Female veteran gets rich from earthworm farming.

After retiring from military service, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien (from Noi Bai commune, Hanoi) started her own business and has been successful with her pig farming model using earthworms, providing clean, high-quality food to the market.

Retired but not quitting your job.

With a youthful look always evident on her face, few would believe that Mrs. Lien is already 72 years old and owns a large farm with hundreds of pigs, both fattening and breeding. Not only that, she's even busier than she was in her youth, constantly on the go, sometimes tending to the worms, sometimes bathing the pigs, and sometimes planting trees to create a perfect organic cycle at the GHT farm.

Ms. Lien is originally from Hong Van commune ( Hanoi ) and served 32 years in the army at Factory Z153 (General Department of Engineering). In 2003, she received her retirement notice with the rank of Major, a professional military officer. Initially, she returned home to grow vegetables and flowers to enjoy her old age, but she accidentally learned about raising earthworms as animal feed, which helps livestock stay healthy and produces high-quality meat, so she decided to start her own business.

Ms. Lien and agricultural expert Nguyen Lan Hung discuss earthworm farming techniques - PHOTO: Provided by the interviewee.

"I expanded the farm to about 2,000 square meters ^and started raising earthworms. I feed the earthworms to the pigs, and the pig manure is used to feed the earthworms again and fertilize the plants. It's a circular organic cycle; nothing goes to waste," Ms. Lien explained.

Initially, Ms. Lien faced many difficulties in raising earthworms due to a lack of knowledge, but she didn't give up and remained determined. "Earthworms breathe through their skin, so the biomass always needs to maintain a moisture level of about 70%, but too much moisture is also not good and can easily kill the worms. Besides, I don't tile the floor because it would cut off the worms' natural contact with the soil," Ms. Lien explained.

In pig farming, Ms. Lien feeds her pigs earthworms daily because earthworms have a very high protein content, which helps the pigs grow well and increases their resistance to disease. Ms. Lien mixes earthworms with rice bran, brewer's yeast, trace minerals, and microbial preparations... cooks them into feed, and feeds it to the pigs. This results in delicious and high-quality meat, and most importantly, the pigs are almost completely free from disease.

The pigs are fed earthworms by Ms. Lien and listen to music every day - PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE SOURCE

In addition, Ms. Lien also buys poultry and livestock manure from local farmers to raise earthworms, maintaining year-round production. Currently, on average, her farm supplies the market with 100 kg of dried earthworms and 1 ton of earthworm breeding stock each month. Besides that, Ms. Lien supplies the market with about 1 ton of clean pork per week from her herd of approximately 300 pigs. She also produces sausages from clean pork. All products from GHT farm have been recognized as OCOP 3-star by Hanoi City. Currently, GHT farm also offers other high-quality products such as earthworm-fed chicken meat and earthworm-fed chicken eggs.

"To get high-quality pork, besides feeding them earthworms, I also play music for the pigs and let them sunbathe to relax. The farm ensures three 'no' criteria: no industrial feed, no growth hormones, and no antibiotic residue," Ms. Lien shared.

Besides that, Ms. Lien has a very unique way of selling her products. She doesn't sell in supermarkets or advertise extensively; instead, customers mainly come to her. "Customers place orders, and once we have enough stock, we slaughter the pigs and ship them immediately. We don't pre-slaughter them. For the past 10 years, even though the price of everything else has increased, the price of GHT pork has remained the same because I want customers to be able to use clean, delicious products without having to spend a lot of money," Ms. Lien shared.

Ms. Lien provides monthly support to households in difficult circumstances - PHOTO: Provided by the interviewee.

Turning organic waste into "gold"

As someone passionate about organic farming, Ms. Lien dedicated much time to researching the recycling of organic waste. Once again, she learned about the method of treating organic waste using indigenous microbial preparations – IMO. This method not only helps to address a large amount of organic waste released into the environment but also creates a beneficial fertilizer for plants.

