Nearly 13km far from Ha Tinh city is the project " Building a model of high technology vegetables and fruits production for Ha Tinh’s uncultivated lands, degraded coastal " in Thach Van commune - Thach Ha district. Here, the lecture and all students were directly led to visit the green vegetable fields, which formerly were coastal uncultivated desert sand by Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hy - deputy head of the project. Mr. Hy said, as soon as the first vegetable plot is planted, not only the people here but also the economists agriculture and forestry experts all thought that growing vegetables on sand and returning the ground which used to able to grow acacia and casuarinas tree after mining were impossible. However, today the green vegetable is covering all the sandy area by radish, asparagus, okra, bitter gourd, pumpkin, apple , guava, and dragon fruit ....He also introduced entire vegetables are grown by using Israel technology irrigation methods with automatic sprinkler system, rain, spray and drip irrigation. Fertilizer is Microorganic fertilizer collected from high- tech lean pig raising projects, microbial fermentation with straw, dirt, remains of plants ... to ensure the quality of vegetable. The project started with 12ha trials with 32 kinds of fruits and vegetables such as asparagus, green onions, carrots, sweet potatoes, white radish, mustard, cucumber, cabbage, tomatoes, Da Lat bell pepper, courgettes ..., now has expanded to more than 100 hectares. Vegetable fields are so lush that nobody thinks that the former is the vast sand, which Mitraco mined titanium and hardly any trees can survive. The model is not only applied in the project area but also opened to nearby residents in the form of combining many cooperatives and households. Now there are three cooperatives and four combinationss with nearly 100 business participants. Particularly with cooperatives and combinations, the economic efficiency is very high. Income from vegetable fields is 150-170 million / crop / ha, three crops cultivation/ year, improving living standards for people.

 

Following the program, the delegation visited Dong Noi ecotourism destinations in Cam Duong commune Cam Xuyen district, Ha Tinh province. The ecotourism destination belongs to Thien Cam Xanh Company - a unit of Ha Tinh Mineral and Trade Corporation.

From 1997 to 2013, Mitraco mined more than1.935ha and total reserve of heavy minerals mined in Cam Hoa, Cam Duong commune, Cam Xuyen district is 1 million tonnes. Thus, the return of the ground and environment for coastal communes located in the Thien Cam national tourism planning is a big concern for Corporation leaders (under planning, Thien Cam national tourism belongs to Thien Cam town, Cam Duong Cam Linh commune and the whole natural land area of ​​ Cam Nhuong commune Cam Xuyen district with about 1557 ha). Dong Noi used to be a sandy area which had been fallow, after artisanal mining mineral resources depletion, desertification speed getting faster. Besides, the redundancy of hundreds of workers after mining ends is a difficult problem in the environment return and solving redundant employees.

 

At the visit, the delegation was warmly welcomed by the leadership of Thien Cam Xanh cooperation and was introduced to mining activities, land clearance activities as well as how the environment was affected by mining operations: water, air, people’s life ... and the environmental impact assessment, which corporation has to carry on with each mining area every 6 months. "After gaining a significant success in the project high-tech Vegetable, Board of Directors of the Corporation has launched the idea of ​​reform sandy areas into the first largest scale, experiencing ecotourism destinations in Ha Tinh in order to introduce visitors to Mitraco’s agricultural products in particular Ha Tinh’s ones and in general " said by Nguyen Mau Trinh - Director of Thien Cam Xanh Cooperation. At the time of the delegation’s visit to the resort, despite the sufferance of a recent huge flood, the general view still attracts the delegation a lot: the flower stretching from the porch, the flowers stream in the campus, the green vegetable garden...

He also confess that: After decades of mining, not only he but the leaders of the corporations also feel happy to repay the sand by the green trees, beautiful flowers as well as the surprise of hundreds of tourists visiting here.

 

Especially in tourist areas, the system of Titan ore Screw Machine cluster remains unchanged, such as the embodiment for the revolution of hunger eradication and poverty reduction, Ha Tinh’s industrialization and modernization... Therefore, the delegation was introduced more vividly the previous mining process.

The end of the visit, students and lecture had an intimate party at Dong Noi with the entire food from Dong Noi ecological resort. The party is about not only just the stundents’ exchange ideas of environmental management, environmental improvement during and after mining but also the gained knowledge from the learning program associated with the practice.

To “greening” the desert sand, it is necessary to have not only the efforts of the implementing agencies but also the support of the local government as well as the trust and the hands of the whole population. Hopefully, this will be the model for the resource extraction agencies can study, learn, manage and use effectively non-renewable resources, maintain and restore habitat for a prosperous civilized Vietnam today and tomorrow.