Quitting container truck driving, Hai Phong farmer owns lotus pond of over 50,000m2

Fate with lotus

On the afternoon of July 1, Mr. Vu Van Doan and his wife, Ms. Ngo Thi Nham, waded through a lotus field of more than 5 hectares, harvesting sweet lotus roots to deliver to customers. Covered in mud from head to toe, Mr. Doan smiled brightly, leading guests to visit the lotus pond.

Talking about his relationship with lotus, Mr. Doan said that more than 10 years ago, he was a container truck driver. At that time, Mr. Doan earned several tens of millions of dong each month, enough to take care of his family. However, he was away every month, not having time for his family, which made Mr. Doan worried and discussed with his wife about finding another job so that he could stay home with his wife to take care of and raise the children.

Ms. Ngo Thi Nham - Mr. Doan's wife harvests sweet lotus roots, preparing to deliver to customers. Photo: Mai Dung — Ms. Ngo Thi Nham - Mr. Doan's wife - harvests sweet lotus roots, preparing to deliver to customers. Photo: Mai Dung

At first, Mr. Doan and his wife experimented with growing nearly 4,000 square meters of lotus ponds. Seeing the effectiveness of growing lotus, the couple gradually expanded the area, renting abandoned low-lying fields from villagers to grow lotus. To date, Mr. Doan's lotus pond area has reached 5.3 hectares.

On this area, Mr. Doan and his wife, Ms. Nham, grow 3 types of lotus: lotus, lotus for starch production and have just tested the sweet lotus variety. Mr. Doan also devotes part of the area to growing Quan Am lotus, which has high economic value. Each year, their lotus pond yields 2-3 quintals of tubes/star, bringing in income many times higher than growing rice.

Success with the 3-on-site model

To bring Huu Bang lotus products to customers, Mr. Doan and his wife combined with a number of facilities producing lotus products such as lotus root starch, lotus root tea, lotus heart tea, dried lotus leaves, etc.

"The family is implementing a 3-on-site model: growing on-site, consuming on-site and producing on-site. The harvested lotus roots will be produced into starch products on the same day, ensuring the nutritional value of the lotus roots. Thanks to that, Vu Doan lotus root starch products are certified as 3-star OCOP products in 2022, consumed in many provinces and cities in the country and abroad" - Ms. Ngo Thi Nham, Mr. Doan's wife - said.

Vu Doan lotus root products have achieved 3-star OCOP certification. Photo: Mai Dung

Not only successful with the lotus growing model, Mr. Vu Van Doan and his wife also created jobs for 5 local workers with a salary of about 5-7 million VND/month. Mr. Doan and his wife's wish is to develop the lotus growing - fish farming model, combined with tourism development, sightseeing services, check-in. Along with that, investing in modern machinery in the production of lotus products, bringing the Huu Bang lotus brand to the majority of people.

According to statistics from the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Kien Thuy district, the whole district currently has more than 100 hectares of lotus, concentrated in the two communes of Huu Bang and Dai Dong. Many households have lotus growing areas of 5-7 hectares, lotus is harvested all year round, bringing high income. The lotus growing model also helps significantly reduce the situation of abandoned fields; creating jobs for hundreds of local workers.