Making a fortune from acacia trees.

(Baonghean) - With his diligent and creative hands, veteran Le Van Ba ​​from Thanh My commune (Thanh Chuong district) has built a successful business on his homeland. Now, he owns a forest of over 20 hectares and 4 acacia seedling nurseries, earning hundreds of millions of dong each year.

After 20 years of service in Laos, he left the military in 1989 and returned to his hometown. At that time, his family was living in poverty, lacking everything. He and his wife struggled to raise six children. Therefore, he resolved to work hard to escape poverty. First, he reclaimed land to plant forests and raise buffalo and cattle. He and his wife persistently plowed and cleared weeds on each hectare of land, gradually forming vast forests of acacia and eucalyptus trees, then endless fields of lush green corn and cassava. By 2004, he had reclaimed and planted 20 hectares of forest land. However, the trees withered and their productivity decreased due to the heat and drought. Following the water flow, he climbed to the mountaintop and dammed the stream to bring water to the acacia and eucalyptus forests. With water, the entire forest seemed to revive, becoming lush and prosperous. In addition to planting acacia and eucalyptus, he also planted industrial tea and bamboo shoots. “Back then, my wife and I worked tirelessly. After many years of hard work, the fruits of our labor came when the trees yielded a harvest. Each year, our family earned over one hundred million dong.”

However, the price of acacia wood kept falling, and the tea plants were plagued by diseases, so the family's finances deteriorated. In 2009, while searching for his brother's grave in Binh Dinh, he met an old comrade-in-arms. His friend introduced him to an acacia tree nursery model, and he suddenly realized that for a long time, people in his hometown had to buy acacia seedlings from Phu Tho and Lang Son, which were expensive and of poor quality. Why not open an acacia nursery locally to supply seedlings to the people? After discussing it with his wife, he took his three children to Binh Dinh to learn about acacia cultivation. In 2010, upon returning to his hometown, he rented machinery, leveled the land, and began to realize his idea. However, the first year of the acacia nursery brought him bitter disappointment. “Due to lack of experience, coupled with harsh weather and climate conditions, and pests and diseases, the quality of the acacia trees was not high. All of my family's capital was lost. But I didn't give up, because not everyone succeeds right from the start. I packed my bags and went to Hanoi to meet with agricultural experts to learn specifically about pests and diseases and how to prevent them. Thanks to their enthusiastic guidance, after I returned and applied their methods, the results were clearly visible. For more than three years now, the acacia trees have not been affected by fungal diseases and are growing well,” Mr. Ba shared.

Mr. Le Van Ba ​​takes care of acacia saplings.

Currently, Mr. Ba's family owns four acacia seedling nurseries with a total area of ​​0.5 hectares. Each year, his nursery supplies the market with over 600,000 acacia seedlings. He also has a contract with the Thanh Chuong District People's Committee to supply 600,000 acacia and tea seedlings. The income from reforestation, acacia seedling cultivation, and tea production brings Mr. Ba's family approximately 400 million VND annually. Not only has he developed his own family's economy, but Mr. Ba also wholeheartedly guides and assists many families in the commune on how to do business. As a result, Thanh My commune now has many high-quality acacia seedling nurseries, avoiding dependence on imported seedlings from other provinces. Currently, all five of his sons follow in their father's footsteps in the acacia seedling cultivation business and all enjoy a comfortable life.

Mr. Ba's business practices are opening up a new direction for Thanh My district in particular and Thanh Chuong district in general in developing the forest economy. Thanks to his successes and contributions to the locality, Mr. Ba has been awarded certificates of merit by the Chairman of the People's Committee of Thanh Chuong district many times, rightfully earning the title of exemplary veteran in the fight against poverty and achieving legitimate wealth.

Nguyen Hung