Yen Bai is proud of two "Outstanding Vietnamese Farmers" 2023

YenBai - Ms. Lam Thi Kim Thoa - Chairwoman of the Board of Directors (BOD) and Director of Suoi Giang Cooperative (Van Chan district) and Mr. Phung Binh Minh - Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director of Binh Minh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative (Yen Binh district) are two representatives of the Yen Bai collective economic sector who have just been honored to receive the title of "Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer" in 2023. The efforts to rise up in difficult lands have brought success to each entrepreneur with a revenue of billions of VND each year.

Quality makes the brand

The Mong people in Suoi Giang commune, Van Chan district have long affectionately called the Director of Suoi Giang Tea Cooperative Lam Thi Kim Thoa "the Mong girl", because she is the pioneer in building the famous Suoi Giang tea brand, conquering demanding markets, bringing income and a better life to the Mong people here - people who have devoted their whole lives to ancient tea trees.

Although she is a Kinh ethnic person originally from Hai Phong , Ms. Thoa has lived and worked for more than 30 years in the land of "clouds all year round", famous for its hundreds of years old Shan Tuyet tea trees. Speaking fluent Mong and understanding Mong culture and customs, Ms. Thoa does not know when she became a real "Mong girl".

Having worked as an accountant for Yen Bai Trading Company, and being assigned to work in Suoi Giang, Ms. Thoa witnessed the ups and downs of the "tea life". Eating tea, sleeping in tea and swallowing the bitterness when Suoi Giang ancient tea trees were in trouble, losing value in the market, the Mong people in Suoi Giang lost their source of income. Worried about tea, Ms. Thoa mobilized people to establish Suoi Giang Tea Cooperative in 2007, which officially operated in 2008.

Born in difficult circumstances, Suoi Giang tea lost its reputation in the market, Ms. Thoa and the members of the cooperative were determined to regain reputation and build a brand for Suoi Giang tea.

With the motto "Quality makes the brand", Ms. Thoa has made efforts to research, learn, and cooperate with businesses to increase the value of tea trees. From only a few thousand VND per kilogram of fresh tea buds, the price of tea buds has now fluctuated from 20,000 to 300,000 VND/kg, making the Mong people of Suoi Giang very excited and confident, so they are more aware of caring for and protecting precious ancient tea trees.

As the leader of the cooperative, Director Thoa has researched and gradually improved the quality of the products to produce 4 types of tea: Diệp Trà (green tea), Hồng Trà (red tea), Bạch Trà (white tea), Hoàng Trà (yellow tea) instead of just one traditional green tea line. Each kilo of tea now costs from 400,000 VND to 10 million VND.

Tuyet Son Tra product of Suoi Giang Tea Cooperative, Van Chan district.

Through tea products, the unique cultural features of Suoi Giang land have been introduced to tourists, promoting tourism development. When mentioning Suoi Giang Tea Cooperative, people immediately think of Tuyet Son Tra - a product recognized as a 4-star OCOP at the provincial level in 2019. With the efforts of "Mong girl" Lam Thi Kim Thoa and the cooperative, at the end of May 2022, Tuyet Son Tra products conquered and were present in the world's most demanding market, Japan - the homeland of tea ceremony, the cultural quintessence of the Land of the Rising Sun.

Sipping a cup of hot tea, enjoying the scent of the earth, clouds, and water mixed with the aroma of tea, Ms. Thoa sadly remembers the difficult days due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, the frozen market, and extremely difficult product consumption. "Necessity is the mother of invention", Ms. Thoa has switched from selling products in the traditional way to applying modern sales methods through social networking sites, livestream, receiving orders, closing orders, and delivering to addresses through delivery companies; actively participating in programs connecting supply and demand online organized by the Department of Industry and Trade, the Provincial Cooperative Union, etc.

With the new sales method, the products are also widely known, the number of customers has also increased and the revenue from tea products has also increased every year. "In 2021, the cooperative has a revenue of over 3 billion VND; in 2002, it was over 3.5 billion VND and in 2023, it is expected to have a surplus of 4 billion VND," Ms. Thoa happily boasted.

Realizing that tea and tourism are two products that support each other, after 30 years of living in the difficult land of Suoi Giang, Ms. Thoa mobilized her family to support the construction of an area to introduce tea products and OCOP products "Ban Giang Chan May" in Kang Ky village, Suoi Giang commune. This is where visitors can enjoy tea, learn how to make tea and listen to Mong ethnic girls share stories about tea and the unique culture of the Mong ethnic group in Suoi Giang, especially the place to train Mong children to have stable jobs and gain more knowledge about tea.

With her contributions to the Suoi Giang land, Director of Suoi Giang Tea Cooperative Lam Thi Kim Thoa was honored to receive a Certificate of Merit from the Chairman of Yen Bai Provincial People's Committee in 2016 and 2019; a Certificate of Merit from the Chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Association in 2018. In 2022, Ms. Thoa was also one of 10 individuals who achieved "Outstanding Citizen of Yen Bai Province" and recently, she was honored as one of 100 "Outstanding Vietnamese Farmers in 2023". "This is the motivation for me to continue to strive, awaken the potential of Suoi Giang that has been "sleeping" so that this land becomes more and more attractive and charming to tourists", Ms. Thoa confided.

