Pioneer farmer gets rich

Not resigned to poverty, farmer Phung Van Chi in Quoc Tuan hamlet, Quang Uyen commune, Cao Bang province has proactively researched and learned to develop effective production and strive to become rich. In 2024, Mr. Chi was honored to receive a Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister for his outstanding achievements in developing the agricultural and rural economy.

Mr. Phung Van Chi's pumpkin garden in Quoc Tuan hamlet, Quang Uyen commune, Cao Bang province is highly economically efficient.

On a land of more than 9,000 m2, by his own way, Mr. Chi earns more than 600 million VND per year - an impressive figure for a farmer in the highlands. Seeing the economic efficiency that Mr. Chi's family has achieved, dozens of families in the commune have learned and followed suit to develop their family economy.

Leading the way in production

Born and raised in a poor countryside (formerly Phuc Sen commune, now Quang Uyen commune), Mr. Chi's family, like many other households, lived mainly on corn, rice fields, potatoes, cassava, etc., so life was very difficult. Mr. Chi used to work as a construction worker and construction worker to earn extra money, but the work was hard and by the time he sweated, he ran out of money. Struggling to escape poverty, Mr. Chi thought: "My family has land and fields, why not develop production on my land?". From that thought, he was determined to do agriculture . Determined to establish himself and make a career on his homeland, Mr. Chi actively learned and opened new directions for production development.

In 1995 to 1996, Mr. Chi imported hybrid corn varieties for experimental planting. Seeing that the new corn variety had much higher productivity and yield, he expanded the area. But at this time, Mr. Chi discovered a problem with the new corn variety, which was that the corn stalks were larger and the roots were deeper, making it difficult to plow the land, and the weak buffalo and cows could not plow. “Seeing that, I thought of borrowing money from the bank and buying a plow to reduce the effort of plowing the land to grow hybrid corn.

After several years, seeing the effectiveness of my method, many local families, from being skeptical, switched to growing this hybrid corn variety with me," Mr. Chi shared. In the first step of effectively converting the crop structure, Mr. Chi considered raising livestock.

Mr. Chi kept all the corn he harvested to feed pigs. “Putting corn kernels in pigs, if you pay attention to barn hygiene and veterinary work, when selling them, the economic efficiency gained from raising them is many times higher than selling corn to traders,” Mr. Chi affirmed. In 2000, Mr. Chi built a trellis and planted chayote and squash on 3,000 square meters of land.

Taking advantage of the land, under the chayote trellis, he grows sweet potatoes, corn and some vegetables to feed pigs and hedgehogs... Each year, chayote, squash and pigs bring in an income of nearly 500 million VND for Mr. Chi.

Economic efficiency is paramount

Without having to grow special or rare plants, just from familiar plants for generations, Mr. Chi still rose up to escape poverty and become rich. The secret to his success is to calculate carefully, make full use of everything, and not throw away anything.

Mr. Chi said that 3,000 m2 of the greenhouse grows chayote and squash all year round, each year yielding 10 tons of squash, 8-9 tons of chayote, earning nearly 200 million VND. During the crop season, Mr. Chi grows sweet potatoes on 4,000 m2 of land, and vegetables on 2,000 m2 of land. Each crop, he harvests 5-6 tons of tubers, with an average selling price of 15,000 VND/kg, earning 75-90 million VND. In the spring season, Mr. Chi grows corn on the remaining 6,000 m2, and harvests corn to raise pigs.

Every year, he raises two litters of pigs, from 20-30 pigs/litter, the weight for sale is about 100 kg/pig, earning nearly 300 million VND. Besides raising pigs, Mr. Chi also maintains a herd of about 20 porcupines, using vegetables in the garden to raise porcupines. Every year, Mr. Chi sells about 10 porcupines, selling for 250,000 VND/kg, weighing 9-10 kg/pig, bringing in an income of more than 20 million VND.

He composts animal waste into organic fertilizer for plants. The entire production process is closed, no chemicals or pesticides are used, and the farm's products are all clean, so they are very popular. In addition, Mr. Chi also strictly follows disease prevention procedures, fully vaccinates and cleans the barns according to the instructions of veterinary staff. His family's pigs have never been affected by disease.

Seeing Mr. Chi's effective production and business, many families in the commune have learned and followed suit. Currently, in Quang Uyen commune, a large area has been formed to grow chayote, squash, and sweet potatoes, bringing a stable source of income to farmers. Comrade Be Binh An, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Uyen commune, commented that Mr. Phung Van Chi is a typical example in the movement of good production and business. He is a dynamic, creative person, who dares to think, dares to do, dares to invest and get rich right on his homeland.

The formation of a specialized area for growing chayote, squash, and sweet potatoes on a large scale in the commune was contributed by farmer Phung Van Chi, when he pioneered the "path" and was learned and followed by many farmers in the commune. Being hardworking, thoughtful, and good at calculating, farmer Phung Van Chi has become a good example of production and business, loved by many local people. Not keeping his experience as his own, Mr. Chi is willing to share his experience with many other farmers to help them escape poverty and get rich right on his homeland.

Article and photos: MINH TUAN

Source: https://nhandan.vn/nguoi-nong-dan-tien-phong-lam-giau-post904716.html