"I use local farm waste such as papaya, banana, and other discarded fruits, adding rice bran and refined sugar... mixing them well and fermenting for 3 days, then filtering to obtain the IMO product," Ms. Lien said.

To convince women of the effectiveness of IMO, Ms. Lien applied IMO to a large pile of organic waste in the village and waited for 5 days. The result was that the large pile of waste had crumbled into organic fertilizer, no longer emitting a foul odor. From then on, women in the commune eagerly followed suit, contributing to reducing a large amount of waste released into the environment. Ms. Lien's initiative to produce IMO for household waste treatment won second prize in the "Families Safe from Natural Disasters and Climate Change" competition organized by the Vietnam Women's Union in 2021.

Having mastered the formula, Ms. Lien became one of the main speakers for the "Women's Participation in Post-Harvest Straw Management" model organized by the Hanoi Women's Union. Over the years, she has been present in most districts in the outskirts of Hanoi to participate in training sessions, helping officials and women's union members in the area grasp the basic knowledge of straw management to apply to practical production, instead of burning it in the fields as before.

"Before the merger, Soc Son District was the leading district nationwide in handling straw after harvest, processing waste to create livelihoods using IMO and microbial preparations. Currently, I am a speaker for the Hanoi Women's Association, sharing methods of producing microorganisms and treating straw after harvest with communes in Hanoi," Ms. Lien shared.

Ms. Lien served in the military for over 30 years - PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE SUBJECT TO CIRCUMSTANCES

Sharing love

Currently, the GHT earthworm farm, owned by Ms. Lien, generates approximately 2 billion VND in revenue annually and provides stable employment for about 15 local workers, with monthly incomes ranging from 10 to 12 million VND. More importantly, many farmers earn additional income by selling livestock and poultry manure to the farm for earthworm farming, contributing to environmental pollution reduction and promoting a green economy in the area. The GHT farm currently collaborates with 11 households; Ms. Lien provides them with earthworms free of charge, and they must commit to following GHT's established farming procedures.

In addition, Ms. Lien actively participates in community activities and supports charity. Over the years, she has provided assistance to five households in extremely difficult circumstances in the commune, giving each household 12 million VND per year. She has also provided emergency support to many cases of serious illness or unfortunate accidents, such as donating a savings account to Nguyen Linh Anh, a child orphaned at only 15 months old.

Through her efforts, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien is one of the outstanding veterans and entrepreneurs in peacetime, making significant contributions to society. In 2022, Ms. Lien was one of the 10 exemplary women of Hanoi, recognized by the Hanoi Women's Union. Above all, the affection of her customers, former comrades, and the people is her most precious reward, allowing her to live happily and continue contributing even at her advanced age.

The 5th "Living Beautifully" writing contest was organized to encourage people to write about noble acts that have helped individuals or communities. This year, the contest focuses on praising individuals or groups who have performed acts of kindness, bringing hope to those in difficult circumstances.

A highlight is the new environmental award category, which honors works that inspire and encourage action for a green and clean living environment. Through this, the organizers hope to raise community awareness in protecting the planet for future generations.

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Article categories: Essays, reports, notes, or short stories, not exceeding 1,600 words for essays and 2,500 words for short stories.

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- 3 third prizes: 10,000,000 VND

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Short story:

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Photo category: Submit a set of at least 5 photos related to volunteer work or environmental protection, along with the title of the photo set and a short description.

- 1st prize: 10,000,000 VND

- 1 second prize: 5,000,000 VND

- 1 third prize: 3,000,000 VND

- 5 consolation prizes: 2,000,000 VND each

Prize for the Most Popular Song: 5,000,000 VND

Prize for an outstanding essay on the topic of the environment: 5,000,000 VND

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Organizing Committee of the " Living Beautifully" Contest

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nu-cuu-chien-binh-lam-giau-tu-giun-que-185250917145534127.htm