Nguyen Giap Dong, head of the Ba Vi District Economic Division, said that the district currently maintained a safe tea production area spanning 1,550ha and productivity of 10.5 tons per hectare per year. The output for the whole year is estimated at 16,275 tons of fresh buds, worth VND 350 million (USD 14,900) per hectare per year. To help farmers maintain and expand safe production areas, Ba Vi district has supported and created favorable conditions for localities to innovate technology, ensure raw material sources and well manage tea quality. It builds trademarks, product brands protected by intellectual property; builds good models of safe tea production and processing following Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGAP) process. Thanks to that, the district has successfully built the Ba Vi tea brand. In Dong Anh District, Nguyen Anh Dung, deputy chairman of the district People’s Committee, said that the district had 1,180ha of vegetable production area including more … [Read more...] about Hanoi builds safe agricultural production areas
Ecological agriculture
Wildlife conservation organisations call for closure of “bird hell”
Wild birds being publicly sold at Thanh Hoa market in Long An province. (Photo: HV/Vietnam+) According to the petition, the Thanh Hoa farm produce market has for many years not operated under its original purpose but as a place to trade wild birds, including rare species protected by law. Names such as “ hell market ” and “ bird hell ” have long been associated with the market. The market is said to house thousands of endangered animals from the Mekong Delta. It has about 40 stalls with hundreds of cages imprisoning rare birds, Asian openbills, turtles, and snakes. These stalls are also “slaughterhouses”, serving drinking parties with alcohol made from the blood of the animals. Nature conservation organisations and the media have for many years monitored activities at the market and publicised the illegal wildlife trade taking place. VietnamPlus, after discovering the illegal trade of rare and precious birds at the market, published a series of reports and contacted … [Read more...] about Wildlife conservation organisations call for closure of “bird hell”