"Leave the city for the forest" to farm

(Baonghean) - When you come to Chau Binh commune, Quy Chau mountainous district, and ask about the young director Nguyen Quang Phuc who quit his job in the city to return to his hometown to become a farmer, everyone will know. From being criticized for being "crazy", now everyone admires him for his aspiration and will to conquer the wild hills...

From Co Ba bridge, Chau Binh commune, turn about 800m to reach Nguyen Quang Phuc's farm. The 4-hectare farm is nestled in a small valley next to 2 low hills, surrounded by a system of concrete fences and B40 iron mesh in a very orderly manner. The farm grounds are lush with green cajuput and xoan trees; flat land is planted with bananas and elephant grass; low land is dug with ponds for raising fish; hundreds of chickens and ducks are raised on the hills, a pair of cows leisurely graze and a system of barns has just been built...

At 1 p.m., farm owner Nguyen Quang Phuc had just finished lunch, picked up a hoe to weed and cut the buds for 450 banana trees about chest-high. Phuc shared: “I bought these bananas from the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, which were planted a month and a half ago. Cutting the buds like this will help the bananas grow bigger and fatter. It is expected to be harvested by the end of the year”… Taking a break, receiving guests in a level 4 house in the middle of the farm, Phuc slowly told the story of how he left the city to return to the forest to start a business: “My farm has existed since before, reclaimed by my parents. The farm used to specialize in growing fruits with high yields, and was once a famous model in the district and province. But then, my father passed away from a serious illness, my sisters got married, my mother was in poor health, my younger brother was still young, the farm became dilapidated and deserted due to lack of care, while I went to school far away...”.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Phuc works on his farm.

During his 4 years as a student at Hanoi Open University of Technology, Phuc was quite tech-savvy, so he studied and sold phones at the same time. After graduating in 2008, Phuc had a small amount of capital to start a business. Returning to Vinh City, Phuc saw a business opportunity in building a brand and selling Nghi An sticky rice wine. Phuc established Nghi An Sticky Rice Wine Company, specializing in purchasing, bottling and retailing wine in the provincial market. Phuc's company prospered and "got rich" quickly, but because wine was only sold in the Fall - Winter, people with little capital could hardly hold on. Having financial problems, the company closed before being dissolved, losing nearly 300 million VND.

In 2011, Phuc went to study at the College of Finance to change his career direction and in the same year, Phuc got married. During his studies, both his paternal and maternal families had "targeted" a few places for Phuc so that when he graduated, Phuc would have a stable job. But deep inside Phuc, the family's fallow farm had always been a concern, a debt, a responsibility to continue his parents' career... Although he studied accounting, Phuc pursued the idea of ​​developing the farm economy; Phuc secretly studied livestock and farming models through books, newspapers, on television, and the internet. Phuc smiled gently: "I was born in the year of the buffalo, so my career will definitely have to be tied to the fields, brother."

Nurturing his ambition, after finishing his college degree in accounting, Phuc decided to leave the city for the forest despite objections: His wife and children did not want to be far from their husband and father, and even his biological mother did not want Phuc to return to take over the farm because she loved her son who had spent so many years studying, and was afraid that he would have a hard time. With high determination, confident in his strength and intelligence, in early 2014, Phuc brought all the capital he had saved to rebuild the farm... When he returned, the lush farm of 10 years ago was no longer there, replaced by barren trees and dense reeds. Phuc cut down the ineffective trees, built a level four house and bought a herd of 40 goats and 7 cows to raise here.

At first, Phuc encountered many difficulties: He had just bought a B40 net system to fence the farm to prevent goats and cows from running away, but the acacia hill that was about to be harvested was hit by a tornado and collapsed. The acacia hill was gone, and the goats and cows had no place to eat or take shelter. Phuc was forced to sell the entire herd of goats and some of the cows. He painstakingly went to remote communes in Chau Phong, Dien Lam, and Chau Hoan to hunt for the Quy Chau "gourd duck" breed. Thanks to his care, the ducks grew rapidly, but as they grew, the "gourd ducks" turned out to be ordinary ducks. The ducks grew bigger and bigger, eating all kinds of vegetables, flowers, and young cajuput hills that Phuc had just planted.

Not discouraged, Phuc searched through books and newspapers, went to successful models in and outside the province to visit and learn about livestock farming experiences. Phuc decided to "take the short term to feed the long term" by digging fish ponds, raising hundreds of chickens, buying young pigs from the village to import to restaurants and markets in Vinh City while waiting for the cajuput hills and other plants to grow. Recently, Phuc hired a bulldozer to level 1 hectare of farm land to grow bananas, plowed another part of the land to grow ginger, and built a new barn system to raise wild pigs. Up to now, Phuc has invested more than 300 million VND in the farm. Phuc shared: "Before implementing all these crops and livestock, I have inquired, calculated and taken care of all the inputs and outputs. The problem now is just my hands as well as a lack of capital. The farm has too much work, so I have just hired another person to work here regularly."

The barn is temporarily empty, the land area is waiting for seeds. According to Phuc's calculations, the farm only needs 100 million VND more to be organized and profitable. Mr. Cao Hoang Hai, Secretary of the Quy Chau District Youth Union, said: Knowing Phuc's determination and ambition, realizing the feasibility of the farm, the District Youth Union recently prepared a dossier to submit to the Provincial Youth Union so that Phuc can borrow 100 million VND from the capital source to support young people starting a business...

Chau Binh, the “fierce” land with the red stone fever of the past, has turned green again with farms like Phuc’s. At the age of “thirty and established”, with such diligent hands and will to rise up, Phuc will certainly quickly succeed.

Thanh Son