Success through production linkage

Saying goodbye to Suoi Giang, we went to the green forests of Binh Minh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative, Phu Thinh Commune, Yen Binh District. Director of the Cooperative Phung Binh Minh's face was dark from the sun. He said he had just inspected a plot of planted forest that people wanted to sell. The price of planted forest wood is currently unstable, but the Cooperative will try to bring the highest profit and the most benefits to its members.

Born and raised in the forest, Mr. Minh understands very well the values and benefits that forests bring, but because they are not linked or join cooperatives, forest owners are often forced to lower prices by traders, resulting in low economic efficiency. Realizing the importance of linking production according to the cooperative model, Mr. Minh stood up to mobilize and establish Binh Minh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative in 2017 with 7 members and a charter capital of only 1 billion VND. The main production and business lines are wood products, afforestation, taking care of forest seedling nurseries, and manufacturing plastic products.

Mr. Phung Binh Minh - Director of Binh Minh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative checks the timber output of the cooperative members.

After its establishment, the cooperative cooperated with Hoa Phat Industrial Company Limited to build a sawmill, which was granted FSC certification with a scale of over 4,000 m2.

Director Minh said: Thanks to the FSC forest certification, Binh Minh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative has linked and consumed wood for 31 forest planting households with about 2,500 - 3,000 tons of sawn timber; 900 - 1,000 tons of wood chips (area about 15 - 20 hectares).

"When participating in the FSC certified forest program, the selling price of wood is often 15-20% higher than the market price, the brand of forest products is enhanced and wood products can enter the demanding markets of Europe and the US. Thanks to good protection and care, the forest reserves of the Cooperative also reach a high level, averaging over 150 tons/ha. In particular, when participating in the FSC certification, people have access to new technical support, so old habits have changed, labor productivity and income are increasingly higher, and people's lives are increasingly stable," Mr. Minh shared.

Planting forests according to FSC certification, the cooperative's wood is sold to many localities in the country and abroad, creating regular jobs for 15 - 20 workers with an average income of 4.5 - 6 million VND/person/month. In 5 years, from 2018 - 2023, the cooperative has signed product consumption contracts with companies and enterprises such as: Hoa Phat Forestry Company, Yen Bai Branch. Yen Bai European Plastic Joint Stock Company, Yen Bai Industrial Minerals Joint Stock Company, Rainbow Stone Company, Binh Minh Stone Company, Van Phuc Yen Bai Import-Export Joint Stock Company, Filler Masterbacth Joint Stock Company, Bao Lai White Stone Company... From 7 initial members, Binh Minh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative now has 20 members, earning an annual profit of about 1.2 billion VND.

In 2020, Binh Minh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative participated in the Forest and Farm Support Program (FFF) of the Vietnam Farmers' Union. Participating in the program, cooperative members were trained in production and business knowledge, on the State's support policies in agriculture, and had access to organizations and businesses inside and outside the province to connect and consume products. In 2022, the FFF Program supported the cooperative to build a nursery model of imported Australian acacia seedlings to meet the needs and quality of seedlings for forest planting according to FSC standards.

Leaders of the Provincial Farmers' Association inspect the Australian acacia nursery of Binh Minh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative

Participating in the project, members of the cooperative have improved their seedling production skills; 20 farming households have been granted standard certificates, supplying over 2 million seedlings to the market each year.

In addition, products made from Plastic (HDPE pipes) have also brought in hundreds of millions of VND in profit, creating regular jobs for 12 workers of the cooperative. "We always take technological advantages as the top priority and identify mutually beneficial production links as the decisive factor for the cooperative to develop and thereby help many other farmers increase their income," said Mr. Minh.

With the achieved results, Director of Phung Binh Minh Cooperative and Binh Minh Agricultural and Forestry Cooperative have been awarded by all levels for many consecutive years. The Cooperative also actively participates in social charity activities, contributing to the construction of new rural areas in the locality.

Director Minh expressed: "I hope to continue to receive attention, advice and support so that the cooperative can operate more effectively and develop sustainably, the area of FSC-certified forests will be expanded, the revenue will be higher each year than the previous year, increasing income for members and people, contributing to building an increasingly prosperous homeland."

"I am very honored and proud to be honored as "Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer" in 2023. This is a motivation for me to continue to try harder and contribute more to help the cooperative grow stronger and stronger," Minh shared.

Ms. Thoa, Mr. Minh and before that, Mr. Giang A Sau - a Mong ethnic in An Luong commune, Van Chan or Mr. Ngo Thanh Dong, Le Mai Hien in Yen Binh, Van Yen... Yen Bai farmers have been honored as "Outstanding Vietnamese Farmers". They are the ones who have been drawing a picture of a new generation of farmers, dynamic, daring to think and act, mastering science and technology and ready to make efforts to meet market demands. They are the positive factors bringing the "three rural areas" in Yen Bai to develop in the direction of "ecological agriculture, civilized farmers, happy countryside".

Manh Cuong

Source link