Unique creative ideas at Nam Dai Duong Youth Cooperative

With the idea of helping farmers improve production efficiency and stay connected to their fields, in 2021, the Nam Dai Duong Youth Cooperative in Nghia Trung Commune (Nghia Hung) was established. Up to now, the Cooperative has had many unique initiatives applied to production, bringing high socio -economic efficiency.

Customers learn about fresh germinated rice products of Nam Dai Duong Youth Cooperative, Nghia Trung commune (Nghia Hung).

It is “difficult” to meet Mr. Luong Van Truong, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Director of the Nam Dai Duong Youth Cooperative, who is also the author of many unique initiatives serving agricultural production because most of his time is spent on research, supporting application models and participating in scientific forums related to the cooperative's field of operation at home and abroad. During his experience in rice farming since birth and growing up, Mr. Truong realized that traditional agricultural farming methods are fragmented, small-scale and have many difficulties and hardships for farmers directly involved in production. His desire is to eliminate small plots to develop large-scale production on vast fields, using machines to replace human labor. Graduating from the post-harvest technology major of Da Lat University in 2011, Mr. Truong participated in the National Project of 600 Young Vice Chairmen of Commune People's Committees from 2012-2016; was assigned to be in charge of agriculture and forestry in Lu Than commune, Si Ma Cai district (Lao Cai province). In 2017, after completing the project's tasks, he decided to return to his hometown to start a business to fulfill his dream. With his youthful passion and ambition, and with the support of the Party Committee and the government of Tan Thinh commune (Nam Truc), Mr. Truong rented 7 hectares of agricultural land and established "Co Do Farm" to grow rice. In large-scale production, he initially encountered many difficulties. At one point, the entire rice area was lost due to heavy rain, not enough time to drain the water, and after sowing the seeds, it rained again, so the seeds died; when soaking the seeds to sow again, the water had not yet receded, the seeds rotted. Mr. Truong lost 4-5 tons of rice seeds, causing a loss of more than 1 billion VND. Then there was the loss due to natural enemies and poorly improved soil... But from that failure, it helped him to further affirm that the key to success is having good production solutions. Therefore, he and his colleagues focused on researching production solutions and established the Nam Dai Duong Youth Cooperative. This was also the time when he introduced many solutions to improve rice planting and care techniques. Some of these solutions have been recognized by the State and the market, such as: Super fast germination seed production process, no-till rice planting technique, golden apple snail killer from agricultural by-products, 3-in-1 rice care machine, fresh sprouted rice... In which, the solution to produce super fast germination seeds aims to bring germinated seeds to dry form, when used, there is no need to soak and incubate but to sow directly, the seeds will return to germination in 30 minutes. According to Mr. Truong, the advantage of this solution is that the seeds germinate quickly and are in dry form, so they can withstand impact well, people can easily use them without breaking the sprouts or rotting, spoiling like the traditional way of soaking and incubating seeds; Industrial production costs are only about 2,000 VND/kg, while if farmers soak and incubate fresh seeds, the cost for 1kg (including labor, materials, water, electricity, etc.) is at least 10,000 VND. According to agricultural experts such as the Institute of Agricultural Genetics (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) and PUM (Netherlands), Vietnam is growing about 7 million hectares of rice, requiring about 700,000 tons of seeds per year. If this process is followed, it will save more than 3,000 billion VND and millions of laborers per crop. This solution has been certified by the Ministry of Science and Technology under copyright number 10205/2020/QTG; the patent application was accepted in February 2021. Mr. Truong's super-fast germination seed product is attracting the attention of leading rice seed production corporations in Vietnam and foreign experts, who are contacting him for production cooperation because of its technological breakthrough, low cost, high commercial competitiveness, easy integration with existing technologies of seed production units; converting near-expiry and expired seeds into new products with higher value; extended shelf life (6 to 12 months), simple preservation and applicable to many different types of seeds. In the series of events of the Red River Delta Innovation and Startup Festival (Techfest) 2023 held at the end of May, the Provincial People's Committee requested the Southeast Asia Influence Alliance to support the development, upgrading and replication of the project's solution. From the super-fast germination technology, Mr. Truong came up with the idea of producing fresh germinated rice with high nutritional value to help control blood fat and prevent atherosclerosis, support the digestive system, fight oxidation, and slow down the aging process. Fresh germinated rice products can be used to cook rice, roast to make tea, brown rice flakes, make rice milk, process baby food and use as raw materials to produce nutritional powder... With these benefits, the fresh germinated rice products of the Cooperative when introduced to the market are widely accepted by consumers. In 2021, Mr. Truong was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Central Youth Union for "Union members and youth with outstanding national works, solutions and innovative products". His product entered the Top 10 of the 2021 National Startup Competition, becoming the Program Ambassador: SEF 2021 Sustainable Social Development Project. His "Co Do Farm" project won First Prize in the Rural Youth Startup Competition organized by the Central Youth Union and he was honored to receive the Luong Dinh Cua Award for outstanding young farmers in 2021.

From the aspiration of "making farmers more leisurely" of Mr. Luong Van Truong, up to now, Nam Dai Duong Youth Cooperative has expanded its production scale to 40 hectares in Nam Truc, Truc Ninh, Nghia Hung, My Loc and Vu Ban districts; annual revenue reaches 3 billion VND, creating jobs for 50-70 workers. In the coming time, Mr. Truong and Nam Dai Duong Youth Cooperative will continue to research innovative technical solutions, apply scientific and technological advances to agricultural production to adapt to climate change, prevent land degradation and protect the environment. In addition, the Cooperative will continue to research, improve, expand production, strive to bring super-fast germination seed technology and fresh germinated rice into typical OCOP products of the province and the whole country; at the same time, export fresh germinated rice and super-fast germination seed technology, contributing to affirming the value of Vietnamese agricultural products and agricultural technology in the world./.

Article and photos: Nguyen Huong

Source link