Farmers doing clean agriculture

Dau Tieng and Phu Giao have been associated with rubber tree forest stretching as far as the eye can see. However, in a recent visit to Phu Giao, we were surprised by green fields and farms of vegetables, flowers, clean pig farms... A new way of doing farming has been applied by Phu Giao district farmers and has brought good initial effects...

The story of Phu Giao farmers doing "clean" agriculture, hi-tech agriculture has recently become an expanding movement. First of all, it was derived from the inevitable demand of the market; but before that, the 4th Phu Giao district's Party Congress, 2015-2020 tenure, clearly identified the potential and advantages of this land; thus set a resolution that has the right direction, is close to reality and arouse the movement of clean farming, widely implemented by the people. We, together with Mr. Nguyen Chau Long, Deputy Director of Economic Chamber of Phu Giao district, visited pig farm of Dang Huu Duc in Phuoc Sang commune, which was a new breeding model that interested the district leaders.

Mr. Duc, born in Ha Tinh, has been living in Binh Duong for about a dozen years and has experienced many types of agricultural production. Initially he planted rubber trees, then processed rubber latex, eventually raising pigs; but it all was a failure. At that time, on mass media, the rescue movement of agricultural products took place. Quang Ngai province had a "movement" to rescue watermelons; Dong Nai rescued bananas and the whole country rescued plumming price of pig meat. In the "market volatility" at that time, farmers in the whole country suffered heavy losses and Dang Huu Duc also was in difficulty because of pigs. Duc and his wife hoped for some money to continue expand business after the hard labor days with their finishing pigs. But then pork price was cheaper than vegetables! The couple eventually lost all capital...

But he did not give up. He asserted that he himself was a farmer, although he had failed, he did not know what else to do to feed his family in a strange land. He asked himself why raising pigs was unprofitable, despite of large investment capital and labor. Then he realized that only farmers suffered losses, but traders collected big profits. Indeed, when pork price plummeted, pork price in markets and supermarkets was not down. This was unfair to farmers.

Duc's farm now has more than 300 pigs, finishing time is 6 months, profit per pig after expenses is about VND600,000, each period he earns nearly VND200 million. Duc's breeding method is very creative, novel and following a closed biological model. Duc’s finishing cycle is 6 months, he uses food with limited industrial mash mixed with grains, and antibiotics are limited, so the pork is firm and testified by functional departments.

Regarding the output, he does not sell through intermediary traders. He opens his own pork selling booths. Early in the morning, he brings pigs to a slaughterhouse, supervised the slaughter, then transports the meat to the selling booths. His pork thus has built up its brand name to people in the region, is favored and often sold very quickly. The success of this approach has given his family not only a stable income but is gradually getting rich. Nguyen Chau Long, Deputy Head of Economic Chamber of Phu Giao district, said that the district considered Duc's husbandry model as an example and supported in expansion. In the immediate future, it is necessary to create more conditions for Duc to open more booths of clean pork in areas outside Phuoc Sang commune.

Another example is growing orchid model of Nguyen Ngoc Diep in Phuoc Vinh town. Ms. Diep and her husband did not know anything about growing orchids but have a passion for this kind of flower. Then they attached to the orchid growing. Her brilliant orchid farm today is nearly 1ha and is bringing a huge income, becoming one of the successful farming models of Phu Giao district. Ms. Diep said that she was expanding the farm because the supply did not meet demands.

The model of growing cantaloupe of Nguyen Van Cuong in An Binh commune also makes many people surprised by its profitability. The cantaloupe garden is in a glasshouse worth billions. These demonstrated entrepreneurship of farmers. Mr. Cuong’s cantaloupes are now available at big supermarkets in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In Binh Duong, there are 3 agents supplying cantaloupes to customers, but like Ms. Diep's orchids, the supply is insufficient. Le Minh Chi, Vice Chairman of An Binh Commune People's Committee, said that the cantaloupe cultivation model was very suitable to the local area and being supported by government to expand in the commune. This is a promising direction in the coming time.

It can be said that farmers are doing business in the right direction, gradually bringing better profits than traditional farming. This is a good sign. However, in the long run, to prevent situations of bumper crop – falling price, price squeeze from traders..., it requires the government to have synchronous policies to support from capital, science and technology, varieties, output, preservation and processing to create a closed product chain, to build good brand names.