Urban farming thinking in Nghe An

From a shrimp farming model

Mr. Nguyen Hong Cuong's shrimp farming model was established in 1994, specializing in shrimp seed production and commercial shrimp farming. After 20 years of starting a business, he has 15 hectares of shrimp farming, harvesting nearly 200 tons of commercial shrimp and the shrimp seed production farm provides 60 - 100 million shrimp seeds/year for farmers, creating jobs for 40 local workers. If only looking at the reported numbers, perhaps anyone would think that Mr. Nguyen Hong Cuong's shrimp seed start-up was extremely smooth. Optimists even compare it to being paved with roses. Meeting Nguyen Hong Cuong, listening to him share the story of his early days of starting a business, we know that behind today's achievements are many times of losing everything, thinking he could never recover.

In the years when the flood waters reached their peak, especially in 2013, the dike broke, the flood came in a moment, rising so quickly that shrimp farmers were unable to react. Mr. Cuong's shrimp ponds ready for harvest were swept away with the rushing water. The warehouse containing feed and supplies was submerged. The damage amounted to billions of dong. The post-flood disaster support money was not enough to start a new farming season. Not to mention, in the beginning, because the environment was still disease-free, there was a good harvest, but over time, due to changes and the sensitive nature of shrimp, diseases appeared. Many seasons, shrimp farmers had to struggle to fight diseases, with the haunting fear of "throwing sand in the sand"!

Thinking or experience?

There is a very meaningful story about two peanut sellers on the same small street. The first one, after each time he filled his bag with peanuts, he would take out a few and put them in a box. When he was done, he had several bags of roasted peanuts in separate boxes. He came from a poor background, always lived a poor life, and was still a poor man until his death. He spent his heart and soul on peanuts, calculating every little thing, but could not change his life. The second one wrote and put a sign in front of his shop: "My peanuts are guaranteed to be the worst in this town." Everyone who passed by could not help but laugh. But they still stopped to buy. After that, he had this line printed on peanut bags. His business grew more and more prosperous. He had to hire many people to sell peanuts for him. And gradually he became rich.

Two people selling the same product, in the same area, but with different methods, will have different results. It turns out that the way of thinking - or mindset - not only determines a person's opportunities but also changes their destiny.

Citing an example that seems unrelated to farming, I would like to emphasize the mindset factor in doing business in general, and farming in particular. Whether it is small wholesale or investing billions in a shrimp pond or a clean vegetable garden, it needs to be done with both valuable assets: experience and mindset.

Particularly for agriculture, the thinking here is to transform the farming model, reasonably apply advanced scientific and technological achievements to production, boldly invest money and passion in developing high-tech agriculture, and build a brand based on reputation!

The more society develops, the higher the quality of human life is, the more human demand for food and foodstuffs increases in terms of quantity, quality and variety. This is a great opportunity for the agricultural sector in general and Hoang Mai agriculture in particular.

Which way for Hoang Mai agriculture?

As a young town, born when Vietnam had already overcome the first faltering steps in the integration process, Hoang Mai has inherited the tradition of rich craft villages and has many advantages to industrialize rural agriculture, with products that have prestige and brands in the market. In particular, there are products with unique characteristics, specific to soil and processing such as Quynh Lien chayote; Quynh Di fish sauce, shrimp; Quynh Lap, Quynh Phuong squid, anchovies, shrimp; Quynh Vinh turmeric starch; Quynh Vinh, Quynh Di, Quynh Thien herbs... In terms of nature, Hoang Mai's agricultural land area is 17 thousand hectares, with slopes and flats, which is fertile land for growing vegetables or high-value agricultural crops.

There are opportunities, but opportunities will also bring challenges that Hoang Mai must overcome. Determining the direction to have systematic investment from policies, planning to propaganda and mobilization, and then providing maximum support in terms of policies to help farmers boldly change their thinking and working habits that have been deeply ingrained in their subconscious is the first thing to do. One of the appropriate directions is to apply high technology to production, creating unique products that only Hoang Mai has, affirming their quality to compete in the market.

Hoang Mai needs: First, planning production areas, having a mechanism to accumulate land according to the motto that whoever is good at a profession should invest to develop that profession.

Second, create links in production, form cooperatives and professional associations to support each other in production and market search; Third, promote and promote the application of new production technology in traditional processing to improve product quality and value, especially seed quality, clean and safe production processes; Fourth, register product brands, create prestige in the market; Fifth, link production with consumption, especially large supermarkets, and domestic and foreign markets.

The town currently has over 400 enterprises, mainly small and medium-sized. They have grown from a variety of industries, but among them, agriculture accounts for a fairly high proportion. Many enterprises are successful and prestigious in the domestic and foreign markets. Their success today is thanks to two factors: exploiting and taking advantage of the local ecological diversity and changing the way of thinking, the way of doing, boldly applying science and technology to production. And that is the reality that proves: to develop urban agriculture, it is not only necessary to have traditional experience but also a breakthrough in thinking.

Vo Van Dung

(Permanent Deputy Secretary of Hoang Mai Town)