Overcome difficulties to get rich
We arrived at the Tanh Linh rice field at the peak of the winter-spring harvest. The Suoi Tum field in village 2, Bac Ruong commune was like a golden silk carpet under the early morning sunlight. Nestled in the middle of this rice field was Cap Kim Thanh's house, bustling with the laughter of many farmers. "Today we visited the VietGAP rice production model, using Thanh's new rice variety to learn how to reduce costs in clean rice production" - a farmer said with laughter. Then he looked at Thanh seriously: "We must learn how to get rich from Thanh".
Mr. Thanh shared: “Currently, the family grows 3.5 hectares of durian and mango and 11 hectares of rice, along with providing agricultural machinery services, trading certified rice seeds, rolled straw…”. The family’s level 4 house is built quite simply, but spacious. Behind the house are dozens of durian trees in the harvest season, a fish pond. In front of the alley, right at the edge of the ripening rice fields, are rows of mango trees preparing for harvest. It is understandable that his family’s average income after deducting expenses is nearly 1 billion VND/year. Along with solving seasonal jobs for 10-18 local workers, with salaries ranging from 9-14 million VND/month/person.
That is the result that for a person in his 50s like him is a process. "My hometown is Hai Xuan commune, Hai Lang district, Quang Tri province. My family has a tradition of farming. After following my parents to settle in Bac Ruong, Tanh Linh district since I was young, life was very difficult and deprived." Since 1996, when he was only 24 years old and after getting married for 1 year, he and his wife reclaimed land in Suoi Tum area, 3 km from home. Because this is a high hilly area, they both reclaimed and gradually converted it to grow rice... Having land, the couple borrowed capital to invest in growing 2 rice crops mixed with 1 corn crop and digging 1 hectare of fish pond, but failed and lost hundreds of millions of dong, so he switched to growing 3 rice crops...
He has become rich from agricultural production, and currently Mr. Thanh is the Chairman of the Commune Farmers' Association. Therefore, his wife, Ms. Tam, is still the one who takes care of everything while he is at work. At night, the couple takes flashlights to visit the fields, open and drain water to take care of each field. The results are that in this year's winter-spring crop, the average rice yield is about 85 quintals/ha, and in some well-cared rice fields, the yield is up to 92 quintals/ha.
An old farmer whispered to me: "Mr. Thanh and his wife are also members of the Bac Ruong 1 Agricultural Service Cooperative, which meets VietGAP standards. Ms. Tam - Mr. Thanh's wife - also drives the tractor herself during peak crop season."
From 2010 to now, he has been awarded the title of excellent farmer at the provincial and district levels. Over the past few years, his family and some members of the cooperative have applied the production of new rice varieties. Typically, this year, the main variety is OM 18 with high yield, combined with clean production processes, together with some members creating the Bac Ruong rice brand that is increasingly popular in the market.
Paving the way for the future of Tanh Linh rice brand
Tanh Linh is one of the southern rice granaries of the province. In this winter-spring crop, the district's rice production area is more than 9,000 hectares, with an average yield of 75 quintals/ha and an output of nearly 69,000 tons. In particular, in Bac Ruong commune, investment in high-quality rice production is being focused on by the people. For example, in the 2025 winter-spring crop, Bac Ruong commune planted 1,300 hectares, mainly rice with 1,100 hectares.
According to the assessment of Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc - Vice Chairman of Tanh Linh District People's Committee, the reason for the success of winter-spring rice production in the district is due to the favorable water source for production. In addition, the attention to supporting the provincial agricultural extension model and capital support for rice land create conditions for localities to access scientific and technical advances, choose varieties of production suitable for local climate and soil conditions...
Returning to the success of farmer Cap Kim Thanh, when meeting us, he quickly "showed off" the achievements after many efforts of his family and the entire Bac Ruong 1 Agricultural Service Cooperative. That is the "Certificate of food safety qualified facility" that was just awarded by the Department of Agricultural Product Quality and Rural Development of Binh Thuan in mid-April 2025. Previously, in 2023, the Rice Seed Production Cooperative confirmed that Bac Ruong commune had been awarded the VietGAP certificate, thanks to the support and guidance of the Agricultural Extension Center. Mr. Thanh also introduced the product branded "Bac Ruong Clean Rice" of Bac Ruong 1 Agricultural Service Cooperative, a 3-star OCOP product, which is changing its design every day, meeting the needs of consumers for clean and safe agricultural products. That is OM 18, ST25 rice... with a white color typical of each variety, packaged in 5 kg, 10 kg. What I felt when I enjoyed this brand of whole grain rice was that the cooked rice was soft and delicious...
Although clean production is not easy, his family and the members of the cooperative all aim to create safe agricultural products for themselves and consumers. That is also the reason why Thanh's family is one of the pioneering households participating in the model of "rice production according to VietGAP standards or equivalent - Footprintless fields" with a scale of 10 hectares in the commune in the 2025 winter-spring crop, implemented by the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center and related units. The goal is to support farmers with good agricultural production processes, create safe products, help increase the value of agricultural products, and increase economic efficiency on the same area of cultivated land.
When assessing the 2025 winter-spring crop, the leaders of Tanh Linh District People's Committee also recognized some difficulties in rice production in the area. That is, the situation of people sowing thickly still exists, which cannot be overcome, leading to the risk of disease and affecting productivity. On the other hand, there are still difficulties in production linkage due to the small and fragmented area of people. Moreover, the supply of machinery and equipment such as transplanters and seeders is still limited, so they have to contact and rent them from other localities far away to transport them... After this winter-spring crop, farmers in the province, along with Tanh Linh, are preparing to sow for the summer-autumn crop around mid-May 2025 with many solutions on seed structure, application of technical advances, strengthening irrigation... to have another bumper crop.
Not long after returning from the trip to Bac Ruong, I received another appointment to meet with Mr. Cap Kim Thanh right in Phan Thiet. The quick conversation early in the morning made me admire him even more. A "workaholic" person, he diligently attended from beginning to end the training course of the Binh Thuan Farmers' Association for farmers in the whole province. From witnessing his family's good practical production example, along with the role of a cadre of the Commune Farmers' Association that he is undertaking, I always believe that in the near future, there will be more farmers in Tanh Linh who will have access to more knowledge and advanced scientific production methods to increase their income and become rich from agriculture. They all aim for a breakthrough, reap success, and develop sustainably on their homeland - the rice granary of the South of Binh Thuan - where "rice fields meet harvest seasons".
In the VietGAP rice production model and equivalent, farmers are transferred new scientific and technical advances such as cluster sowing and spraying with drones. In the model implemented by Mr. Thanh, the actual yield in the winter-spring crop is 3.8 tons/ha higher than outside the model. Moreover, the effectiveness of organic fertilizer application in sparse sowing helps plants to be healthy and grow well, thereby limiting diseases and pests, thus reducing investment costs...
The Provincial Agricultural Extension Center said.
Source: https://baobinhthuan.com.vn/dong-lua-hen-ho-nhung-mua-gat-129707.html
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