Developing farm and family economy in Cam Son

(Baonghean) - Dynamic and hard-working, the people of Cam Son commune have sweated on barren hills and abandoned land to build models of farms, livestock farms, and agroforestry.

Nestled among the vast hills and forests in Cam Son Commune (Anh Son), there are 34 large and small farms and ranches. Dynamic and hard-working, the people of Cam Son Commune have worked hard on barren hills and abandoned land to build models of farms, livestock farms, and agroforestry.

As one of the pioneer households in building a comprehensive livestock farm model in the area, up to now, Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung's family (Hamlet 1/5, Cam Son Commune) has a comprehensive livestock farm with an income of billions of VND each year.

The integrated livestock farm model of Mr. Nguyen Van Dung (Hamlet 1.5, Cam Son) has a revenue of nearly 2 billion VND per year. Photo by Sy Minh

The farm land of Mr. Dung's family used to be hills and dense bushes. He and his wife cleared it and leveled it to raise pigs and chickens, and dug ponds to raise fish. Initially, Mr. Dung's family raised livestock on a small scale. Since 2009, following the commune's farm development policy, he has invested in concentrated livestock farming, borrowed capital, built large barns with modern cooling systems, and selected imported breeds with advantages of good growth and delicious meat quality.

Mr. Dung actively participates in training courses on livestock techniques and visits and learns about economic development models in localities to apply to his family farm. He said: “Thanks to the accumulation of experience and livestock techniques (from selecting breeds, disease prevention, building barns, etc.), the livestock has developed well, and the family has increased the size of its pig herd every year. Up to now, each year, there are about 40 sows, a total herd of about 800 pigs/year; revenue reaches about 2 billion VND/year”.

Taking advantage of the hilly garden with over 1.5 hectares of forest, his family also raises chickens and digs ponds to raise fish. Actively keeping up with market demand, Mr. Dung also opened an agency supplying animal feed, his family's annual revenue from raising and trading animal feed is up to over 7 billion VND.

In addition to developing integrated farms, combined hill chicken farming is the main direction of many Cam Son households, bringing high economic efficiency. Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung's family (in Hoi Lam village) is one of the households with the largest chicken farm in the commune. On a 10-hectare hill garden area, Mr. Hung raises hill chickens, 3 batches per year.

Up to now, each year his family sells about 35,000 broiler chickens and breeding chickens; revenue reaches over 1.5 billion VND. In addition, taking advantage of food sources from forest trees and large hills to grow more elephant grass, Mr. Hung's family also raises dozens of goats, frogs, and fish. Since then, revenue from his family's integrated farm has reached over 1.5 - 2 billion VND/year.

Cam Son farmers also developed the VAC model, which brings in a good income, with the farm earning an average revenue of 300 million VND per year. Photo: Sy Minh

The above are typical examples of 34 farms and family farms that are promoting efficiency in Cam Son commune. To achieve these practical economic effects, since 2010, implementing the project on developing farm and family farm economy, Cam Son commune has assigned targets for each mass organization and village party cell to develop 1-2 farm and family farm models each year. Households with advantages of hilly and forest land are encouraged by the locality and mass organizations to develop livestock and general farms; are supported with loans, training in livestock knowledge, etc.

Up to now, out of 34 farms and family farms in the area, 12 models have met the standards for granting district-level farm licenses and have been assessed by the district; the average annual revenue of the farms has reached 300 million VND or more, some farms have reached 2 billion VND/year.

The vibrant movement of developing farm and family farms has contributed to the new look of Cam Son in the midland countryside today. Farm and family farm economic models not only contribute to improving economic efficiency, increasing the number of wealthy households in a sustainable way, but also contribute to solving on-site jobs for the idle labor force in the locality.

Discussing the orientation of replicating and promoting the effectiveness of farm and family farm economic models in the area, Mr. Nguyen Van Thang - Vice Chairman of Cam Son Commune People's Committee said: Determining farm development is a solution to create motivation to promote production and exploit the potential of the locality. Therefore, in the coming time, the commune will gradually complete the planning of farm and family farm development areas, associated with the planning of building processing and consumption facilities. The commune aims to build cooperatives or cooperative groups to have policies to support capital and livestock farming techniques, encouraging farmers to boldly invest in developing farm models; associated with good protection of the ecological environment.

At the same time, strengthen market information and trade promotion activities, in order to forecast short-term and long-term market trends in the region and area. From there, there will be timely orientation on livestock products for farmers. On the other hand, through the activities of cooperatives, concentrated farm households will support each other more conveniently in synchronous investment in breeds, barns, equipment and high-quality industrial livestock feed.

Cam Son commune strives to focus on building and developing farms, increasing both quantity and quality; by 2020, it will build 90 - 120 farms (14 new models will be built each year). Developing farm and family farm models is oriented by Cam Son commune as the focus of the locality, contributing to the successful implementation of a number of economic development goals by 2020, bringing the total average income per capita to 58 million - 60 million VND/year.

Dinh Nguyet