Turning the Dream of Agricultural Wealth into Reality
The road to success is never easy, and for 25-year-old Nguyen Van Dat from Kinh Mon, Hai Duong, it was no different. At just 20 years old, he found himself shouldering a staggering debt of 3 billion VND. However, with an unwavering determination to succeed, this young farmer was determined to rise from the ashes.
Despite his young age, Nguyen Van Dat possesses an admirable resolve to achieve financial success. Orphaned at a young age, he chose not to pursue a college education and instead took on the responsibility of providing for himself and his family.
Dat’s entrepreneurial journey began around 2016 when he convinced his mother to invest her savings and take out loans to purchase 7 sows of land for a farm. He started with a large-scale farm, combining vegetable gardening with animal husbandry.
His farm initially included thousands of pigs and chickens for meat, thousands of egg-laying chickens and quail, and three ponds for raising fish. However, due to his lack of experience and the plunge in pork prices in 2018, Dat faced a significant setback, resulting in a crushing debt of 3 billion VND.
Despite this massive setback, Dat’s dream of succeeding in agriculture remained unwavering. His passion for agriculture helped him overcome the pressure of debt, and he persevered on his entrepreneurial journey.
Today, although the path remains challenging, this determined 9Xer has achieved notable milestones. Sharing his journey with Vietnamnet, Dat revealed his decision to start anew with an agriculture-tourism-education model. He leased an abandoned resort in Nho Quan, Ninh Binh, to create an eco-friendly, circular agriculture system.
Dat’s new venture involves raising cows, using cow manure to cultivate earthworms, and then using the earthworms to feed chickens and pigs. The earthworm castings are utilized to grow vegetables and medicinal plants. Additionally, he maximizes the farm’s potential by raising caddisflies, producing caddisfly fish sauce, growing bean sprouts, and cultivating snails and fish to consume agricultural by-products.
After overcoming initial obstacles, Dat gradually established a solid foundation for his agricultural business. Along with animal husbandry, he ventured into agritourism, offering camping and eco-tourism experiences on the farm, which also boasts a 20-room accommodation system.
With his expansive farm, Dat also grows vegetables, cultivates fruit trees, and keeps bees for honey production. Recognizing the potential of this development model, he actively transfers eco-friendly farming techniques to other farmers.
For this young 9Xer, entrepreneurship has never been easy, especially in the field of eco-friendly and safe agriculture. However, his hard work has paid off, as evidenced by the impressive revenue his model has generated. In 2023, his farm brought in more than 4 billion VND, and he expects a 20% increase in revenue in 2024 through ecological linkages with other farmers.
Wormwood Farming Brings in Billions
Similarly, Duong Van Tu has successfully established a wormwood farm, generating an impressive annual revenue of 1 billion VND. On an area of 2,000 m2, his farm features settling tanks and worm-raising pens. The daily waste from pig farming is mixed with water to create food for the worms.
In an interview with Nghe An Newspaper, Tu shared the secrets to his successful wormwood farming venture, which generates a substantial income. He emphasized the importance of designing standard pens that are soundproof, well-lit, cool, and sealed to prevent insect infestation.
The collected waste is filtered and transferred to soaking tanks for acid treatment to eliminate harmful bacteria. After 30-45 days, the worms are ready for harvest. On average, the farm produces about 10 tons of worms and 300 tons of worm castings annually.
The worm and worm castings are used as animal feed for pigs, chickens, and fish, and they are also processed into wormwood extract, which is added to animal feed or used as leaf fertilizer for crops. Additionally, they are sold to eel farms and fruit tree growers in the area. With worm prices at 50,000 VND/kg and worm castings at 3,500 VND/kg, the farm generates a remarkable annual revenue of 1 billion VND.
These successful wormwood farming models highlight the dual benefits of this practice in agricultural production.
Wormwood, also known as Perionyx excavatus, is a commercially produced species of earthworm valued for its ability to produce fine worm powder, an excellent organic fertilizer.
This group of compost worms typically inhabits environments rich in decomposing organic matter, and in nature, they rarely exist with a large body size and lack the ability to directly improve the soil like some local earthworm species.
In recent years, it has become evident that wormwood farming offers a highly effective “dual benefit” model. It is a closed-loop farming system that addresses environmental pollution from animal and plant waste while providing nutritious food for livestock and beneficial fertilizer for crops.
Additionally, wormwood farming offers a significant economic advantage to farmers, aligning with the current trend toward organic agriculture.
The Profitable Gentleness of Nature: A Farmer’s Swift Road to Success
After years of working abroad, Mai Khac Thach returned to his hometown to embark on a unique entrepreneurial journey. With his expertise and a deep passion for animal husbandry, he decided to take on a venture that would soon become a substantial success. Thach began nurturing and raising a “familiar” creature, a venture that has since earned him a comfortable income of 1.5 billion VND annually.
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