"Leaving the city for the countryside" to build a farm.

(Baonghean) - In Chau Binh commune, Quy Chau mountainous district, everyone knows about the young director Nguyen Quang Phuc who quit his job in the city to become a farmer in his hometown. From being criticized as "eccentric," people now greatly admire him for his ambition and willpower to conquer the barren hills...

From Co Ba Bridge in Chau Binh commune, turn off the main road and travel about 800 meters to reach Nguyen Quang Phuc's farm. The 4-hectare farm is nestled in a small valley between two low hills, surrounded by a well-organized system of concrete and B40 wire mesh fences. Within the farm grounds, lush green melaleuca and mahogany trees thrive; flat areas are planted with banana trees and elephant grass, while lower areas are used for fish ponds; hundreds of chickens and ducks roam freely on the hills, a pair of cows graze peacefully, and a newly constructed system of barns and enclosures is also on display…

At 1 PM, farm owner Nguyen Quang Phuc, having just finished his lunch, picked up a hoe to weed and prune the shoots of 450 banana trees, about chest-high. Phuc shared: “I bought these banana seedlings from the Agricultural Science Institute and planted them a month and a half ago. Pruning the shoots like this helps the bananas grow bigger and fatter faster. I expect to harvest them by the end of the year…” Taking a break to greet guests in his small house in the middle of the farm, Phuc slowly recounted his story of leaving the city to start a business in the forest: “My farm has existed for a long time, cleared and built by my parents. Previously, the farm specialized in growing high-yield fruits and was once a famous model farm in the district and province. But then, my father fell seriously ill and passed away, my sisters got married, my mother's health deteriorated, my younger brother was still small, and the farm became dilapidated and abandoned due to lack of care, while I went away to study…”

Mr. Nguyen Quang Phuc works on his farm.

During his four years as a student at Hanoi Open University of Technology, Phuc, being quite tech-savvy, studied while also selling mobile phones, accumulating capital little by little. By the time he graduated in 2008, he had some capital to start his own business. Returning to Vinh City, Phuc recognized a business opportunity in building a brand and trading Nghi An glutinous rice wine. He established Nghi An Glutinous Rice Wine Company, specializing in purchasing, bottling, and retailing the wine within the province. Phuc's company prospered quickly, but because the wine is only sold during the autumn and winter seasons, it was difficult for someone with limited capital to sustain it. Facing financial problems and forced to liquidate before dissolution, the company suffered a loss of nearly 300 million VND.

In 2011, Phuc enrolled in a College of Finance to change his career path, and that same year, he got married. During his studies, both his paternal and maternal families had already secured him several jobs after graduation, ensuring he would have a stable position. However, deep down, the neglect of his family's farm remained a constant worry, a burden of debt, and a responsibility to continue his parents' legacy… Although he studied accounting, Phuc pursued his dream of developing a farm economy; he secretly studied various livestock and farming models through books, television, and the internet. Phuc smiled gently: "I was born in the year of the Ox, so my profession is definitely tied to the fields and farms, brother."

Driven by ambition, after completing his college accounting program, Phuc decided to leave the city and return to the countryside despite his objections: his wife and children didn't want to be separated from their husband and father, and even his own mother didn't want him to take over the farm because she felt sorry for him after years of studying and feared he would face hardship. With unwavering determination and confidence in his strength and intellect, in early 2014, Phuc brought all his savings back to rebuild the farm… Upon his return, the thriving farm of ten years earlier was gone, replaced by withered trees and overgrown bushes. Phuc cut down the unproductive trees, built a small house, and bought a herd of 40 goats and 7 cows to graze there.

Initially, Phuc faced numerous difficulties: Just as he bought a B40 mesh fence to enclose his farm to prevent his goats and cows from wandering, a storm tore down the acacia trees on his hillside, which was almost ready for harvest. With the acacia trees gone, the goats and cows had nowhere to graze or take shelter, forcing Phuc to sell off his entire herd of goats and some of his cows. He painstakingly went to the remote villages of Chau Phong, Dien Lam, and Chau Hoan to hunt for the "Quy Chau Muscovy duck" breed. Thanks to his careful nurturing, the ducks grew incredibly fast, but as they grew, the "Mushroom ducks" turned out to be just ordinary ducks. The bigger the ducks got, the bigger their appetites became, even eating the vegetables, flowers, and young acacia trees Phuc had just planted.

Undeterred, Phuc continued his research by reading books and newspapers, and visiting successful farming models both within and outside the province to learn from their experiences. He decided to "use short-term gains to support long-term growth" by digging ponds for fish farming, raising hundreds of chickens, and buying piglets from the village to supply restaurants and markets in Vinh City while waiting for the melaleuca trees and other plants to grow. Recently, Phuc hired a bulldozer to level 1 hectare of farmland to plant bananas, tilled another area to plant ginger, and built new pens for raising wild boars. To date, Phuc has invested over 300 million VND in the farm. Phuc shared: "Before starting any of these crops or livestock, I had already researched, calculated, and secured all the inputs and outputs. The only issue now is my own skill and a little capital. The farm has so much work that I've just hired an additional person to work here on a permanent basis."

The livestock pens are temporarily empty, and the land is awaiting seedlings. According to Phuc's calculations, the farm only needs another 100 million VND to become operational and profitable. Cao Hoang Hai, Secretary of the Quy Chau District Youth Union, said: Knowing about Phuc's determination and ambition, and recognizing the feasibility of the farm, the District Youth Union recently submitted a dossier to the Provincial Youth Union so that Phuc could borrow 100 million VND from the youth entrepreneurship support fund…

Chau Binh, a land once ravaged by the red gemstone craze, has turned green again with farms like Phuc's. At the age of thirty, with his diligent work and strong will to succeed, Phuc will surely achieve success quickly.

Thanh Son