Schools in Vietnam’s Dong Thap strive to engage students in vegetable gardening
Wednesday, March 29, 2023, 15:10 GMT+7
Twenty schools in Dong Thap Province, southern Vietnam have involved students in growing organic vegetables at school gardens in a bid to enrich their knowledge about farming and prove the model of such gardens.
The vegetable gardening at these schools is part of an organic farming project backed by Seed To Table, a Japanese non-profit organization.
The Dong Thap Agricultural and Rural Clean Water Service Center said on Tuesday that the project has been implemented at 20 schools in 10 districts and cities of the province, producing remarkable results.
Via the project, which was launched in 2019, 20 net-roofed houses have been built to plant organic vegetables, while participating students have been equipped with farm uniforms.
Furthermore, signboards have already been placed at the vegetable gardens.
Many schools are growing legumes and flowers to develop an ecosystem in their gardens, while some others have planted vegetables to harvest and sell full-grown plants to residents and teachers.
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| Soil at schools often has sand and rocks, thereby forming standing water after rains. It took five days to loose the soil and install drainage pipes in this garden. |
As a way to get knowledge about organic farming, the students engaging in the vegetable gardening were told to report their study results in terms of the maturity of vegetables in different soil conditions, the growth stages and cultivation methods of mustard and peanut farming for soil improvement, the growth of vegetables after the volume of organic fertilizer is changed, and the status of organic farming.
A group of students at Nguyen Du High School in Cao Lanh City was assigned to study the maturity of organic vegetables in different soil conditions.
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| Students are harvesting mustard. |
Their study results showed that among two vegetable beds with the same area and volume of seeds, one which received a double volume of organic fertilizer was much more productive than the other with a normal amount of the fertilizer.
During the vegetable gardening process, teachers always accompany students and help them absorb knowledge about organic agriculture and raise their awareness of environment and ecosystem protection.
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| After a harvest, students sell vegetables to teachers for fundraising. |
In 2023, the project, funded by Seed To Table, will be expanded to three more schools in the province.
Besides, seven groups of farmers, including 13 households, have joined the project to farm organic plants on a combined area of 2.8 hectares in line with Vietnamese PGS standards. Each kilogram of full-grown vegetables which are yet to be labeled is priced at VND20,000-40,000 (US$0.85-1.7).
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| Students and teachers pose for a group photo in front of a school vegetable garden. |
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| A photo shows farmers selling organic vegetables. |
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