Graduates leave the city to return to their hometowns, grow grass to make a living.

Pouring all my heart and soul into... grass!

Like many other young men in his village, Ha Van Hai (of the Thai ethnic group) harbored a dream of escaping farming. Therefore, despite being born into a poor family, Hai strived to pass the entrance exam to the University of Banking. He worked various jobs, from construction labor to security guard, to cover his four years of university studies. However, after graduating with a bachelor's degree and securing a low-paying job in the city, Hai decided to return to his hometown…

Back in his hometown, Hai's family owned 2 hectares of hilly land, and he decided to invest in raising goats for meat. However, lacking proper farming techniques, he failed in his second attempt. The goats fell ill, forcing him to sell them off, leaving him in debt. With no other option, he packed his bags and went to Bac Ninh to work as a laborer to pay off his debts. But the desire to get rich and the dream of starting a business in his homeland still compelled him to return… To prepare for this return, Hai diligently researched economic models in newspapers and on social media, carefully reading, consulting, and charting his own course.

“In my hometown, the land and climate conditions are very suitable for developing farm-based businesses, especially livestock farming. In fact, there are many large-scale dairy and beef cattle farms in the area. Meanwhile, people still have to buy green feed for their livestock such as biomass corn, dry straw, etc., so I came up with the idea of ​​growing grass to sell as animal feed,” Hai said.

Upon returning to his hometown, Hai brought back sacks of mature grass stems to use as seeds, surprising his relatives and neighbors. Many thought he was "bringing firewood to the forest" and doubted his success. Instead of explaining, Hai focused on planting and caring for the grass to convince everyone with his own achievements. Thanks to the suitable soil and climate, the milkweed varieties grew quickly and yielded high productivity. In just two years, Hai's family's 2 hectares of land had become a vast hill of grass. After successfully planting and selling the NLT-01 milkweed variety, he began expanding his research to other grass varieties suitable for the soil and climate of each locality, yielding superior productivity and nutritional value.

To date, Hai's facility has over 20 grass varieties, including 5 varieties whose seeds are imported from Thailand, with a linked cultivation area of ​​tens of hectares; providing regular employment for 6 workers with salaries of 5-7 million VND/month/person; in addition, there are hundreds of people working as sales collaborators and grass growers in the commune.

After successfully cultivating and propagating dozens of varieties of milkweed, in addition to selling the grass to livestock farms, Hai said, "While large farms only harvest the leaves and young stems, discarding the old stems and roots, I select and utilize them to sell as cuttings to farms and livestock breeders. This is a significant source of income."

Thanks to his successful start-up in livestock farming, Hai has now built a spacious house, bought a truck for production, and has invested capital in many other fields such as construction and healthcare.

Bringing grass to the electronic stage

Initially, selling grass cuttings and seeds was quite difficult due to low demand. Hai decided to take additional communication and management courses to improve his sales. He created sales groups on Facebook, Zalo, TikTok, and YouTube. Within about a year, his sales channels attracted thousands of followers.

“If I only targeted customers within the province, it would be very difficult because the sales volume wouldn't be high. Therefore, I applied digital technology to sales. I livestreamed advertisements for different grass varieties at my farm so buyers could see them firsthand; I provided guidance and shared knowledge on planting and caring for the grass on social media platforms… At the same time, I built a network of sales collaborators with about 150 people in various provinces and cities. Thanks to this, I was able to reach tens of thousands of customers simultaneously; orders increased steadily every day,” Hai shared.

Currently, Hai sells various types of grass seeds, both cuttings and seeds, nationwide to many companies and livestock farm owners. On average, he sends 700 to 1,000 orders per month to customers in distant locations. Customers in nearby areas come directly to his farm to purchase the seeds. With prices ranging from 3 million VND/ton (depending on the type of grass) and seed seeds selling for 250,000-270,000 VND/kg, Hai earns 600-700 million VND per year from grass seeds. Currently, Hai's grass seed brand is a popular choice. "When selling through social media, the most important thing isn't reaching customers, but knowing how to retain them long-term. Therefore, it's crucial to always prioritize reputation and quality," Hai shared.

Currently, in addition to milkweed varieties, Hai also grows giant tea plants and jade grass to mix into animal feed for preventing and treating stomach aches and diarrhea. At the same time, Hai collaborates with local farmers to supply seeds and green fodder to farms and ranches nationwide. He is currently developing ginger grass varieties for landscaping projects, such as reforestation, erosion control, parks, rooftop gardens, golf courses, and football fields.

Becoming rich from growing grass is something few people would think of, but with a daring and proactive approach, knowing how to take advantage of the soil and climate, and being dynamic and quick to apply digital technology to consumption, Hai has risen to wealth using grass. Hai has proven to everyone that: "What one person throws away is valuable to another. Nothing is truly worthless, it's just that we don't recognize its value."