Transforming barren land into a multi-million dollar farm.

Through hard work and a daring spirit, Mr. Ho Van Duong has transformed a barren swampy area in An Binh village, Thanh An commune, Cam Lo district, into a thriving farm with annual revenue exceeding 12 billion VND. Mr. Duong's economic development model has created jobs for many local workers. He was selected as "Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer of 2023".

The feed conveyor system in Mr. Duong's pig farm - Photo: LA

Visiting Mr. Duong's integrated farm, we were surprised by the prosperous and well-organized property, with a fish pond and pig farm nestled among shady coconut trees. Mr. Duong confided that no one has ever gotten rich from growing rice or potatoes. Therefore, to become wealthy on one's own land, one must change their way of thinking and doing things.

But how to change the way things are done was a difficult question that troubled him for a long time. Then, with his diligent nature and constant desire to learn new things, in 2003, he discussed with his wife and decided to apply to rent a low-lying rice paddy area of about 7 hectares, located about 1 km from their house, to build a rice-fish farming model.

“In the early days of setting up the farm here, everyone said my wife and I were crazy because this was a barren, low-lying piece of land, surrounded by weeds and bushes. Ignoring them, I invested all my capital, borrowed more from relatives, hired an excavator to build dikes around the rented area, and completed the construction of six rice paddies combined with fish farming,” Mr. Duong recounted.

The ceremony honoring and awarding the title of 100 outstanding Vietnamese farmers in 2023, and commending 63 exemplary cooperatives nationwide, was organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Association , in coordination with the Central Propaganda Department, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The 100 honored farmers are the most outstanding representatives among millions of exemplary farmers in the era of industrialization, modernization of agriculture and rural areas, and international integration; they are compelling role models in the community. 2023 marks the first year that the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Association has organized the commendation of 63 exemplary cooperatives nationwide, established through the Association's efforts in promoting, mobilizing, and guiding their establishment.

Mr. Duong explained that surrounding the rice paddies are wide irrigation ditches, 6-8 meters wide and 1-1.2 meters deep, formed by digging earth to build dikes. He raises various fish species such as grass carp, silver carp, and tilapia in these ditches. In the middle is a flat area where he grows rice. Before sowing the rice, he lowers the water level below the surface of the field to allow the fish to move into the ditches. When the rice is growing well, he raises the water level again so the fish can move to the middle of the field to feed.

However, it's crucial to carefully plan the rearing time and use nets to prevent grass carp from getting onto the rice paddies. If grass carp are allowed onto the paddies, no rice plants will survive. After harvesting, he refills the paddies with water and waits for the rice plants to regenerate before removing the nets to allow the grass carp onto the paddies. At this point, the grass carp will eat all the regenerated rice plants and clear the paddies.

According to Mr. Duong, he only plants one rice crop per year, using the rice sprouts (regenerated rice) as feed for fish. At the end of the year, he uses nets to select the larger fish to sell, and releases those that haven't reached the required weight back into the ponds for further cultivation. Furthermore, in 2019, he introduced freshwater prawn farming and developed a closed-loop, recirculating farming model combining freshwater prawns, fish, and rice cultivation, following a natural farming approach.

"Currently, freshwater prawns are being bought directly from the farms by traders at a price of 350,000 VND/kg. Annually, I earn about 300 million VND from freshwater prawns and about 200-250 million VND from fish," Mr. Duong said.

Not stopping there, with his diligent and inquisitive nature, in 2010, Mr. Duong decided to invest nearly 1.7 billion VND to build a cold storage system for raising pigs on a scale of 1,000-1,100 pigs per batch, in partnership with CP Vietnam Livestock Corporation. With the technical support of the company, Mr. Duong's pig farm has an automatic cooling system and, notably, a feed conveyor belt.

Instead of carrying bags of feed to each trough, at Mr. Duong's farm, workers simply pour all the feed into a storage tank, and a conveyor system delivers it directly to the troughs. Mr. Duong said that he raises two batches of pigs each year, with each pig weighing 110-120 kg at slaughter, and the company buys all of them.

Transforming barren land into a multi-million dollar farm.

Mr. Duong's farm is well-organized and scientifically arranged - Photo: LA

To ensure environmental hygiene, Mr. Duong also applies advanced manure filtration technology. Accordingly, pig manure is collected in two tanks with a volume of 15 m³/tank, then a manure pump with a capacity of 20 m³/hour is used to filter the manure from the water. The wastewater is fed into a biogas digester for use as fuel for the farm's living needs. The solid pig manure after filtration is treated with lime powder and composted with microorganisms to fertilize rice and feed fish.

“Composted manure is used to fertilize rice, and at the same time creates a plankton environment for microorganisms that serve as food for fish and shrimp. The fish and shrimp waste provides nutrients for the rice. The regenerated rice then serves as food for the fish and shrimp. Utilizing each other's food sources helps save costs in production,” Mr. Duong shared.

When asked about his experience in developing his family's economy, Mr. Duong said that, in addition to diligence and hard work, farmers need to change their mindset, boldly switch crops and livestock, and introduce new varieties into production. Another important factor is knowing how to apply science and technology correctly to achieve high economic efficiency.

Currently, Mr. Duong's farm maintains a stable 6-hectare area for intercropping freshwater prawns, fish, and rice, and annually sells over 250 tons of pork. Starting from nothing, but with relentless effort, Mr. Duong has succeeded in livestock farming and crop cultivation, becoming wealthy on land that was previously abandoned, with an annual revenue of over 12 billion VND.

"Due to the heavy workload, I had to hire eight additional permanent workers at a salary of 7-9 million VND per person per month. Furthermore, this economic model also creates jobs for dozens of seasonal workers," Mr. Duong added.

According to Nguyen Van Viet, Chairman of the Cam Lo District Farmers' Association, Mr. Duong's farm is large-scale, well-invested, and professional, yielding high economic efficiency. Notably, not only has he enriched himself, but Mr. Duong has also actively participated with the commune's Farmers' Association in guiding local branches to build closed-loop models in livestock farming and crop cultivation.

In addition, he also supports farmer members by providing livestock and loans to help them develop production together. Mr. Duong always accompanies the local community in the movement to help poor households, the rural road construction program, and other movements of the association and local organizations.

In addition, Mr. Duong has provided hundreds of gift packages, each worth 200,000 - 500,000 VND, to poor households, students, and those in difficult circumstances. For his efforts in economic development, Mr. Duong has received numerous commendations from the Prime Minister, the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Association, and the Provincial People's Committee.

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