Billionaire farmer

(Baonghean) - Nearly 20 years ago, when he was still working at a large company in Can Tho, he diligently studied commercial economics at a university. Luckily, he listened to lectures by leading economic experts, and when he heard people mention farm economics, he was fascinated. Then he dreamed that Vietnamese farmers would be like Japanese farmers, riding cars to visit gardens and fields; having tractors and trucks at home to transport products to consumers...

And the wild, wild dunes of a difficult, hard-working childhood kept appearing and disappearing in him, even though

Mr. Tuan in his acacia forest.

In the book of the 4th National Conference of Good Farmers and Businessmen, his information was written very briefly: Dang Anh Tuan, born in 1957; Xuan Son commune, Do Luong district; Member of the Vietnam Farmers' Association. And then there was information about the production model, production results... Seeing me surprised at the revenue figure of up to 16,500 billion VND/year, and hearing information from the Vice Chairman of Xuan Son commune saying that he also spent money and effort to help his neighbors in Hamlet 7 get rich from the farm, he smiled: No problem, I have success thanks to my neighbors.

Born into a family of 7 children, he was the 6th, poor and hard-working, but fortunately he was still able to go to school. He studied construction in Hanoi, graduated from school and started his career in Can Tho, then went to university. In 1990, the company he worked for dissolved, instead of accepting an invitation to return to Thanh Hoa province (his wife's hometown) to work as director of a tea industry materials company, he opened a business in Thanh Hoa for his wife to work and thought about his wife doing business to "support" her husband in the farm economy in his hometown of Do Luong. Thinking and doing, in 2004 he returned to his hometown, bid for nearly 20 hectares of barren land, single-handedly pursuing his dream of getting rich. When he returned, his village of Hieu Thien was very poor, named Hieu Thien but famous for being poor and... quarrelsome.

A hut, a pot of rice to cook for the whole day, a hoe, a shovel in hand, during the day he worked hard to clear away the weeds, at night he pulled the electricity to dig the hill to make beds, build steps to retain water for planting trees. He set his own quota, how many trees to plant in one night, how many buckets of water to carry, only after finishing was he allowed to rest. "It's quite brave, but in one night I carried 300 buckets of water up the hill" - he said - "The people in the neighborhood, seeing me pulling the electricity all night, came over to help very selflessly". I don't know where Hieu Thien people are famous for quarreling, but deep down they are still honest and kind. Mr. Tuan said: "That affection of the people in the early days of hardship, I will never forget. It was the affection of the villagers that made me strongly believe that I would succeed even though I encountered many failures. It was that affection that kept me determined to do it, not to give up." His wife returned to her hometown and saw her husband's "extreme" situation, so she sold all her business in Thanh Hoa to help her husband.

In the first few years, the price of longan fell at the right time, and the peanuts withered when the weather was dry, so he was considered to have "negative" capital. He was determined to start over with a different direction, switching to raising chickens. In 2003, when there was a bird flu epidemic, he was once again penniless. He ran around, borrowed until he cried every penny of capital from banks. Once again, the villagers, some groups in the village and commune tried to help him with millions of dong. This time, he invested in a pig farm, planted more than 10 hectares of acacia and upgraded and expanded the fish pond, then proceeded to open an animal feed agency. In addition, he also planted fruit trees (oranges, tangerines...). While working, he also studied and absorbed scientific and technological advances. The pig farm was constantly expanded, at one point there were up to 300 sows and nearly 2,000 pigs. Now he has an additional pig farm using biological bedding. He said: “Some nights we sleep with them here. We use biological bedding and the pigs are very clean. We always have to work hard to read, watch, listen and absorb scientific and technological advances into production so that we don’t fall behind.”

The dream of getting rich has come true. Mr. Dang Anh Tuan has become a billionaire farmer, a shining example of the will and determination of the old Hieu Thien village (now hamlet 7) of Xuan Son commune. However, he did not get rich to enjoy, but he thought he was rich to repay kindness, to share, to tell the young people of the countryside about a way to start a business in his homeland. With an income of over 10 billion VND per year, after deducting expenses, he also earns billions of VND in profit each year. He also helps 12 workers have a stable income, dozens of other seasonal workers, and helps over 80 households raise livestock to invest in breeding animals and feed with deferred payment without interest, with an annual capital of 1 billion VND. He also invested 150 million VND to help 150 households build Biogas tanks to treat waste, contributing to environmental protection. All the activities of the hamlet and commune have received his enthusiastic support.

What makes this billionaire farmer happiest is: Hamlet 7 has become a strong hamlet of the commune. There are more millionaires and billionaire farmers thanks to learning how he did things. For example, young man Nguyen Tho Duc (born in 1982) when he got married had nothing, his mother was sick, and he was the poorest in the hamlet. The couple went to work for Mr. Tuan's farm, saved their salary and accumulated experience to set up their own farm. When he started working on his own, Mr. Duc also received hundreds of millions of VND from Mr. Tuan. Up to now, he has become a typical example of a good young entrepreneur in the province. People in Hamlet 7 take Mr. Tuan's example to teach their children, so there is a generation of dynamic, hard-working young people growing up on this land. “Now, there are no bad people or social evils in Hamlet 7. When the children grow up, if they don’t go to school, they work on the farm. People love each other, help each other, and live in harmony. On holidays, they call each other to make a feast together, sharing delicious dishes,” Mr. Tuan said, then pointed to the garden in front of him: “Look, my orchard doesn’t have a fence. I planted the orchard now, not to sell it anymore, but so that the children in the hamlet can take it home whenever they want to eat it.”

It is known that students from hamlet 7 who go to school far away and return to their hometown on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, and summer vacations are all "invited" by Mr. Tuan to work part-time on the farm. He told them: "You go to school and see how hard your parents work at home. So you should be determined to study and save money. Working here is to understand, to learn, and also a way to help your parents cover some expenses." So on holidays and days off, students come together to Mr. Tuan's farm to work. "At first, some were hesitant, but now everyone does it and it's become a habit. That's why the children are very obedient," Mr. Tuan shared.

Saying goodbye to the farmer, he drove me over the bumpy road to the main road. He told me that his two children were both grown up and had careers far away, but he would soon guide his son back to his hometown and take over his parents' farm. He felt lucky and happy to live among the villagers and the land with all his love.

Article and photos:Thuy Vinh