"The old farmer" is dynamic

Responding to the Party and State's policy of encouraging land accumulation and concentration to improve agricultural production efficiency, in recent years, from the land accumulation movement to develop the agricultural economy, more and more farmers have boldly applied technical advances on traditional crops such as rice and rubber in the direction of large-scale commodity production to legitimately enrich themselves from their homeland. A typical example is "old farmer" Tran Quoc Bao in Hoa Thanh commune, Chau Thanh district, earning 4.7 billion VND/year. He is one of 63 "Outstanding Vietnamese Farmers" in 2024.

Mr. Tran Quoc Bao pours out his family's rubber latex.

Accumulate land for large-scale production

In 1995, after starting a family, Mr. Tran Quoc Bao and his wife settled in Cay Oi hamlet, Hoa Thanh commune, Chau Thanh district to start a business. He invested in growing cashews, cassava and other crops to make a living.

Mr. Bao said that his parents gave him 3 taels of gold as capital to start a business. At that time, Hoa Thanh was a border commune, the land was still wild, mostly mounds and forests, infrastructure had not been invested, people's lives in the area were mainly agricultural production, life was still difficult.

To settle down, he bought 1 hectare of land to invest in growing cashews and other crops to make a living. In the following years, he switched to growing sugarcane, rice, etc. He used all the profits he saved to buy land.

“Hoa Thanh commune is just a wild, barren land, mostly mounds and forests. With the idea that if you want to do agriculture, you need a lot of land, so I saved money to buy more land, then worked hard to plow to raise my children to go to school,” Mr. Bao recounted.

Mr. Tran Quoc Bao pours out his family's rubber latex.

In 2009, the local government and the Farmers' Association of the commune mobilized to change the crop structure. Mr. Bao boldly converted more than half of his family's land to rubber plantation. The remaining land is adjacent to the Vam Co Dong River, he continues to grow rice to take advantage of the abundant alluvium and water resources of this river.

According to Mr. Bao, agricultural production on a large area is an advantage. With a large area of contiguous cultivation, farmers can easily apply mechanization, saving investment costs... However, to be effective, farmers need to update information and apply scientific and technical advances to production.

In addition, in recent years, Mr. Bao has participated in a model of linking production and purchasing high-quality rice with businesses, which has helped him develop a stable family economy. Mr. Bao has 7 hectares of rice land and 12 hectares of rubber. After deducting expenses, his family earns 4.7 billion VND each year.

Actively build new countryside

Not only successful in his family's agricultural production model, Mr. Tran Quoc Bao is also a pioneer in the emulation movements to build new rural areas in the locality, actively contributing money to the Gratitude Fund, the Farmers Support Fund...

Mr. Tran Thanh Long - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Hoa Thanh Commune said that Mr. Tran Quoc Bao is one of the typical members of the Farmers' Association of the commune. Thanks to his diligence, hard work and efforts in studying and applying techniques to the production process in the direction of connecting with the market, Mr. Bao has achieved quite stable profits.

With the model of rice cultivation and rubber garden care, Mr. Bao's family creates regular jobs for 25 local workers with an income of 7-10 million VND/month. In addition, Mr. Bao also exchanges and shares production experiences, providing capital to more than 40 local farming households to develop the economy and increase income.

He has provided capital, livestock, medicine, and food to 12 disadvantaged households in Hoa Thanh commune with a total value of over 550 million VND over the past 5 years. As a result, 9 households have escaped poverty and stabilized their lives.

According to the Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Hoa Thanh Commune, Tran Thanh Long, in addition to being good at production, Mr. Bao's family has always been exemplary in implementing the Party's policies and the State's laws. He and his family have always been enthusiastic, energetic, and actively responded to activities and movements launched by the locality, participating in supporting various funds, supporting and helping disadvantaged households in the area.

Thanks to his financial support, many poor households have risen above poverty and stabilized their lives. He has enthusiastically participated in charitable activities such as helping poor students, supporting the construction of farmers' houses, and providing capital to farmers to develop their family economy. In addition, Mr. Bao's family also contributes over 40 million VND/year in cash and materials to the commune government to upgrade and repair local rural roads.

“With his economic development model, every year since 2017, Mr. Bao has received a certificate of merit from the Chairman of Tay Ninh Provincial People's Committee for his outstanding achievements in the emulation movement of Good Farmers” - Mr. Long said.

Minh Duong

The title of Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer is awarded annually on the occasion of the anniversary of the Vietnam Farmers' Association (October 14) to typical and advanced farmers in production and business activities, with creative inventions effectively applied in production; actively participating in the movement to build new rural areas. Through activities to promptly motivate, reward and encourage farmers to compete in production and business to enrich themselves, their families and society, contributing to promoting ecological agricultural models, participating in building modern rural areas, civilized farmers...

Source: https://baotayninh.vn/lao-nong-tri-dien-nang-dong-a178984.html