President attends tree planting, ploughing festivals
“ Vietnam Tours “ - State President Nguyen Minh Triet launched the Tree Planting Festival for this year at the Dong Van Industrial Zone in the northern province of Ha Nam on February 20.
This
year’s Tree Planting Festival, themed “Planting tree to mitigate
impacts of climate change”, is the 50th festival since President Ho Chi
Minh launched the first one. It becomes the nation’s tradition in early
Spring of the Lunar New Year. After the launch, President Triet and
other participants planted trees.
According to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development, in 2009, 246,000ha of new forests
were developed and 170 million trees were planted across the country,
helping raise the country’s green coverage to 39.4%.
The same
day, President Triet attended the Tich Dien Mua Xuan (Spring Ploughing)
Festival, which was initiated more than 1,000 years ago to promote
agriculture, at Doi Son Commune, Ha Nam Province.
Addressing the
festival, the President said although Vietnam is advancing to
industrialisation and modernisation, it still places importance on
agriculture as more than 60% of the population relies heavily on
agriculture.
"The festival reminds us to show deep gratitude
to our predecessors and our kings, who cared about and committed to
improving production," said Triet.
Clad
in a peasant's plain brown outfit, the President ploughed the first
furrows and was followed by young women who placed the first seeds in
the newly prepared earth amid the applause of a crowd of people.
Ministers, ministerial officials and provincial authorities also took their turns to plough at the festival.
According
to organisers, tens of thousands of people took part in this year's
Tich Dien Mua Xuan Festival, which was the first time held as an
official occasion.
The festival began in 987 during the Le
Dynasty when King Le Dai Hanh decided to plough in Doi Son Commune, Duy
Tien District, to wish for bumper crops. The practice became an annual
tradition held in early Spring.
Just
want to let you know that we had a marvellous trip to Vietnam ,Laos and all the
guides and sites were very well planned and organised so a big thank
you. Next trip will be Cambodia and possibly Vietnam and 6 days on a
beach location. We’ll contact you soon for our trip.
