Countryside market, the mark of a cooperative in the Thap Muoi area

Coming to the countryside market initiated by Thang Loi Agricultural Service Cooperative, My Dong commune, Thap Muoi district, Dong Thap province, local people and tourists will see stalls of agricultural products grown by cooperative members, rustic dishes associated with the culture of the people of the Southern region such as banh xeo, snakehead fish porridge with bitter vegetables, snails, and steamed turtle.

In addition, the market also has a space to exchange amateur music for tourists who love art. Initiating a country market not only increases income for cooperative members but also helps cooperative members have more time and opportunities to exchange production and life experiences.

Participating in the first markets, Ms. Nguyen Thi Kieu Tien, hamlet 5, My Dong commune, could not hide her joy and shared that when the cooperative organized a countrysidee market every Saturday afternoon, it created a new breeze for Thap Muoi rural area. And thanks to that, local people now have a place to entertain, gather with family as well as participate in buying and selling local products. In addition, when participating in the market, they have the opportunity to exchange and learn new things, strengthening the relationship between neighbors.

The place where the countryside trading point takes place is the field area of Thang Loi Agricultural Service Cooperative. This place is also building smart village criteria of My Dong advanced rural commune and is striving to achieve model rural commune criteria. Participating in cooperatives, cooperative members have access to new ways of doing and thinking. Since then, the local people have changed their traditional production thinking, caught up with the market economy, and taken full advantage to exploit their full potential, bringing added value and spiritual value to the cooperative members.

Ms. Ho Thi Phuoc Hoang, hamlet 5, My Dong commune, Thap Muoi district, said that before, she worked very hard in agriculture, had no free time but still had an unstable income. However, since joining the cooperative and smart village, she has more free time because all cashew production activities are applied science and technology, human power is replaced by machinery from seeding and spraying fertilizer to harvesting. In addition, organizing country markets helps cooperative members earn more income from their leisure time, and at the same time, promote the local image.

Thang Loi Agricultural Service Cooperative was established over 20 years ago, and currently has 5 services: irrigation, plowing, linking the production of rice seeds and commodity rice, production of bottled water.

Nearly 100% of the cooperative's area is produced according to SRP standards and linked to sustainable consumption with businesses. With a new way of thinking, the Board of Directors and cooperative members are aiming to gradually exploit all potential and advantages to bring added value to cooperative members.

Regarding development orientation, Mr. Nguyen Van Hung, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Thang Loi Agricultural Service Cooperative said: The countryside market is just the first step, the cooperative is gradually mobilizing people to follow the organic direction in agricultural production, aiming at rice-fish-duck module to develop rural markets into a community tourism model. In the coming time, the cooperative plans to develop more services such as a rice polishing factory, rice scrubbing factory, and safe rice production for export packaging or local supply.

Currently, the cooperative is implementing the Project "Sustainable development of 1 million hectares specializing in high-quality and low-emission rice cultivation associated with green growth in the Mekong Delta". There are currently 150 hectares registered for rice production for the Pioneering project "Transforming the rice value chain in response to climate change and sustainable development in the Mekong Delta region (TRVC)" through Chon Chinh Import-Export Company Limited, aims to increase income from providing carbon certificates to qualified entities.