Prestigious people in Tam Bong do well economically thanks to 'sticking to the forest'

Retire, not quit

To Tam Bong village, Tam Quang commune, districtXiangyangAsk for Mr. Kha Van Toan's house, everyone knows and enthusiastically shows the way, because he is not only good at business but also a prestigious person in the village.

Mr. Kha Van Toan (wearing a striped shirt) said that his garden harvests one crop every two years, earning tens of millions of dong. Photo: Q.An

At the beginning of the story, Mr. Kha Van Toan enthusiastically said that he is a native Thai ethnic. Previously, his family's economy faced many difficulties, but thanks to his hard work and learning from training courses on farming and livestock raising techniques organized by the agricultural sector, along with his own and his family's efforts to overcome difficulties, he has now become the owner of the hill and is considered a "millionaire in the highlands".

Mr. Toan said that his family had nearly 11 hectares of forest land. During his time as a local official, in his spare time, he actively planted meters, acacia... Therefore, in 2020, when he retired at the age of 60, after 38 years of working in the locality, he had a closed meter garden of 8 hectares, along with 1.5 hectares of acacia and 1.2 hectares of elephant grass. However, due to lack of conditions for protection and care, the crops were often damaged by livestock.

Thanks to growing a lot of elephant grass, Mr. Kha Van Toan's family's cows are growing well. Photo: Q.An

With the motto "retire, not quit", he took advantage of forest trees, bought barbed wire, mobilized human resources to carefully fence, thanks to which the crops grew well. In parallel with the workafforestationMr. Toan also invested in breeding cows with 8 breeding cows. By taking advantage of the foothill land to grow elephant grass as supplementary food for the cows, the herd of cows grew well.

“Seeing the family’s meter forest growing quickly, with big, even trees, many households in the village came to learn how to plant and care for it; at the same time, they asked for grass seeds to plant to raise cows. I am willing to help wholeheartedly, so now in the village there are many households that have planted beautiful meter forest and grass to raise buffalo and cows,” said Mr. Toan.

In his garden, Mr. Kha Van Toan also utilizes 400m2Digging ponds to raise fish, earning tens of millions of dong at the end of the year. Photo: Q.An

"Where there's a will, there's a way" plus mindsetmarket economy, from 2020 to now, every 2 years the family harvests a batch of thousands of trees, the herd of cows sells 4-5 calves each year, not to mention catching hundreds of tons of fish in the pond each year, earning hundreds of millions of VND/year. From the capital accumulated in production, in addition to purchasing household appliances, Mr. Toan invested in installing water pipes from streams to serve fish farming and plant care. In the hot, dry summer, the source of domestic water is often difficult, many families in the village do not have domestic water, he creates conditions for people to get water from the pipes for use.

To gain people's trust, you must be a good example.

Mr. Kha Van Toan shared: “To make people believe in your words, you must be a pioneer and set an example first. When people see that your work is practical and effective, they will trust and follow. For issues that people do not understand, you must be persistent, patient, and explain thoroughly so that people can understand. Only then will everything in the village be resolved skillfully and reasonably.”

With good economic conditions, Mr. Kha Van Toan's family was able to build a traditional stilt house and buy many other household items, creating a prosperous life in the highlands. Photo: Q.An

As a person who understands the policies of the Party and the State, Mr. Kha Van Toan also actively mobilizes people in the village to actively join hands in building new rural areas, as well as other campaigns; disseminates knowledge, shares experiences in applying science and technology in cultivation and animal husbandry; is an address for households, especially those in difficult circumstances in the village, to learn how to do business.

Ms. Kha Thi Hien - Chairman of Tam Quang Commune People's Committee said: Mr. Kha Van Toan used to be the village electrician, village chief, then he went to the commune to become Chairman of the Commune Farmers' Association, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the Commune People's Council. No matter what position he held, Mr. Toan always completed the assigned tasks well.

Not only is he a shining example of enthusiasm for the collective work, Mr. Toan is also a pioneer in economic development and has become a high-income household in Tam Quang commune. He deserves to be a shining example for everyone in the village and commune to learn and follow. Currently, he is a prestigious person in Tam Bong village.