Hanoi (VNA) – Farmers in Hanoi’s suburb district of Chuong My are turning barren, abandoned pieces of land into productive farms that yield high profit annually.

Despite multiple difficulties, they have been exploring new agricultural models and shifting to farming of new crops and livestock.

Residents in Thanh Ne Village of Chuong My’s Thanh Binh Commune described their 48-year-old neighbour, Nguyen Van Tap, as a man who thinks outside the box when it comes to growing an agribusiness, is willing to help others and actively engages in local campaigns.

Tap, a solid white chicken grower, has been honoured as an outstanding farmer of the commune for years. His family has also received the excellent business household title by authorities of Hanoi and Chuong My for multiple times now.

He started his business in 2002 when he built a small farm of white chicken that raised 6,000 birds per litter. During early years, his farm suffered big losses as a result of lack of experience coupled with uncertain market prices and outbreaks of diseases.

But with high determination and hard work, he has gradually fixed his farm’s problems and expanded production scale. In addition to his farm in Thanh Binh, Tap has leased more land to develop other ten chicken farms in Chuong My’s Dong Ngac Commune as well as Lien Son Commune, Luong Son District and Ngoc Luong Commune, Yen Thuy District in the neighbouring province of Hoa Binh.

These farms have adopted modern farming practices to be capable of raising around 160,000 birds a litter in total, earning him some 2.5 billion VND (roughly 110,000 USD) in annual revenue. His farms also provide jobs for 20 locals who are paid 7 million VND per person per month.

Last years, he was awarded as an excellent business household by the central authority.

Dang Dinh Tien, an ostrich farmer in Dai Yen Commune, Chuong My. (Photo: Ha Noi Moi)

Dang Dinh Tien, meanwhile, is a farmer born in the 1970s in Village 3, Dai Yen Commune. After completing his military service in 2017, Tien has done various jobs to support his family.

He was introduced by his friend about ostrich farming and became interested. Realising it could be a very promising business, he took his chances on the new farming model later that year. He and his wife leased a 0.36ha low-yield piece of land to build a commercial ostrich farm.

He said he had no money at that time and had to borrow cash for the construction of the barn. “In the first year, I just dared to purchase 50 breeding ostriches to raise for the start,” he said.

Taking advantage of extra land of the farm, he has also made places for farming of chickens and pigeons. After three years, now his farm is cultivating 210 ostriches and more than 2,000 pigeons, generating billions of Vietnamese dong annually.

Chairman of Chuong My’s farmers’ association Chu Manh Khang said there are thousands of farmers across the district striving to beat the odds and become successful like Tap and Tien. They share one common thing – they and their family have worked tirelessly to learn from experience and expand farming in order to succeed today, he said.

They have also bravely applied new advanced practices to heighten productivity and product quality and at the same time, shared their experience to other farmers and participated in various charitable projects to support the elderly and poor families, he noted.

The successful farmers have donated tonnes of farm produce and cook thousands of meals to provide people working at the front line against the COVID-19, he added.

They do not only set a good example for others but also inspire people to stay united, resilient and creative to earn a far better living, said Vice Chairman of the Chuong My People’s Committee Hoang Minh Hien. The district will offer further technical and financial assistance to scale up the successful agriculture models, he stated./.

VNA