Silently connecting joy

“My parents are farmers, and they have been involved in agriculture their whole lives, so I always cherish farming,” said Nguyen Duc Hien, Secretary of the Party Branch of Dong Trang village, Tran Yen commune, speaking about his daily work with great enthusiasm.

To help the village develop further.

Elected as the Party Branch Secretary of Dong Trang village in March 2025, Mr. Hien said that his contributions to the branch haven't been significant. However, his contributions through concrete actions and deeds over the years have helped many people. Being eager to learn, he has participated in many competitions to learn about agriculture. Although the competitions have ended, they have opened up a wealth of information and experience for him to apply to his family's production and support his fellow villagers in developing their economy .

In 2022, he decided to start a business selling pesticides and agricultural supplies: "Diversifying my business to increase my family's income while also supporting the local people and easing their burdens a bit makes me happy..."

Going beyond the usual scope of a salesperson, he is willing and enthusiastic to share his production knowledge and provide technical support to customers and everyone else.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy from Dong Trang village learned about and tried planting the hybrid rice varieties Duong Uu and VN 107 through a recommendation from Mr. Hien. Surprisingly, she was delighted to have a bumper harvest of over 1 ton of rice from her 4 sao (approximately 0.4 hectares) of rice fields planted during the spring crop season.

"Not counting the flooded rice crop, just from the spring rice crop alone, my family still has 13 sacks of rice stacked up there... Not only is the yield high, but this rice variety also requires little care, and even better, it's less susceptible to pests and diseases. Less pest and disease means less need for pesticides, so it's healthier for us, safer for the rice, and cleaner for the environment," Ms. Thuy happily shared.

The family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy in Dong Trang village grows the Duong Uu, VN 107 rice variety.
It yields high productivity, is less susceptible to pests and diseases, and requires less care.

The people of Dong Trang village are truly courageous, with some having gone to work abroad under contract nearly two decades ago. Working diligently in foreign lands, they carefully saved every penny to send back home, and their spouses managed their money meticulously. Just look at the couple Le Vinh Duong and Ngo Thi Thuy to see this clearly.

In 2007, Thuy went to Malaysia, while Duong stayed in their hometown. "I took over my wife's job of running the family business and found ways to make the money she sent back grow... While my wife worked hard far away, back home we both focused on taking care of the family and raising our children to be successful adults," Duong happily shared.

Investing in various areas, including raising buffalo and breeding pigs, has brought them a better life. Secretary Hien is currently working to encourage Mr. Duong's family to expand their farm operations...

By maintaining a pig breeding farm, Mr. Le Vinh Duong's household in Dong Trang village has a stable income.

Dong Trang is a purely agricultural village with 16 hectares of rice paddies, 24 hectares of cinnamon plantations, 6.3 hectares of mulberry trees, 38 households raising pigs, and 5 people working abroad under contract... This shows that all 131/131 households in Dong Trang now have an average or above-average standard of living, with 20% being well-off or wealthy – a significant achievement. This demonstrates the strong determination of the people of Dong Trang to overcome poverty! For example, the family of Party Secretary Hien and Mr. Le Vinh Duong were once on the list of poor households...

Creating opportunities, fostering business relationships.

A major turning point came when Mr. Hien participated in a training course on cultivating forestry seedlings in the province. He chose cinnamon seedling cultivation as his profession, completely replacing acacia, eucalyptus, and pine seedlings – that was in 2008. From selling to people around his village to aspiring to expand further, it was natural for someone like Mr. Hien to always be interested in and grasp development trends.

"I think I need to take a different approach from my parents in terms of knowledge, structure, and market strategy," Hien confided.

Beyond the joy of it all, growing cinnamon seedlings has also drawn him through the ups and downs of the profession: "That's how the market works; if many people are doing it, I reduce my production, if few people are doing it, I increase it. The most important thing is having the right techniques, experience, and suitable conditions, so I've been able to continue until now." Of the three factors for economic development, he discovered market access by understanding that "his hometown is known for its good seedling cultivation and production," along with leveraging the strengths of social media.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Hien established the " Yen Bai Cinnamon Seedlings" Fanpage in 2020.

The development of information infrastructure and the internet, boosting the digital economy, has significantly impacted thinking and awareness. In 2020, he officially established the Fanpage "Yen Bai Cinnamon Seedlings". Currently, the page maintains 12,700 members from many localities across the country – far exceeding Mr. Hien's initial goal of introducing his home-grown cinnamon seedlings to buyers. The page has become a "meeting point" for those who want to learn and exchange experiences about forest planting, seedling cultivation, and buying and selling seedlings. Posts are completely free, and importantly, there are no advertisements or sales, ensuring "clean" information and the sole purpose of the fanpage is "connecting". Every day, Mr. Hien spends time reviewing posts, checking interactions, assessing relevance, and verifying information.

Mr. Nguyen Duc Hien reviews and publishes articles daily on the "Yen Bai Cinnamon Seedlings" Fanpage.

Five years of continuous operation without a single negative review is what motivates Mr. Hien to maintain the fanpage. According to the latest statistics, in November 2025, the page posted 734 articles with 1,100 comments. Mr. Hien said that the number of posts and comments fluctuates depending on the seedling season, but on average, he approves and posts 10-15 articles per day.

When asked if the 12,700 member figure was accurate, Mr. Hien calmly replied, "I believe that only those who truly need it will join the group and stay for the long term."

Ms. Vu Hai Yen, from Dong Sam village, Tran Yen commune, has been a member of the "Yen Bai Cinnamon Seedlings" group since its inception. Joining the group allowed her to receive technical advice from Mr. Hien, which helped her stay in the profession and, most importantly, gave her more opportunities to connect with customers.

Ms. Yen said: “Through the Fanpage, I have had customers since 2020. Each year, I produce about 1.2 million cinnamon seedlings. In addition to the 3 family members, I also create jobs for nearly a dozen workers, both young and old, who are suitable for each stage of the process, earning about 200,000 VND per day.”

Cultivating cinnamon seedlings brings high income to the family of Ms. Vu Hai Yen, Dong Sam village.
and create more jobs for local workers.

Successfully cultivating a cinnamon seedling and delivering it to forest planters involves dozens of steps, which in turn creates jobs for just as many people. In this way, the Fanpage has connected and created countless jobs and income opportunities for workers.

For Mr. Hien, creating opportunities and fostering business relationships is simply this: "Understanding myself, understanding others, and understanding development trends, I want to share some of the hardships with farmers so they can fully enjoy the joy of each successful seedling harvest with good prices."

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/lang-tham-ket-noi-niem-vui-post889274.html