K'Kien pioneers in high-tech agricultural production

Recently, in Dam Rong district, there have been many examples of farmers boldly changing their thinking, applying scientific advances to production to develop the economy , get rich, and stabilize their lives. Mr. K'Kien (born 1984) in Lieng Dong village, Phi Lieng commune is one of those typical examples.

Mr. K'Kien is an inspiration to help people change their thinking and awareness in agricultural production.

Born into a family with difficult circumstances, Mr. K'Kien only studied until grade 8 and then had to drop out of school, going to the fields every day to help his parents take care of the family's finances. Mr. K'Kien expressed that in 2003, he got married and lived with his wife's family for 5 years before asking to move out. Mr. K'Kien recalled that at that time, his wife's family was also very difficult, and they had many children, so when they moved out, Mr. Kien and his wife started to build their lives from scratch. On the other hand, because he was still quite young, he did not have any knowledge or experience in production. With his industrious nature, he was willing to research and learn from the experiences of those who went before him and through channels and mass media. At the same time, he actively participated in training courses to transfer science and technology to apply and experience in real life.

Mr. K'Kien said: "In the journey of economic development, despite the myriad of difficulties, if you are diligent, hardworking, and make an effort, you will succeed. I'm just afraid that if you are not diligent or lazy, it will be difficult to escape poverty and enrich your family." With that way of thinking, in recent years, Mr. K'Kien has been considered one of the young K'Ho people with a positive, dynamic, and bold lifestyle in economic development in Phi Lieng commune. In terms of family work, Mr. Kien arranges everything carefully, his wife stays at home to open a small grocery store, does housework, takes care of the children, and he takes care of 3 hectares of coffee. In order for the family's coffee area to achieve high productivity and improve the quality of coffee beans, Mr. Kien has mobilized his brothers in the area to go to Bao Loc city to buy new coffee shoots, high-yield varieties to graft and improve his family's garden. Thanks to that, his family's coffee productivity has increased significantly, with an output of 7 - 8 tons of coffee beans/year. From the results of production, by 2012, Mr. K'Kien's family had built a house worth over 300 million VND; in 2021, they bought a car to serve their family's daily activities.

By the end of 2023, Mr. K'Kien was the first indigenous person in the district to pioneer and boldly implement a high-tech agricultural production model (growing tomatoes). To implement this model, Mr. Kien spent a lot of time learning about the farming process, participating in training courses on transferring science and technology into production; boldly decided to borrow money from the bank, borrow from brothers and sisters in the family to invest in a high-tech tomato growing model on an area of 4.5 sao, with a cost of over 700 million VND; of which 2.5 sao of Beep tomatoes were grown in greenhouses and 2 sao of Rita tomatoes were grown outdoors; at the same time, he invested in an automatic, drip irrigation and fertilization system, applying Israeli technology.

Mr. K'Kien confided: “The first time I implemented it, I also encountered many difficulties and confusion, especially in applying science and technology, fertilizer processes... and lack of capital. I learned from the experiences of those who went before me, from knowledge on social networks to apply in practice. At the same time, I regularly monitored the crops and detected harmful diseases early to promptly prevent and find solutions to supplement the mineral nutrients for the plants..."

Because this is a high-tech production model, the cultivation process must strictly follow clean and sustainable production processes, ensuring product safety and health for consumers. Although this is not a new model, it is the first production model implemented by the K'Ho ethnic people themselves, so recently, when tomatoes bear fruit, are harvested and sold to the market, it has attracted a large number of ethnic minorities to visit and learn, not only local people but also ethnic minorities from Da Teh district to learn and visit.

After nearly 4 months of implementation, up to now, the high-tech tomato growing model of Mr. K'Kien's family has harvested the first crop twice with a total output of 20 tons. Currently, the market price of tomatoes is 7,000 VND/kg, his family has earned 150 million VND. The area of Rita tomatoes grown outdoors will also be harvested around mid-March. As for product output, his family has linked up with vegetable and flower farms in Duc Trong district to come to the garden to purchase and consume the products.

Mr. Hoang Tung - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Phi Lieng Commune, said: "Mr. Kien is the first K'Ho ethnic person to boldly change his awareness, actively diversifying crop and livestock varieties to increase his income. He has a progressive spirit, overcomes difficulties, and excels in production, boldly converting ineffective crop areas to cultivate high-value crop varieties. Hopefully, in the coming time, there will be many typical examples of ethnic minorities boldly changing their awareness and thinking, bringing effective production models to enrich their families and hometowns."

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