Get rich from 2 pairs of hedgehogs

(Baonghean) - Not only known as the enthusiastic and dedicated Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and Standing Committee of the Farmers' Association of Quang Phong Ward, Mr. Phan Chi Dung (in Dong block, Quang Phong ward, Thai Hoa town) is also known as an example of a young man who is good at business.

Born in 1977 in a large, poor family. In 2000, Mr. Dung went to the South, the North, and even to faraway Russia to work for a living, but it was just enough to eat. With the nature of a young man "born in the village", he always had a burning desire to do something to get rich. And it was also aware of this that he decided to return to build from scratch right in his hometown.

Mr. Phan Chi Dung (right) introduces the breeding buffaloes that he has just started raising on a pilot basis.

Thinking is doing, after learning about the porcupine and bamboo rat farming model in the northern provinces, in early 2012, Mr. Phan Chi Dung mobilized his family, relatives and borrowed 40 million VND from the bank to build a barn and buy breeding animals. At that time, a pair of porcupines cost up to 30 million VND, so he could only buy 2 pairs for breeding. However, after only one year, the porcupine pair began to reproduce, with a cycle of 5 months/litter, each litter had 2-3 children.

In addition to raising porcupines, Mr. Dung also raises bamboo rats because the cages and raising methods are not much different. Bamboo rats give birth frequently, every 3 months, each litter has 3-4 babies, the big ones can weigh up to 2 kg. From the initial 5 pairs of bamboo rats, his family has multiplied dozens of them.

Mr. Dung shared: “At any time, there are 5 pairs of breeding porcupines and more than 10 baby porcupines in the cage, not to mention 50 bamboo rats. If we do not count the sale of breeding porcupines and bamboo rats, and only sell porcupines for meat, at 500,000 VND/kg, bamboo rats at 300,000 VND/kg, after deducting expenses, I earn nearly 200 million VND each year.”

Mr. Phan Chi Dung (left) introduces livestock farms.

Not stopping there, he realized that in his hometown, the source of food for cows is very abundant, corn plants and straw are often burned after harvesting, which is very wasteful. After careful research, he decided to expand to raising breeding cows. In early 2014, from the capital he had saved, he bought 10 breeding cows. To have a source of food, in addition to setting aside 1 hectare of land to grow grass, during the crop season, he collects corn plants and straw that people leave unused, dries them and stores them as food for the cows in the winter.

After only 1 year of care, the herd gave birth to its first litter of nearly ten cows. Recently, in early October 2015, his family sold the cows, earning nearly 300 million VND. It is worth mentioning that from the sharing and support of experience and breeding techniques of Mr. Dung's family, in Dong block alone with 143 households, there have been up to 100 households developing grass growing to raise cows for high income.

Mr. Dung also added: Currently, with the desire to expand the scale of livestock farming, both to further develop the family economy and to have the opportunity to create jobs for local workers, he boldly borrowed 300 million VND from the bank, along with renting 1.2 hectares of land from the ward to grow grass, continuing to switch to breeding buffaloes. According to Mr. Dung's calculations, the initial investment of 15 breeding buffaloes after 1 and a half years will produce 15 calves, with the current average price of 15 million/head, it will take just over 2 years to recover the capital...

Dang Nguyen