Mr. Trinh Van Toan walks under the grapefruit and coconut trees in his farm.
From a riverside wasteland to a multi-million dollar farm.
Standing amidst the lush green farmland bordering the Yen River in Thach Lang village, Truong Van commune, it's hard to imagine that this was once a barren, saline, and frequently flooded area. Mr. Trinh Van Toan led us along the garden paths, slowly recounting his life story. After many years of struggling to make ends meet, in 2002 he decided to return to his hometown, starting his business on the land inherited from his ancestors and leasing barren land along the Yen River in the commune.
Mr. Toan recounted that the area in front of his house was a swampy, marshy field bordering the Yen River, constantly flooded. When people learned of his intention to hire contractors and invest time, effort, and money in land reclamation, many considered it a risky "game" and advised him to give up. "People saw the risks, but I saw the opportunity," Mr. Toan recalled. He boldly reclaimed the land, experimenting with planting over 200 longan trees and nearly 100 Dien pomelo trees – high-value crops that require significant capital and long-term patience. He gambled all his savings on renting machinery for dredging and embankment construction, buying seedlings, and investing in fertilizers; at the same time, he taught himself techniques through books, newspapers, and from experienced farmers.
Thanks to proper care, subsequent harvests yielded increasingly abundant fruit. Between 2010 and 2015, his longan and pomelo orchards entered a period of great success. Word spread, and the "Mr. Toan's longan and pomelo" brand attracted traders who came directly to his orchard to purchase the produce; at times, he couldn't even supply enough. Not content with his initial success, in 2015 he borrowed more than 3 hectares of unproductive rice paddy land from the commune, a low-lying area along the Yen River that had long been abandoned. With the experience accumulated over many seasons, he expanded his model, planting more longan, pomelo, Siamese coconut, and Thai jackfruit.
Currently, his farm has over 1,000 Hung Yen longan trees, 1,000 Siamese coconut trees, 800 Dien pomelo and green-skinned pomelo trees, and 200 Thai jackfruit trees, generating an annual revenue of approximately 1 billion VND. Mr. Toan revealed that he is nurturing the idea of developing an agricultural model linked to ecotourism, allowing visitors to walk or take a boat ride along the Yen River to experience the lush green riverside scenery.
"Reviving" low-lying rice fields with aquaculture models.
Although both originated from the saline-affected lowlands of Truong Van commune, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Van, a disabled veteran (category 4/4) in Yen Lang village, chose a different path. Instead of planting perennial crops, he utilized the unsuitable land to develop an extensive shrimp and crab farming model. More than 10 years ago, when he first started building his farm, he and his wife faced many difficulties due to lack of capital and experience, and the results were not as expected. Undeterred, he proactively learned techniques from other farms, books, newspapers, and the internet; at the same time, he received support from the local government and the commune's farmers' association.
Through research and experimentation, he found that the soil here was suitable for raising tiger prawns, whiteleg prawns, crabs, and fish. He boldly expanded his farming area to 2.5 hectares. Prawn farming requires advanced techniques, and Mr. Van strictly adheres to the recommended seasonal schedule, raising only two crops per year, leaving the ponds to rest and improve the water environment for the rest of the year. After deducting expenses, the model brings his family about 300 million VND annually, creating seasonal jobs for many local laborers with stable incomes.
From abandoned, saline-affected low-lying fields, the economic models of Mr. Trinh Van Toan and Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Van have demonstrated an effective approach to exploiting uncultivable land in the locality. This is not only a story of individual family wealth creation, but also a testament to the spirit of daring to think and act, and applying science and technology to "awaken" the potential of the homeland's land.
The models of Mr. Toan and Mr. Van are inspiring local youth to boldly consolidate land, transform the structure of crops and livestock towards commodity production; gradually forming linkages and developing sustainable agriculture.
Text and photos: Dinh Giang
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/bien-dong-trung-nhiem-man-thanh-noi-cho-trai-ngot-275174.htm
Comment (0)