Old farmer gets rich with circular economic model

Cherishing a clean farming and livestock model to meet the increasing demand of consumers, Mr. Dai has long made efforts to research and learn through books, the Internet and visit production sites in many places to study and apply good practices suitable for his production conditions. By 2019, after many years of growing lemons but the results were not as expected, Mr. Dai switched to growing Taiwanese guava.

Mr. Dai shared: "Growing guava is quite easy, less susceptible to pests and diseases, high yield and can be harvested year round if well cared for. To have a wide consumer market, cleanliness and safety are essential. Therefore, right from the beginning of planting, I have researched and learned how to grow, care for and raise livestock to both increase income per unit area, support each other's development, and create clean, safe products that attract consumers."

With over 600 guava trees, for many years now, Mr. Dai has combined raising 200 chickens/batch, 10 sows, 20 bee colonies in a fish pond. All are produced in a closed, circular manner, ensuring that all factors in the process are fully utilized. In this model, twice a year, each batch, Mr. Dai raises 200 chickens in a semi-free-range form.

The barn area has additional biological bedding, where chickens shelter from rain and sun and sleep at night. During dry days, chickens are released into the guava growing area to utilize manure and waste to fertilize the plants directly. Chickens also eat grass so they don't have to clean the garden often, and they have the habit of digging in the ground to look for insects, which is good for the plants. With the pig farming model, Mr. Dai focuses on raising breeding pigs.

He has invested tens of millions of dong to build a biogas tank system with 3 filter tanks and an automatic irrigation system connecting from the biogas tank's wastewater filter tank to the guava trees. The gas is used as fuel to cook food for pigs. In addition, he also uses small fish and snails fermented with biological products to create fish protein to fertilize crops.

From guava growing to chicken and pig raising, he consistently takes care of them in a clean and safe way. The guava garden is cultivated according to VietGAP standards, using all homemade organic fertilizers, no herbicides, no pesticides, applying the correct technical processes from plant density, pruning, canopy shaping... Free-range chickens are focused on disease prevention, mainly eating green foods such as corn, rice, banana stems, vegetables and fruits, so the meat is firm and safe.

Besides, he also researched and summarized the method of mixing and fermenting molasses (a by-product of sugar processing) with biological products to create a source of mineral-rich irrigation water for plants.

Mr. Dai shared: "1 liter of molasses mixed with 1 liter of biological products and 20 liters of water, after 10 days will produce a multi-beneficial product. For many years, I have used this product effectively. Chickens, pigs and plants all grow and develop well; this watering pad significantly reduces the stench. Not to mention, this water can then be mixed with molasses, continuing to create the finished product, without the need to use additional biological products. It is similar to the way of raising yeast, so it clearly saves production costs."

To increase economic efficiency, Mr. Dai also raises 20 bee colonies in the guava garden, taking advantage of the guava flower season that lasts for many months of the year.

Obviously, with this production process, Mr. Dai not only creates his own source of clean fertilizer, without releasing waste into the environment, but also takes advantage of and effectively exploits the factors in his production model to increase income and reduce production costs. On average, each year, Mr. Dai harvests 30 tons of guava, 200 breeding pigs, 400 chickens, 100 liters of honey, with a total income of up to 1 billion VND. Most importantly, the products from the model of old farmer Nguyen Van Dai are all safe, delicious, and favored by the market.

Hoai Anh

Source: https://baoyenbai.com.vn/12/350333/Lao-nong-lam-giau-voi-mo-hinh-kinh-te-tuan-hoan.aspx