Spreading the spirit of green, circular agricultural production

Admitting that he started from zero, Mr. Vo Thanh Liem (born in 1983, farm owner in Hung Thuan commune, Tay Ninh province) has gone through difficult days to build a red-tailed catfish farm. Not only enriching himself, he also contributed to spreading the circular agricultural production model, aiming for zero emissions, in the spirit of green and sustainable agricultural development that the Government is encouraging.

Starting a business from redtail catfish

Mr. Vo Thanh Liem feeds fish

In 2016, a young man from Tien Giang province decided to leave Thu Duc City with his wife to the wild land of Don Thuan (now Hung Thuan commune) to start his entrepreneurial journey. At that time, his only assets were a loan of more than 200 million VND and a burning dream of owning a fish farm.

Starting with tilapia farming, he failed many times because of the alum water, fish died en masse due to lack of oxygen. But instead of giving up, he learned the techniques himself, participated in training courses of the Farmers’ Association and boldly switched to raising red-tailed catfish – a specialty fish with high economic value, suitable for the water source of Dau Tieng Lake.

“Without money to buy land, I had to rent a field that was contaminated with alum. My husband and I both built a temporary shelter and dug out the banks to make a fish pond. At that time, the food source for the fish was apple snails that my husband and I caught ourselves to save money. One time, I hired a three-wheeled vehicle to transport fish to Tan Uyen (formerly Binh Duong ) to sell. I only had 20,000 VND left in my pocket. When we arrived, we waited for the buyer to pay for the fish before paying the fare,” Mr. Liem recalled those difficult days.

However, thanks to his passion and hard work, he gradually mastered the techniques of water treatment, alum washing, and pond renovation. In particular, when the Commune Farmers' Association introduced preferential loans from the Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Liem's ​​red-tailed catfish farming model began to stabilize. The first batches of fish were raised successfully, with good productivity and profits, opening up a sustainable direction.

Harvesting fish fry

Currently, the farm supplies the market with more than 80 million fingerlings each year, with prices ranging from 80-120 VND/fish, bringing in a profit of about 2.1 billion VND/year. After re-selecting the parent fish for breeding, the farm sells 3-5 tons of commercial fish per year, at a price of 120,000-150,000 VND/kg, earning about 200 million VND after deducting expenses.

As for fingerlings, depending on market demand and size, the price ranges from 800-20,000 VND/piece. Every year, according to orders, Mr. Liem sells about 1.8 million fish of different sizes, earning a profit of over 1.2 billion VND.

The market for fish fry and fingerlings from Mr. Liem's ​​farm is the provinces in the Southwest region. "The water source from Dau Tieng Lake is clean, the farm's parent fish are carefully selected and bred, so the hatched generation of fish are all of very high quality, with little loss during farming. Therefore, fish farms in the West prefer to buy fingerlings here, even though the transportation is longer," Mr. Liem shared.

Building a green agricultural model

From a few initial plots of land, Mr. Liem has now expanded his farm to 7.3 hectares. More importantly, Mr. Liem not only focuses on economic efficiency but also proactively builds the farm in the direction of "green farming and growing". For him, this is the action of businesses, people together with the Government in implementing the commitment to countries at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26): to bring net emissions to "0" by 2050.

Mr. Liem's ​​family farm is providing fish fry to many aquaculture households in the Western region.

The farm currently has 8 ponds for commercial red-tail catfish farming (each pond is 600m² on average) combined with 1,200m² of worm beds using fish manure, and 3,000m² of floating water mimosa to filter water and absorb nutrients before reusing them for the farming pond.

Here, he planted many types of forest trees and fruit trees with the hope of greening the farm and creating unique tourism products of Hung Thuan land. In addition, Mr. Liem combined raising wild boars and building houses for bats to get fertilizer, creating a closed ecosystem, both saving costs and not discharging waste into the environment.

Mr. Vo Van Liem shared: “Developing clean agriculture is not only for profit but also for community health and the future of the living environment. Although this model has low productivity and initial output compared to industrial farming, in return the product quality is superior, the meat of fish, frogs, pigs, etc. are all firm and naturally delicious. On the farm, the products are clean and safe, so even though the selling price is higher than the market price, many customers still trust it and come back to buy regularly.”

Currently, his farm provides stable jobs for 12 regular workers, earning over 10 million VND/month, and more than 15 seasonal workers with a salary of 300,000-500,000 VND/day. Not only creating a livelihood for local people, he also supports red-tailed catfish farming techniques for more than 20 farming households in and outside the province, helping them access clean, environmentally friendly production models.

Along with aquaculture development, Mr. Liem is gradually orienting agricultural production in association with experiential eco-tourism - where visitors can harvest and enjoy clean fish and organic fruits on the spot. The farm is located next to the cool Dong canal, connecting Thanh Thanh Cong and Phuoc Dong industrial parks, etc. This place really attracts a large number of potential tourists from foreign experts, workers, and laborers looking to relax and entertain.

“Today’s success is not only economic, but also seeing people around me have stable jobs and a cleaner living environment. I hope that my small model will contribute to spreading the spirit of ‘ green start-up – green living – circular production’, so that farmers can develop together sustainably,” Mr. Liem shared.

In addition to work, every year Mr. Liem also participates with the Commune Farmers' Association in carrying out movements launched by the Farmers' Association such as: supporting the Farmers' Support Fund, giving gifts to poor and disadvantaged households in the locality on holidays and Tet, from 30-50 gifts, participating in the new rural construction movement, contributing to building rural roads,...

Mr. Vo Thanh Liem’s entrepreneurial journey is not only a story of getting rich, but also a testament to the spirit of daring to think, daring to do, daring to innovate of farmers in the integration period. He has built a green, sustainable agricultural model – where the economy, environment and community develop together in harmony./.

Ngoc Dieu

Source: https://baolongan.vn/lan-toa-tinh-than-san-xuat-nong-nghiep-xanh-tuan-hoan-a205501.html