Dong Hy, a colorful countryside [Part 3]: The farmer's miracle

Be proud of national agricultural product brand

The several thousand square meter vermicelli factory of Viet Cuong Vermicelli Cooperative is located in a small alley in Hoa Thuong commune, Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province. Go through the flower-lined road on both sides to reach the factory. Mr. Nguyen Van Ba, the Director of Viet Cuong Vermicelli Cooperative welcomed us with a gentle smile.

Looking at his massive property, no one would have thought that there was a time when the owner of a famous vermicelli brand in Thai Nguyen borrowed VND 10 million to establish a cooperative in 2007 when it was still difficult. When he asked for a bank loan, they told him that his land was large, but in the countryside it was not enough to mortgage a loan of VND 10 million.

In particular, in 2012, Mr. Ba thought he had to give up his family's traditional job of making vermicelli. Because all the capital accumulated by him and his parents was put into realizing his dream of researching and manufacturing a modern vermicelli drying and processing line. But each time his hope suddenly disappeared after failed batches of vermicelli. Leaving him a pile of scrap metal and about VND 2 billion also went with that pile of scrap metal, with a large debt remaining.

Mr. Ba shares that failure is not really scary for him, nor is being physically weak and ill. He was most afraid that because of him, his poor life would return to his parents. They are old, their hair is gray, their legs are shaking, but they are still busy taking care of him.

That image of his parents made his heart feel like it was being torn apart, forcing him to get up and continue looking for the market. Just like that day after day, small capital has turned into large capital, the vermicelli factory gradually returned to normal operation. Raw arrowroot roots poured in from Cao Bang, from Bac Kan, from Tuyen Quang... Viet Cuong Vermicelli factory grew rapidly with orders going back and forth to Hoa Thuong commune, Dong Hy district.

That same bitter lesson also helped him gain more knowledge and experience. In order to have capital in the future, he continued to research and successfully manufacture a semi-automatic vermicelli drying line powered by pulleys in 2016 instead of bamboo poles, which was both exhausting and difficult. With a vermicelli drying machine, workers just need to stand and press a button and the vermicelli automatically runs from the pulley to dry; The quality of the vermicelli is also better, the long vermicelli is not crushed and dries quickly so the deliciousness is guaranteed. From the automatic vermicelli drying machine system, Mr. Ba and the cooperative leadership continued to research other equipment such as vermicelli cutting machines, vermicelli drying trucks, vermicelli cranes...

Since the conveyor belt was installed, the vermicelli production activities of Viet Cuong Vermicelli Cooperative have been effective and continuously growing. Currently, the area of ​​automatic drying racks of Viet Cuong Vermicelli Cooperative is up to 5,000m2. The cooperative maintains a stable supply to the market of about 500 tons of vermicelli/year.

Now the assets of Viet Cuong Vermicelli Cooperative can borrow up to many billions from banks. The factory's processing capacity reaches about 3 tons of vermicelli per day, creating jobs for 30 workers. Mr. Nguyen Van Ba's Viet Cuong vermicelli product also became one of two agricultural products of Thai Nguyen province to achieve 5 stars OCOP at the national level.

Miracle from Dong Hy farmer

Vice President of Dong Hy District Farmers' Association, Ms. Duong Thi Thu Hang proudly told us that her hometown has many good farmers who know how to turn the fields into rich agricultural areas. Those are the vast tea fields of hundreds of hectares in Song Cau and Minh Lap; Khe Mo banana area is also several dozen hectares wide; the green bamboo shoot growing area in Trai Cau town to the red-flesh dragon fruit growing area in Hop Tien commune... The hard work of the farmers here has written miracles for the agriculture in Dong Hy, creating new hills and fields that worth hundreds of billions, trillions.

No one thought that a farmer like Mr. Nguyen Van Ba, who is only familiar with traditional vermicelli fibers, could successfully think of and create a system of automatic vermicelli drying machines, or vermicelli cutting machines, vermicelli drying trucks, vermicelli cranes... That equipment system has helped the cooperative reduce labor and increase the production capacity of the processing factory up to 3 tons of vermicelli per day. His Viet Cuong Vermicelli Cooperative is also the first facility to register for trademark protection, the first unit to pursue clean vermicelli production in Thai Nguyen.

From Mr. Ba's passion and desire, he has helped the cooperative have high-quality vermicelli products, not only present in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City but also known to foreign customers. Mr. Ba shared that there were foreign guests visiting Vietnam who ate dishes made from Viet Cuong vermicelli. When they returned home, because of missing the taste of Vietnamese vermicelli, they called his partner, a supermarket in Vietnam, to propose business cooperation. Since then, it has been 5 years, Viet Cuong vermicelli has been regularly transported by container to countries in the European market, Laos, Taiwan... with an export output of 100 tons/year.

Mr. Nguyen Van Ba ​​or Ms. Vu Thi Thanh Hao, the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Thinh An Tea Cooperative, Song Cau town; Ms. Uong Thi Lan, the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Director of Nguyen Viet Tea Cooperative, Minh Lap commune... are all farmers in Dong Hy. They are farmers with aspirations and happiness when cherishing the agricultural products of their hometown and in returned the quality of life of their families and members of the cooperative, as well as of thousands of workers are being cherished by the value of those products

But it's not just big cooperative owners like Mr. Ba, Ms. Lan, Ms. Hao... who create brands for agricultural products in Dong Hy. Simple banana farmers in Khe Mo commune also count the trees, count the fruits and then wait patiently for the traders to get the price. Or even the Mong farmers in Ban Ten, the poorest village in Dong Hy district, are also important pieces creating a new, colorful and unique rural picture, creating rich and lush fields.

That's why there is a story about a young Mong couple, Mr. Ly Van Binh and his wife in Ban Ten, Van Lang commune is ready to plant Bo Chinh ginseng, a tree they had never seen before. No Mong people in Ban Ten also knows about it, but they still accompany Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of V-ginseng Joint Stock Company because they have faith in the sincerity of people towards people can create miracles. They always have the desire to go beyond the present so that their fate will not succumb to poverty.

From the active farmers who have helped Dong Hy today make a strong transition from the city to the countryside. Dong Hy farmers are growing stronger and stronger, as they have great aspirations, have the spirit to strive to learn and accumulate both indigenous knowledge and modern knowledge, then miracles are also produced from the people. Happiness will return to all towns, villages, and every home.

Ms. Duong Thi Thu Hang, the Vice Chairwoman of the Farmers' Association of Dong Hy district, Thai Nguyen province, said that along with the Viet Cuong vermicelli product achieving 5 OCOP stars, currently the entire Dong Hy district has 35 products achieving OCOP stars, in which are 18 products with 3 stars, 17 products with 4 stars. In 2022, Dong Hy district has supported the Website to introduce, promote and sell products on cyberspace for 3 cooperatives; issued 44,000 traceability stamps for 3 products.