Young man earns 100 million VND/month from salt-tolerant plants

Passion for growing salt-tolerant plants

Nhut, a 9X guy in Phu Tan district, owns a 10,000m2 plot of land ^growing canola, cherry and many other types of plants. other. This is the main source of raw materials for him to develop vegetable salt products, functional foods and cherry juice. The combination of plants and creativity has brought high economic value. These products not only bring health benefits but also promote sustainable agriculture.

Nhat with gardens growing cherry and canola as raw materials for processing. PHOTO: GB

As a son of a farmer, Nhut spent his childhood working on the fields and gardens, and he understood the hardships of his parents. Right from his school days, Nhut realized that education was the fastest way to escape poverty and that only changing the way of thinking about agriculture could help farmers overcome their difficulties. From that desire, when Nhut graduated from mechanical engineering, he continued to study cultivation and plant protection techniques in Ho Chi Minh City. During this time, he studied and researched the idea of growing salt-tolerant plants such as sea phlox and sea cypress in Nha Be District (Ho Chi Minh City) to make salt.

At that time, salty agriculture was a very promising industry in the world . Nhat and his colleagues spent 3 years to create a complete scenario, to anticipate possible situations and to have solutions to overcome them to bring the highest efficiency.

Japan harvests the ivy tree to make salt. PHOTO: GB

To accumulate experience to carry out the project of planting and developing salt-tolerant and drought-tolerant plants with high economic value, adapting to climate change, at first Nhut only planted basic plants that could be irrigated with salt water. Not long after, he and his friends learned and learned about many new plants, then domesticated them to grow on saline soil.

Nhut's initial success was making vegetable salt from the sea phyllanthus plant. According to him, vegetable salt is extracted from natural vegetables and fruits, so it is recommended by doctors because it has a lower sodium content than table salt. In addition, vegetable salt also contains a lot of potassium, a mineral that helps balance blood pressure and supports the treatment of heart diseases.

Develop your own brand

Nhat learned from experience while working, and at the same time spent a lot of effort and money to create the product. quality. All the young man's efforts were rewarded when his project won second prize in the 2021 Ca Mau Province Startup Idea Competition. Later, the project won first prize in the 2021 Mekong Delta Startup Competition, organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Can Tho Branch, in coordination with the Mekong Delta Startup Network.

Testing vegetable salt at the factory

PHOTO: GB

Three years ago, Nhut returned to his hometown to establish his own brand to develop products from salt-tolerant plants in his hometown. Nhut is also the first brand developer in our country specializing in developing saline agriculture to adapt to climate change.

Currently, he has researched and developed nearly 20 species of highly salt-tolerant plants, along with some brackish water plants. Among them, there are plants that have been successfully grown such as sea asparagus, sea purslane, jute, water spinach, and Chinese clematis... In mid-2022, Nhut decided to invest nearly 3 billion VND to renovate 10,000m2 of ^his family's land to grow Chinese clematis, Chinese clematis, and Chinese cherry trees for raw materials.

Nhat introduces products at the Spring Homeland 2024 event in Ho Chi Minh City.

PHOTO: NVCC

To have a scientific basis and a safe production process for consumers, Nhut hired experts to research the activities of these plants. According to Nhut, the leaves of the umbrella tree contain active ingredients with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects, helping to prevent infections and inflammation. In addition, the tree also has the effect of reducing pain and supporting the treatment of respiratory, digestive and cardiovascular diseases.

A few months later, Nhut harvested the first batch of oleander to make vegetable salt. The salt made from oleander has overcome the disadvantages of some previous plants, not only has a beautiful appearance but also contains superior minerals, which is welcomed by customers.

"The oleander is a species that can survive strongly in saltwater conditions. 10kg of fresh oleander will produce about 200gr of salt. Compared to some other plants, making salt from oleander is 3-4 times more efficient," Nhut said.

With that success, Nhut invested in modern machinery to produce: salt, oleo tea; liver detox pills. As for cherry trees, Nhut has its own cherry drink, made purely from fresh fruit... After deducting expenses, Nhut earns a profit of about 100 million VND/month, the products made are not enough to sell.

Nhat at the Young Entrepreneurs Association exchange event

PHOTO: GB

To meet market demand, Nhut is continuing to invest in expanding the factory, expecting to triple the output of his products. In order to proactively source raw materials, he also plans to cooperate with local farmers to expand the growing area. Currently, there are some partners who want to cooperate with Nhut to distribute products from salt-tolerant plants abroad.

In addition to being the founder of his own brand of products from salt-tolerant plants, Nhut is also the Chairman of the Ca Mau Province Startup Club. Nhut is always willing to share his knowledge in the field of salt-tolerant agriculture with farmers and can transfer his research to other units.

"When talking about Ca Mau, people only know about aquatic products such as shrimp and crab, but there are no branded crops originating from saltwater. I always aspire to develop salt-tolerant crop varieties that can produce quality products to increase farmers' income," Nhut shared.

Talking about Nhut's brand building process, Mr. Quach Van An, Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Ca Mau province , said: "Nhut is a young man with very creative ideas, suitable for local conditions. His products from salt-tolerant plants are also being positively received by customers."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chang-trai-kiem-100-trieu-dong-thang-tu-cay-trong-chiu-man-18525040313040912.htm