Tram Lac is a hamlet in My Hanh Bac commune, Duc Hoa district, Long An province, where there is both the hustle and bustle of the city and the peace and simplicity of the countryside. I have a habit of visiting sacred places whenever I come to a new land. Because "the land has its own god", the people cannot be friendly, cannot show their hearts to a stranger who is not respectful to their ancestors. That morning, at Tram Lac hamlet, I stood silently for a long time in front of the temple of Nguyen Van Qua and Phan Cong Hon, not to pray for a smooth-sailing business trip, just like the people here always remember and admire the heroes.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ly has successfully brought green, clean products to consumers

Behind the temple is a large concrete road leading to the house of Mr. Nguyen Van Ly - a green farmer, always wondering how to bring clean products to consumers. Previously, Mr. Ly taught at intermediate school and had many experience in clean agriculture in Binh Duong province. When his parents were old, he and his wife decided to return to their hometown to start a business to take care of them.

My Hanh Bac used to be an area of alum soil, with a lot of sedge grass growing. People often picked sedge grass in the fields during the off-season. However, this job can not get them get rich. Mr. Ly thought: "The trunk of the sedge tree is hollow, it can be used to make straws, why don't we upgrade it instead of letting it hang around in the countryside forever?"

Thanks to his solid professional knowledge, he successfully bred the NNX2020 sedge variety with the advantages of large tubes, thick shells, and long growth time (helping farmers to harvest gradually, without having to cut them all at once). He came up with the idea for workers to make sedge cutting and drying machines. According to Mr. Ly, drying is the most important step, to have a beautiful finished product, the raw materials must be standard, the tubes must be thick and of the right age.

Cleaning the inside of the sedge straw

To have a sedge straw, it needs to go through 8 stages. After cutting, the tube is taken to the people's house to be cleaned inside. Thanks to that, many households have jobs and earn extra income.

In My Hanh Bac commune, there are currently about 150 hectares of sedge. In years when the price is good, farmers have a profit of more than 100 million VND. Mr. Ly sells sedge straws to the company for 300 VND/tube. At this price, it is difficult for this item to reach the mass market. However, his sedge straws still sell well because they have their own customer segment.

Mr. Dien (My Hanh Bac commune, Duc Hoa district) lives well by cutting sedge, earning 500,000-600,000 VND per day

From being a wild plant growing in swamps and alum, the sedge plant of Long An province has been upgraded when it is used in high-end restaurants and hotels in countries with demanding markets. "The important thing is that I have succeeded in bringing clean products to consumers. These sedge straws are completely free of preservatives" - Mr. Ly shared.

Starting from poverty, but with constant efforts and hard work, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhung and her husband have a property that many people dream of

A few kilometers from Mr. Ly's house is the chicken farm of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhung - a famous farmer in the area. When in complimented her spacious house, she smiled and said: "It wasn't like that back then. When we first got married, the house was so small, we had to bend down to go in and out, otherwise we would bump our heads."

To escape poverty, the couple made a lot of effort. She was a tailor, he planted peanuts, both working many jobs, day and night. Whenever there was an empty space around the house, she planted a few squash vines, waiting for the day they bore fruit to raise her children.

Tram Lac has a breed of red-necked fighting chickens that are famous for being large (each adult rooster weighs 3.2-3.8kg), disease-free, and has delicious meat. In 2007, she and her husband selected quality chickens and bred them. She thought: "This breed of chicken is delicious, if you want to expand and get rich, you need an incubator, something that no one in this area has done yet."

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhung improves her income by raising free-range chickens from traditional local breeds

She struggled to buy an incubator for 300 eggs because at that time this product was rare in the market. From there, she quickly developed her flock, reaching a peak of 1,700 chickens. She sold both meat chickens and breeding chickens. Thanks to its delicious quality, red-necked fighting chicken is priced 30-40% higher than other breeds, but there is still not enough supply. Every 5 days, she sells a batch of chicks; this money is used for daily expenses, and when the time comes, she enjoys the full benefit. It is estimated that each year, the couple earns hundreds of millions of VND in profit from raising chickens.

What is special is that Mrs. Nhung raises free-range chickens mainly in an organic way. The food source (corn, rice) is grown by her and her husband, using chicken manure from the farm. Excess manure is used to raise fish, thereby ensuring the environment is not polluted.

Occasionally, the couple also makes traditional cakes to sell,.She is diligent in learning new scientific and technical knowledge to apply to production, actively transforming digitally, thanks to which the output is very stable. In addition, she also donates land to build roads and carries out social security work.

Tram Lac is developing with industry and services. Responding to that, farmers here are also changing to adapt. They produce green for clean agricultural products, apply digital transformation, science and technology to keep up with the times. Above all, they still maintain their sincerity, affection, and support each other to develop together./.

Reported By Chau Thanh 

Translated by NT