Today, inheriting and promoting the achievements and sacred values left by previous generations, the people here have exploited the natural landscape and their traditional cultural values to promote the local economy, culture and society.
Special agricultural values
These days, the golden ripe rice fields winding on both sides of the Ngo Dong River in the Tam Coc-Bich Dong Tourist Area, Ninh Hai Commune, Hoa Lu City, part of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, have entered harvest season. Local people are eager and excited to welcome the golden, heavy rice flowers onto the boat after a long time caring for them.
On an area of one sao of ripe rice, Chu Duc and his wife from Ninh Hai commune are busy using a sharp sickle to quickly cut the rice and bundle it to pull it onto the boat. “Growing rice in Tam Coc is much more difficult than in other areas. All stages from ploughing, planting, harvesting to harvesting must be done by hand, without the support of machines; without chemicals or pesticides so that the rice plants can grow naturally,” Duc shared.
During the harvest season, tourists visiting Tam Coc have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the joyful and bustling harvest atmosphere and in the aroma of ripe rice, witnessing with their own eyes the authentic images of the farmers here such as rowing boats, harvesting rice, transporting rice and threshing rice. All of this has created a picture of nature that is unmatched anywhere else - a picture of the golden colour of heritage, where people and nature blend together in a peaceful, simple and yet captivating way.
Han Ny, a French Vietnamese tourist, said: Here, I saw people harvesting rice on both sides, very beautiful and unique, as all harvesting activities take place on the river. In addition, the boatmen also told me about the worship of Than Nong of the local residents here - the legendary king of farmers, the founder of wet rice cultivation, the one who invented ploughing tools and taught people in the delta how to grow crops.
According to Dinh Anh Toi, Vice Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ninh Hai commune, Tam Coc field is a place where the majestic beauty of nature, thousands of years of history and the cultural depth of the Red River Delta converge. Therefore, the commune regularly urges people to preserve and produce the fields in a manual, ecological manner, without excessive mechanisation.
The Tam Coc rice fields have an area of over 19.5 hectares with nearly 200 households participating in production, divided equally into four teams. People are starting to harvest the ripe rice fields. This year, the weather is quite favourable, so the rice yield is higher than in previous years
Conservation, sustainable development
Ethnological survey documents show that the Tam Coc area is one of the cradles of primitive agriculture, containing material evidence proving that early agriculture once appeared here. In particular, Tam Coc also preserves the ancient beliefs of worshiping the Mountain God, the Forest God, and the Farmer God of the Vietnamese people.
Nguyen Cao Tan, Deputy Director of the Department of Tourism of Ninh Binh province, said that agriculture is the beginning of human civilization. Wet rice civilisation, during ancient Vietnamese civilisation, and originating from the Hoa Binh-Bac Son culture, was the prelude about 10,000 years ago of an agricultural revolution that then occurred throughout Southeast Asia.
In recent times, thanks to the creative working spirit of local people, the participation of authorities at all levels, and the solidarity of businesses, Tam Coc rice fields have been cared for and shaped into artistic rice fields, preserving and promoting their unique value. In particular, every year, the Ninh Binh Tourism Week event is held with the theme “The Golden Colour of Tam Coc - Trang An” to further honour the values of wet rice agriculture.
With their backdrop of deep green mountains, white clouds, clear rivers, golden rice fields and a rich history of agricultural and rural culture in the locality, the Tam Coc rice fields were once voted by the travel website Business Insider as one of the five most beautiful rice fields in Viet Nam.
In the coming time, Ninh Binh province will restore and preserve the beliefs of worshiping the Mountain God, the Forest God and the Farmer God; plan to preserve Tam Coc as a place to interpret heritage; focus on preserving the landscape and wet rice culture to honour the wet rice agriculture of the Vietnamese people; building high-quality agricultural products associated with tourist gift products so that visitors can learn about the culture and historical traditions of the ancient capital.
