Female engineer Kieu Thi Hue is passionate about producing clean vegetables.

In recent years, many people inside and outside the province have become aware of the clean vegetable and fruit products of the Vinh Phuc Safe Vegetable Cooperative. This success is the result of the passion and aspiration to produce clean and safe agricultural products led and managed by female engineer Kieu Thi Hue.

In 2007, after graduating with a degree in Plant Protection Engineering, Kieu Thi Hue, from An Tuong commune, formerly Vinh Tuong district (now Vinh Phu commune), worked as a contract technician at the Provincial Plant Protection Sub-Department (now the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development), guiding farmers in the production of safe fruits and vegetables (organic and organically grown produce).

Driven by passion and determination to create her own clean vegetable production area, especially to ensure a stable market for farmers' produce, she resigned from her job in 2014, borrowed capital, and established the Vinh Phuc Safe Vegetable Cooperative - headquartered in the former Kim Long town, now Tam Duong commune, where she serves as Director.

Engineer Kieu Thi Hue in a vegetable field in Tam Duong commune.

In its early days, the cooperative had 7 members, primarily engaged in purchasing clean vegetables from farmers; by 2017, the cooperative had 40 members with a total area of ​​nearly 20 hectares dedicated to clean vegetable production, planned into 3 concentrated production zones in Kim Long and Van Hoi communes of the former Tam Duong district, and Ho Son commune of the former Tam Dao district (now Tam Duong and Hoi Thinh communes).

To ensure that the products reaching consumers are safe and hygienic, Ms. Hue has established a chain of production and consumption, controlling product quality according to technical standards. This helps farmers produce with peace of mind and consumers feel confident using safe vegetables supplied by the cooperative.

To ensure sustainable clean vegetable production, Ms. Hue actively implemented the application of plastic mulch technology in vegetable and fruit cultivation, yielding high efficiency by retaining soil moisture, reducing weeds, and improving soil aeration. This helped farmers change their habit of indiscriminately using pesticides, especially banned pesticides such as herbicides and other pesticides not on the permitted list for use on vegetables and fruits.

Simultaneously, the cooperative has effectively implemented various production models such as: "Supporting the production and consumption chain of safe fragrant gourd products according to VietGAP standards"; "Applying microbial technology to produce high-activity Trichoderma sp. preparations for disease prevention in crops and rice"; "Testing biological fertilizers on gourd plants"... The cooperative has designed logos, labels, packaging, and registered barcodes and product codes for its products before supplying them to the market.

With careful, serious, and technically sound practices, the cooperative has been granted VietGAP certification for vegetables and fruits such as chayote, fragrant gourd, and pumpkin. Simultaneously, it has received a certificate for food safety compliance in the production and processing of vegetables and fruits. Each year, the cooperative supplies the market with 400-500 tons of clean, safe vegetables and fruits, generating revenue of 2-2.5 billion VND and ensuring employment for dozens of direct laborers and hundreds of households producing clean vegetables and fruits in the region.

Since 2020, the Vinh Phuc Safe Vegetable Cooperative has partnered with and become a trusted partner of many businesses inside and outside the province, distributing food to school and industrial kitchens. All products from participating households are purchased at a price 1,000-2,000 VND/kg higher than the market price. Members earn an average income of 5-6 million VND per person per month. This has helped farmers gain confidence and enthusiasm in their production.

In recent years, the cooperative has introduced several new varieties such as lemon squash, purple cabbage, and purslane, while also developing baby chayote and pre-processed chayote shoots to meet the increasingly high and diverse demands of consumers.

In particular, engineer Kieu Thi Hue and the members of the cooperative have linked up to supply the cooperative's safe vegetable products to the Winmart supermarket system and schools, ensuring food safety and building a reputation with the schools. In 2024, the cooperative supplied nearly 500 tons of safe vegetables to the market with a total revenue of over 2.5 billion VND. It is projected that in 2025, the cooperative will supply more than 500 tons of safe vegetables to the market.

Besides growing organic vegetables, in recent years, Ms. Hue and her family have expanded their tourism business to include homestay experiences in Binh Tuyen commune, attracting many tourists, especially students, who come to experience planting and harvesting vegetables and fruits, fishing, and preparing food on-site.

Engineer Nguyen Hoang Duong, Director of the Provincial Agricultural Extension Center, commented: "Engineer Kieu Thi Hue is a prime example of maximizing the application of integrated pest management, limiting the use of pesticides, and increasing the value and yield of crops. As a result, the agricultural environment is improved, and ecological balance in the fields is stable in the long term. The health of producers and consumers is ensured. Many valuable experiences in production are regularly shared among member households. This success is significantly contributed by the Director of the Cooperative, Kieu Thi Hue, who is always passionate and innovative in the production and consumption of clean vegetables."

With its achievements in the production and consumption of clean vegetables, the Vinh Phuc Safe Vegetable Cooperative was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for "Outstanding achievements in implementing the National Assembly's Resolution and the Prime Minister's Decision on developing 15,000 effective agricultural cooperatives and cooperative unions, 2018-2019". In 2020, the Director of the Cooperative, Kieu Thi Hue, was awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Provincial People's Committee for "Outstanding achievements in the emulation movement to innovate and develop agricultural cooperatives according to the 2012 Cooperative Law".

Xuan Nguyen

Source: https://baophutho.vn/nu-ky-su-kieu-thi-hue-dam-me-san-xuat-rau-sach-241408.htm