Efficiency from closed-loop farming and production models

In recent years, the trend of young, educated people "leaving the city to start a career in the countryside" has become quite common in Ham Thuan Bac district. However, not all of them succeed in their careers, as it depends on each person's willpower, profession, and business approach.

However, Mr. Tran Trung Hoang (38 years old), residing in Hamlet 1, Thuan Minh Commune, has successfully "left the city to start a business in the countryside" on his family's land, earning an annual income of around 400 million VND.

After graduating from high school in 2007, Tran Trung Hoang passed the entrance exam to Ly Tu Trong College in Ho Chi Minh City, majoring in automotive technology. After three years of study, he earned his bachelor's degree and found employment at a company. Despite a stable salary of over 8 million VND per month, he still harbored the intention of returning to his hometown to start his own business. After five years of accumulating capital, he decided to return to his hometown to realize his idea, and dragon fruit was his chosen crop. However, after three years of cultivation, the crop consistently suffered from "bumper harvests, low prices," resulting in losses. Therefore, he decided to remove the dragon fruit and dedicate all of his parents' land to planting Dendrocalamus giganteus (bamboo) for its shoots. He stated that in 2018, Dendrocalamus giganteus was a very profitable crop with a favorable market, favored by farmers in several provinces. After researching and gaining experience, he ordered 400 bamboo saplings to plant on an area of nearly 1 hectare. Instead of planting them in a 3x3 meter spacing like some places, he planted them in rows with 6 meters between each row and between plants to avoid overcrowding, which would result in low yields. Because Dendrocalamus giganteus bamboo is easy to grow and suitable for the local climate and soil conditions, the bamboo took root and grew well after only one month. After 8 months, it produced shoots, after 18 months, it yielded intermittent harvests, and after 24 months, it provided a stable harvest. The advantage of Dendrocalamus giganteus bamboo is that it produces shoots year-round, but the highest yield is from May to September (lunar calendar). Mr. Hoang harvests shoots every 3 days, averaging around 70 kg of fresh shoots each time; that means he harvests about 10 times a month, yielding approximately 700 kg of shoots from 400 bamboo plants. To increase his family's income, in early 2020, Mr. Hoang expanded his investment to include raising cattle, goats, hybrid wild boars, and poultry to utilize agricultural waste and bamboo shoot husks as animal feed. He also used poultry and livestock manure to fertilize the bamboo, creating a closed-loop production and breeding process. Goats and hybrid wild boars are his two main livestock. For goats, he invested in 11 breeding animals, including 10 female goats and 1 male goat; for hybrid wild boars, he bought 10 breeding animals, including 9 female and 1 male, with the goal of self-breeding to supply the market. Unlike bamboo, raising goats and pigs for breeding is not simple, so his first year of experimentation was unsuccessful, with a low pregnancy rate and poor quality offspring. Determined to persevere, Mr. Hoang independently researched and learned from the experiences of many people, then filtered the useful knowledge to apply to breeding goats and hybrid wild boars. Thanks to his perseverance and hard work, he soon achieved results; his goats and pigs reproduced well and regularly, ensuring both the quantity and quality of the offspring. One female goat gave birth to two litters per year, with one piglet per litter; while the hybrid wild pigs gave birth to three litters per year, with 8-10 piglets per litter.

With his closed-loop farming and production model, Mr. Hoang has earned a significant income. According to his calculations, since 2021, with 400 bamboo plants, he harvests approximately 8,400 kg of fresh bamboo shoots annually, selling them at prices ranging from 18,000 to 25,000 VND/kg, bringing in 150 to 210 million VND. In addition, he also sells bamboo seedlings to local people at 30,000 VND per plant; since the beginning of 2023, he has sold nearly 1,000 plants, earning almost 30 million VND. As for his goat herd, thanks to proper care, each year 10 female goats give birth to 18-20 kids. When they reach 18 kg each, he sells them at an average price of 1.8 million VND per goat, earning 32-36 million VND. For hybrid wild boars, nine breeding sows produce over 210 piglets annually, selling them at prices ranging from 600,000 to 700,000 VND per piglet, bringing in 120-150 million VND... The total income from growing bamboo for shoots combined with raising goats and hybrid wild boars for breeding reaches 330-420 million VND per year for Mr. Hoang's family. Mr. Hoang said that the effectiveness of his family's closed-loop farming and production model is not only reflected in the total income but also in the cost savings. By utilizing bamboo shoot husks mixed with bran and corn as animal feed, the goats and hybrid wild boars grow quickly; conversely, the goat and boar manure is used to fertilize the bamboo, eliminating the need for chemical fertilizers while still allowing the bamboo to grow well, produce more shoots, and of higher quality. Thanks to this, the profit after deducting expenses is substantial, ranging from 250-320 million VND per year. According to Mr. Hoang, in his family's closed-loop farming and production model, growing Dendrocalamus giganteus bamboo for shoots yields the highest economic efficiency due to almost absolute cost reduction, minimal care requirements, long lifespan, resistance to pests and diseases, and stable market demand. Therefore, he plans to expand the area for growing bamboo for shoots on the remaining land of his family so that the greenery of this crop will not only help him stabilize his income but also help him become wealthy.

“Currently, there are many integrated farming models in the locality; however, Mr. Hoang's model of growing bamboo for shoots combined with raising goats and hybrid wild pigs in a closed-loop process has proven highly effective, attracting many people from within and outside the commune to learn from and apply it. The commune's Farmers' Association has also widely introduced this model to its members so that people can understand and replicate it to improve their income and increase the value of cultivation on their family land…”
Mr. Nguyen Van Toan, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Thuan Minh commune, happily shared.

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