The man who turned barren land into green forests

QTO - In Ra Ty - a remote village of Tan Lap commune - where the lives of the Van Kieu people are still difficult, the President of the Farmers' Association, Ho Van Lam, has become a shining example of economic development. Taking advantage of the potential and advantages of the locality, the association official has turned barren hills into lush green cajuput forests. Not only bringing a stable income to his family, he has also ignited the belief for members and people to learn and follow, together developing the economy, escaping poverty sustainably on their homeland.

Diversified and integrated economic model

In the past, life in Ra Ty was closely linked to self-sufficiency. Mr. Lam's family was no exception as they always used the ineffective traditional farming method of "slash, burn, prune, and trim". The forest was burned, the soil was eroded, and the yield from the fields was not enough to compensate for the effort and time spent. "After each crop season, my family was still poor, and the people were still miserable. As a son of the village and also an association officer, I asked myself what I had to do to stop poverty from haunting me. That concern turned into motivation and helped me realize that, if I wanted to change my life, I had to first change my production mindset. Although the Ra Ty hill land was difficult to grow rice and crops, it had an ideal climate and soil for forestry, especially cajuput. So I decided to invest in afforestation," Mr. Lam recalled.

Thanks to his business acumen, Mr. Lam was able to build a spacious stilt house - Photo: KS

In 2005, Mr. Lam decided to devote all his capital and effort to reclaim land and plant Melaleuca trees. Initially, he only planted 2 hectares of Melaleuca trees, and on the remaining area, he planted 3 hectares of cassava to "take short-term to support long-term" to ensure his family's immediate life. When the first Melaleuca trees were harvested, the economic efficiency was far beyond expectations, for the first time he had tens of millions of dong in hand from selling planted forest wood. The initial success was the motivation to help him continue to expand the area, turning the barren hills into large, green Melaleuca forests. Currently, his family owns 10 hectares of scientifically planned Melaleuca forests. To maintain a stable source of income, Mr. Lam applies the rotational harvesting method: On average, he harvests 2 hectares of Melaleuca trees each year. This cycle not only helps the family have a regular income but also ensures that the land has time to regenerate, maintaining the sustainability of the forest.

Mr. Ho Van Lam's success is not only based on the cajuput forest but also on the diversified and comprehensive economic model: Garden-pond-cage-forest (VACR). He invested in planting 3 sao of wet rice fields; spent 20 million VND to dig fish ponds to raise traditional fish such as carp, snakehead, tilapia, and silver carp. Although the rice area is not large, it still ensures food; the fish pond provides regular food for the family. In addition, taking advantage of the lush green grasslands in the locality, he raises a herd of more than a dozen cows and goats. Thanks to this scientific combination, his family has achieved a good income, from the beginning of 2025 until now reaching more than 130 million VND. With a fairly stable financial source, he has invested in building a spacious stilt house, one of the largest in the village.

Spread the economic development movement

What makes Mr. Lam different and valuable is his role as a farmer association leader who is not only good at work but also good at guidance. For him, wealth is not to be kept for himself but also to be spread into collective strength.

“The hardest thing is changing habits. When we can do it, people will see the actual results and believe in it and follow. As an association officer, I have to do it, I have to go first, not just stand behind and shout,” Mr. Lam said.

Mr. Hieu (right) actively guides villagers in cassava growing techniques - Photo: KS

With that point of view, Mr. Lam does not just stop at sharing experiences. He spends time going to each house, directly instructing on planting, caring for and exploiting cajuput trees, and at the same time sharing experiences in developing a combined livestock model for the villagers. The most valuable thing is his dedication, "hand-holding" from the stage of selecting seeds, treating soil, to the optimal harvest time. Mr. Lam also meticulously guides members on how to calculate costs, balance between "short-term" ways of doing business such as growing cassava, raising livestock to have money to cover expenses and "long-term" ways such as growing cajuput trees to accumulate large assets, helping them find a direction for economic development suitable to the capacity of each household. The clearest evidence of that spread is Mr. Ho Hien, a farmer member in the village. “In the past, we didn’t know how to do anything other than slash-and-burn farming. Thanks to Mr. Lam’s enthusiastic support, I learned and planted 2 hectares of cajuput trees. With an additional stable source of income from the forest, my family’s life has improved a lot. We will continue to expand production with the hope of escaping poverty sustainably soon,” Mr. Hien shared.

Mr. Ho Van Lam's example has contributed to promoting the emulation movement in production among farmers in Ra Ty. Currently, the whole village has about 40 Van Kieu households actively participating in planting Melaleuca, each household has an average of 2-5 hectares. The leadership of dedicated, pioneering cadres like Mr. Lam has proven that every difficult land can blossom, bear fruit, and write beautiful stories about legitimate and sustainable enrichment.

Assessing the pioneering role of Mr. Ho Van Lam, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Tan Lap Commune Nguyen Trung Hieu affirmed: Mr. Lam is a typical farmer who knows how to take advantage of the available land potential to convert crops to improve life and escape poverty. His success lies not only in the income figure but more importantly in helping us fully exploit the potential and advantages of the locality in a sustainable way. Thanks to that, people have changed their awareness, instead of destroying forests to make fields in the old way, they have returned to protecting forests, actively planting forests and considering forests as the most valuable asset. Therefore, we chose Mr. Lam's model as a typical model to replicate in other branches in the commune, especially villages and hamlets with land potential. At the same time, the Association supports the establishment of afforestation cooperatives, continues to coordinate with departments and branches to support people with preferential loans, intensive cultivation techniques of Melaleuca trees and output linkages for farmers".

Ko Kan Suong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/kinh-te/202511/nguoi-bien-dat-can-thanh-canh-rung-xanh-ab601ea/