Mr. Kien smiles as he shows off the big, beautiful apples developing on his trees. The harvest looks like it will be plentiful and right on time for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. Mr. Kien is excited that his hard work will pay of in profitable sales of fruit for local families’ celebrations.
His apple and lemon crop, developed with support of YWAM Mercy Vietnam, serves as a model for others in the community. Neighbors can see how applying current agricultural technology increases profits when household agricultural activities are viewed as a business.
With help from YWAM Mercy’s agricultural consultant, Mr. Vien, from the Vietnam Academy of Agriculture, Mr. Kien chose these particular crops for their desirability in the market as well as their high profit-margins. Apples in Vietnam are generally of the small, crab-apple variety. These apples are more like apples imported form the USA, but with a price local people can afford.
When Mr. Kien was just starting out, he visited other successful farmers to see what they did to be successful. Now he also shares freely with others what he has learned.
This year Mr. Kien expects to make from 76 to 100 million Vietnam dong (about US$3,300 – $4,300) from lemon and apple sales. This is quite a large profit compared to other local households doing agricultural work. Average incomes in the area are $100-200 a month.
We hope to see many more successful models, like this one in Luc Nam District, in the future.