Circular ecosystem as a foundation for sustainable development
The story is that somewhere in Vietnam, there is a farm called San Viet Farm, they are trying to become a model, although they know that this path is full of thorns and challenges. However, the pioneer's perseverance is on the right track. The farm was born at the right time, when consumers demand cleaner, more transparent food sources and are looking for more destinations with valuable experiences. Moreover, with the support from the State, the government and the openness in the Land Law, the farm has the foundation to realize its vision.
San Viet Farm from above. Photo: Architect.
San Viet Farm, covering nearly 130 hectares, is the result of the passion of Mr. Nguyen Minh Thanh. This place was originally a barren, barren hill area in Suoi Sau village, Nam Ninh Hoa commune (Khanh Hoa province). However, with a strategic vision, Mr. Thanh has gradually turned this land into a circular organic agricultural ecosystem, combining agricultural tourism and integrating indigenous culture. The farm was established in 2019, starting with an area of about 8 hectares, then gradually expanding to its current scale.
Mr. Thanh shared: "Organic farming is difficult, but organic farming plus large-scale circulation is even more difficult." However, he has absolute confidence in the path he has chosen: "Reality has proven that in the past 6 years, the amount of investment has decreased, while the revenue of San Viet Farm has increased and started to make a profit." This affirms the correctness of the economic model built on perseverance and scientific research.
The heart and operating philosophy of San Viet Farm is the closed-loop economic model, where all by-products and all material streams are thoroughly reused, true to the motto "don't throw anything away".
Mr. Nguyen Minh Thanh, owner of San Viet Farm, is very passionate about circular organic agriculture, combining agricultural tourism and integrating indigenous culture. Photo: KS.
The farm has planned 60 hectares to grow Australian mangoes, Hoa Loc mangoes, four-season mangoes and Taiwanese mangoes. The mango garden is invested with a sprinkler irrigation system to each tree and is grown organically. Grass in the garden is kept natural to cover and protect the soil, limit erosion, and is also a valuable source of supplementary food for livestock. In addition, the farm also grows about 3,000 Ninh Da coconut trees and 10 hectares of mixed gardens with a variety of fruit trees from all three regions and native vegetables with the flavor of the mountains and forests such as wild mustard, deer antlers, buttons, rau ria and bo bo (also known as sago).
The 10-hectare livestock area is well-planned and isolated. Many species are raised here, such as 3B cows, native black pigs, ant chickens, swiftlets, bamboo rats, civets, etc. The feed for livestock is made to the maximum by-products of agriculture on the farm. Vegetables, grass, banana tree trunks are all used as feed for cows, pigs, chickens and crickets. Black soldier flies and calcium worms are raised to process organic waste and feed chickens, fish and other livestock. Thanks to this nutritious food chain, the farm has saved a lot of money from buying industrial feed. Finally, manure from the livestock area is carefully composted before being applied to crops, completely closing the biological cycle, returning fertility to the soil.
Currently, the farm has about 60 hectares of Australian mango and Cat Hoa Loc mango varieties. Photo: San Viet.
In addition, the farm also carries out ecological conservation responsibilities. About 30 hectares of regenerated forest are being restored by Mr. Thanh with the aim of preserving underground water, maintaining biodiversity and aiming for carbon credit goals in the future. A 2.5-hectare lake located in the center of the farm serves both irrigation and creates a good biosphere for raising swiftlets, with 2 swiftlet houses bringing in hundreds of millions of VND/year in income.
Tourism - culture addition and output solution
The farm owner came up with a breakthrough strategy, because he realized that a large circular organic farm would have difficulty finding a thorough outlet for its products if it only did agriculture. Therefore, he combined agricultural tourism and indigenous culture as a strategic solution, where agricultural tourism takes advantage of the circular organic agricultural base and vice versa, agricultural tourism finds a sustainable outlet for agricultural products.
This combination not only solves the output efficiency of agricultural products but also builds trust with consumers. Visitors to San Viet Farm not only visit but also have practical experiences such as harvesting fruits, vegetables, and fishing. They enjoy dishes from rustic to specialties produced on the farm, with 80 - 90% of ingredients supplied on site.
When witnessing the effort and transparent production process, tourists are willing to buy agricultural products at higher prices because they realize the true value behind each green, clean product on the farm.
In addition to experiential tourism, the integration of local culture has created a deeper meaning for the farm. “Integrating culture makes San Viet Farm more attractive, and it is also a social responsibility to restore and spread culture,” Mr. Thanh confided.
San Viet Farm is attracting schools and tourists to visit. Photo: KS.
Coming to San Viet Farm, visitors can immerse themselves in the indigenous cultural space of the Raglai and Ede people every Saturday, with the sound of gongs, Xoang dances and folk cuisine. To complete the experience and preserve traditional architecture, the farm is building a Raglai ethnic village, not only to restore the architecture but also to serve as a place to stay for visitors.
Aspirations for role models and community development
The ultimate ambition of San Viet Farm is to become a typical model of the province, and furthermore, to become a model on a national scale, converging three pillars: agricultural model, agricultural tourism and community culture. This is the aspiration to contribute to the sustainable agricultural development of the country.
“San Viet Farm wishes to become a practical reference model for other units to visit and prove that circular organic agriculture is feasible and effective. The farm accepts experiments to find the best path, thereby creating valuable lessons for the following models,” Mr. Thanh expressed, believing that when visitors come to the farm, they will see lessons and values worthy of the cost they spend.
San Viet Farm is aspiring to become a model. Photo: KS.
Along with the big vision, San Viet Farm always aims to support the local community. The farm is implementing a stingless bee farming model for ethnic households with a commitment to purchase products after providing technical guidance. In addition, the farm is also restoring and developing native crops such as sorghum. San Viet Farm will select and create high-yield crop varieties suitable for the soil to transfer to people to plant in the rainy season on the hillsides.
"We will buy it at a price twice as high as corn to help local people increase their income and stabilize their lives," said Mr. Thanh. The product from the bo bo seed will be used by the farm as an ingredient to make rice wine or combined with the yeast of the ethnic people to create a wine with a special flavor. This is how San Viet Farm creates a humane value chain, both preserving traditional culinary culture and ensuring sustainable livelihoods for local people.
The farm’s development is the clearest proof of this vision. The farm currently provides jobs for 40 workers with a stable income of 7-8 million VND/person/month. The farm’s total agricultural revenue is nearly 7 billion VND, not including tourism revenue.
Source: https://nongnghiepmoitruong.vn/cau-chuyen-san-viet-farm-khat-vong-tro-thanh-dien-hinh-mau-d787534.html
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