Ha Tinh When Hoang Huynh Ngu, 35 years old, quit his job as a manager at a wood company to return to his hometown to work on a farm, his father scolded him, "If you don't want happiness, you'll have to endure hardship in the future."
After graduating from the Forestry University in 2012, Mr. Ngu went to Binh Duong to work as a forest products processing engineer at a wood company. Two years later, he married a girl from the same hometown, Luong Thi Thu Trang, an office worker. The couple's total monthly income is around 25 million VND, which is considered stable.
But Mr. Ngu said he was not satisfied because he was working for hire, "under the hammer and the anvil". Managing more than a dozen workers, if he was strict, they would blame him, if he was lax, he would be scolded by the boss.
During his visits to his hometown in Son Giang commune, Huong Son district, Mr. Ngu cherished the idea of doing agriculture , but had no land and had not yet decided what to plant or what to raise. In Binh Duong, taking advantage of his days off, he drove to neighboring provinces to visit models of raising cows and wild pigs, waiting for opportunities.
Mr. Hoang Dinh Ngu smiled gently when talking about the process of quitting his engineering job to return to his hometown to work on a farm. Photo: Duc Hung
In mid-2016, when the land officer of Son Giang commune reported that someone had returned 1.5 hectares of land he had bid for because his farming was unsuccessful, Mr. Ngu called his father and asked him to go to the commune to rent land to set up a farm. A few days later, he wrote a resignation letter, even though his wife had just given birth to their first child and their salary had increased to 30 million VND per month.
His parents strongly opposed their son leaving the city to return to the countryside. "We studied properly to escape from the farming world, now we're back to the starting point," Mr. Ngu recalled what his father said 7 years ago. Ms. Trang initially objected, but then, seeing her husband's determination, she agreed.
With a small amount of savings, Mr. Ngu borrowed the red book from his parents and two relatives to apply for a loan of 800 million VND to start a business. He built an operating house, 3 rows of barns, and bought 10 breeding cows worth 250 million VND to raise. After settling down, he picked up his wife and children from Binh Duong.
The farm used to be acacia and tea hills. Every day, Mr. Ngu rented a machine to improve the soil. The couple took turns weeding and cleaning the garden. To make ends meet, in early 2017, he bought 200 chickens to take care of, and sold them every 4 months to pay off the loan interest. The first batch of chickens earned a profit of 10 million VND. Mr. Ngu encouraged his wife that the income was low, but if she persevered, she would definitely make a profit.
However, bad luck struck at the end of the year, when the herd of 10 calves was ready to be sold, the price dropped. A 5-6 month old calf used to sell for 12-14 million VND, but later it was only 4 million VND. Large domestic partners did not buy because exporting abroad was difficult. "Losing hundreds of millions of VND, I could not eat well, did not sleep well, and lost weight from 64 to 57 kg in just two months," he said.
Mr. Ngu's 1.5-hectare integrated farm is located on the edge of an acacia hill in Son Giang commune. Photo: Duc Hung
Mr. Ngu calculated that the most stressful thing was the loan of hundreds of millions of dong from the bank, each month he needed at least 5-7 million dong to pay interest. Taking advantage of the policy to support farmers, he borrowed more capital to buy a tractor worth 33 million dong in addition to working the land for the farm and plowing for the villagers to earn money for daily expenses. Knowing more about mechanics, he went to work whenever anyone called.
"Many days when I came home late from work and saw my wife still awake waiting for dinner, I felt a pang of pain, wondering if my decision to return to my hometown was wrong. I also thought about returning to the South to work and earn money to pay off the debt to reduce the pressure on my family. Later, if I had saved up enough capital, I would return to revive the farm," said Mr. Ngu.
But that thought only lasted for a few hours in the evening, and he barely thought about it the next morning. On one hand, he persisted in working for hire to earn money to pay off the loan interest, and on the other hand, he devoted all his efforts to maintaining the livestock model. By early 2019, the farm was thriving when the price of breeding calves increased again, chickens were sold regularly, earning hundreds of millions of dong.
With the capital, Mr. Ngu did not rush to pay off the debt but bought more chickens, cows and deer. He sells thousands of chickens every four months. After a year of raising cows, they have calves for sale. Deer are cut off their velvet once a year. To date, the farm has about 12,000 chickens and 26 deer. The number of cows has decreased from nearly 30 to 3 because the market is tight.
From a forestry engineer, Mr. Ngu said that when he returned to his hometown to work on the farm, he got an additional degree in agricultural engineering. In addition to reading information about raising livestock and poultry online to gain experience, he also took additional elementary veterinary training courses at the district to treat cows, deer, and chickens himself.
Mr. Ngu takes care of cows being raised at the farm. Photo: Duc Hung
Currently, Mr. Ngu's farm earns about 1.5 billion VND each year from selling chickens, deer antlers and breeding calves, after deducting all expenses, the profit is about 500 million VND. For chickens, the consumption market is in Huong Son and Duc Tho districts. Deer antlers are sold nationwide, many people from other provinces come to buy breeding calves but he does not sell. His model also creates jobs for some people in the commune.
Seven years after leaving the city to return to his hometown, Mr. Ngu confided that it was really difficult to evaluate whether this decision was right or wrong, but he felt it was the right choice. When he was in Binh Duong, his wife and he often worked overtime, coming home at 9pm, with little opportunity to take care of their children. Returning to the countryside was more difficult, but he enjoyed the fresh air, had time to rest in the evening, and the family gathered together. Now he and his wife have had a second child and are financially well off.
In the immediate future, Mr. Ngu plans to maintain a stable number of livestock and poultry on the farm. Later, when he has capital, he will rent more land to expand the farm.
Mr. Phan Van Khanh, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Huong Son District, assessed Mr. Hoang Dinh Ngu as a pioneer in taking advantage of the hilly garden to develop livestock farming. "Quitting a high-paying job and returning to his hometown to borrow money to start a business from scratch was a truly bold and risky decision. That boldness initially brought success. He is a role model for many young people pursuing the idea of getting rich at home, instead of going abroad to find a living," said Mr. Khanh.
Source link
Comment (0)