumed by the cooperative.

People in Tan Tien commune, Trang Dinh district harvested Khau Lum Pua rice

Propagated by the commune authorities and the cooperative, the people in Tan Tien commune actively produce Khau Lum Pua rice. In previous years, people in the commune only cultivated about 3 to 4 ha/crop, in the crop in 2020, nearly 200 households in the commune have planted more than 10 ha of Khau Lua Pua rice. During the process of growth, rice plants develop well, have strong branches, large flowers and big seeds. When harvested, the yield reaches 40 quintals/ha (an increase of about one quintal/ha compared to the crop in the previous year), the total output is about 40 tons, giving economic value about one billion VND.

Mrs. Tran Thi Giang, Deputy Secretary of Tan Tien Commune Party Committee, Chairman of the People’s Committee said that Khau Lum Pua is a special indigenous rice variety, however, over the past time, the production has still faced many difficulties. Therefore, in 2019, when Trang Dinh Clean Agricultural Product Cooperative raised the issue of reviving this rice variety in the commune, the commune party committee and authorities actively propagated the people to participate in production. Next time, they will continue to propagate people to expand the area in hills suitable with the rice variety; coordinating with the district’s specialized agencies to train people to apply science and technology into planting, tending  and so forth, thereby, aiming to produce Khau Lum Pua rice commodity.

Mrs. Hoang Thi Thao in Ang Mo village, Tan Tien commune said that every year, after the Lunar New Year, around February and March, her family starts weeding under cinnamon trees, until the fourth lunar month, they begin to plant seedlings intercropped under the cinnamon canopy. However, her family only plants a little to eat. Having been propagated and realized the value of this specialty rice, last crop, her family planted 1,080 m2 of Khau Lum Pua rice. After the harvest, more than three quintals of rice was consumed by the cooperative at the price of 25,000 VND/kg, bringing an income of 8 million VND for her family, much higher than producing other types of rice.

It is known that, from initial successes, in the coming time, Trang Dinh Clean Agricultural Product Cooperative will continue to coordinate to deploy and expand the production of Khau Lum Pua rice in communes with suitable hills such as Cao Minh, Doan Ket, Khanh Long. At the same time, the cooperative will coordinate to guide the production process and consume all products with the goal of producing commodity, building the brand of Khau Lum Pua specialty rice and contributing to raising the people’s income in disadvantaged areas in Trang Dinh district.

This type of rice is fragrant, delicious, sticky and so on. According to the elders in Tan Tien commune, because the rice was so delicious, the wife eating the whole rice in the cooker forgot her husband’s part, so this rice is called Khau Lum Pua. Translated from the Tay language, Khau Lum Pua means “rice forgetting the husband”.