"Obsessed" with growing organic rice.

Despite graduating with a master's degree in economic law, Tram Minh Thuan (31 years old, residing in Cho Hamlet, Long Hiep Commune, Tra Cu District, Tra Vinh Province - now Tra Cu Commune, Vinh Long Province) returned to his hometown to establish an agricultural cooperative and has achieved success, earning a profit of over 1 billion VND per year.

Mr. Tram Minh Thuan with farmers in the cooperative on the rice-shrimp farming model field.

Despite graduating with a master's degree in economic law, instead of choosing an office job in big cities, Mr. Thuan decided to return to his hometown to establish an agricultural cooperative. Coming from a family of farmers, Mr. Thuan has a special connection to rice cultivation. After completing his master's program, he recognized the great potential for agricultural development in his hometown, especially in building cooperative models to support farmers' economic development. Aware of the difficulties local farmers faced, such as lack of capital, technology, and market access for their products, he was determined to establish an agricultural cooperative to help them overcome these challenges. In July 2018, the Long Hiep Agricultural Cooperative was established with 61 members, cultivating over 50 hectares of rice and raising freshwater prawns. Thanks to its effective operation, farmers began to trust and participate, and currently the cooperative has 72 members, producing on an area of ​​220 hectares. “Initially, persuading people to join the cooperative was extremely difficult because they saw that I was young, my economic conditions were not yet developed, and many other cooperatives were not operating effectively. I had to try hard to convince them, committing to providing seeds, fertilizers, scientific and technical guidance, reducing costs, increasing profits, and especially promising that farmers would have their rice purchased at a higher price than the market price, so that the people trusted and joined,” Mr. Thuan recounted.

Mr. Thuan also sought out markets for rice products, contributing to the sustainable development of organic rice production combined with freshwater prawn farming. He then decided to switch to producing clean rice from organic grains and build a unique rice brand for the cooperative, "Dragon Pearl." The "Dragon Pearl" rice product of the Long Hiep Agricultural Cooperative has achieved OCOP 4-star certification. "When I found a partner, I decided to switch to producing clean rice from organic grains and build a rice brand. After purchasing rice from farmers, I hired a mill to process it into rice, then packaged it, registered the product brand as 'Dragon Pearl,' and introduced it to the market," Mr. Thuan said.

Currently, most members of the Long Hiep Agricultural Cooperative sow rice varieties such as ST25, OM18, and OM5451. In the recent summer-autumn crop, rice yields reached 6-7.5 tons/ha, higher than in 2024. “When building a rice brand, the cooperative must follow safe, clean, and organic farming practices. To achieve this, the Cooperative's management board has established a farming process for members to follow, gradually moving from safe and clean to organic. Currently, all members do not use pesticides, ensuring both high-quality rice and additional income from freshwater prawns,” Mr. Thuan shared.

According to Mr. Thuan, in 2024, the Long Hiep agricultural cooperative's profit was approximately 1.4 billion VND; in 2023, it was 1.1 billion VND. Regarding the cooperative's future development direction, Mr. Thuan plans to purchase drones for spraying pesticides and fertilizing services. Between 2025 and 2030, the cooperative aims to increase its rice cultivation area by 30% (approximately 100 hectares), along with increasing the volume of guaranteed purchase and aiming for export.

In 2020, Mr. Thuan was awarded the Luong Dinh Cua Prize by the Central Committee of the Youth Union. In 2021, he was recognized as one of the TOP 100 outstanding young entrepreneurs. Recently, he was the youngest among 63 farmers honored by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Association as an Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer of 2024.

Text and photos: NGUYEN TRINH

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/-me-trong-lua-huu-co-a188062.html