Lò Văn Thuấn, in Nà Môn Village has been praised for his agricultural innovation. —  VNA/VNS Photo

SƠN LA — Slowly but surely, residents in the poor northern mountainous province of Sơn La are climbing out of poverty.

This has been achieved through a combination of hard work, and ingenuity.

Take 30-year-old Lò Văn Thuấn from Nà Môn Village as a case in point.

He and his family made the bold decision to convert low-yield maize and cassava business into a citrus farm.

Thuấn planted orange trees and now he is reaping the rewards.

After ten years of taking care of the fruit garden, he now earns VNĐ200 million (US$8,700) profit for each orange crop.

“Yearly income is more and more stable and has significantly improved,” he said.

Seeing his success, others followed suit. A decade ago, Nà Môn Village had just 10ha of fruit trees, now it is 60ha.

Lò Văn Bảo, Chief of Nà Môn Village said a half of local households had switched to planting fruit trees.

He said: “The average annual income of each fruit growing family is about VNĐ200 million. Since moving to fruit tree planting, villagers have had a stable income and better life."

But it is not just the switch to fruit production that has helped those who live in Sốp Cộp District.

A national development programme to breathe new life into the region has been hailed a success thanks to financial support from the central government.

Investment of more than VNĐ118 billion has helped build better roads, better houses, and improve public transport networks.

Sốp Cộp District has over 120km of borderline with Laos and improved border control has helped secure the area.

Major Vi Văn Chương, at Mường Lạn Border Guard Station, said, along with the protection of national border sovereignty security, the unit has co-ordinated with local authorities to help local people.

Soldiers helped clear roads and build structures.

The border-guard soldiers regularly shared their hand to clean roads and build welfare constructions.

According to Vice Chairwoman of the district People's Committee, Tòng Thị Kiên, the hard work has paid off, and now the district’s poor households account for just 24 per cent of the community. — VNS