Visiting a successful suburban high-tech farm providing vegetables for city consumption.
Hanoi is growing at a rapid rate. Areas that used to been zoned for agriculture are quickly becoming new suburbs which is decreasing cultivatable land. This transition presents a big challenge to farmers who live outside the city. In order to adjust to the transition, they need new ways of thinking about farming and ideas for new sources of income. To help farmers in one Hoai Duc community that is rapidly undergoing this urbanization process, we organized a two-day study tour to Thanh Hoa for eighty participants.
Our focus was on safe, high-profit farming so we visited several successful farmers who are growing organic flowers and vegetables. We also met with Mr. Toan, Vice Chairman of a community that already went through the urbanization process. He was able to share many lessons they have learned and to encourage the participants.
When we were going through this urbanizing process, we encouraged local farmers to grow high-profit crops for various kind of vegetables so they would have income 20 times higher than if they just cultivate rice.
Mr. Toan, Vice Chairman, sharing with our group about his location’s experience of urbanization.
Mr. Thien owns a high-tech safe-vegetable farm in Thanh Hoa. He shared with the participants about how his safe agricultural products are sold to restaurants, hotels and supermarkets in the city.
My business focuses on mechanization in agricultural production which reduces the need for manual labor by a factor of ten. I know how to use experienced and professional personnel and share opportunities and profits with my mid-level managers. I carefully follow all the land acquisition laws when I seek to acquire more land to expand my high-profit agricultural production.
Mr. Thien shared his thoughts on the importance of leadership skills with our group.
We also organized a workshop to share experiences on Sustainable Agricultural Production and Farming Product Connection with fifteen other proactive household-sized businesses in the area. The group learned a lot from their experience in using local resources in innovative ways. One highlight was seeing how they access end-use customers for selling different varieties of sprouts which were unfamiliar to our group.
Participants saw many different kinds of farming models for them to consider. These might give them sustainable income in the future: dragon fruit, mushrooms, sprouts, snails and more.
The study tour helped the famers who attended to think in new ways about earning an income based on their own strengths and the conditions in their area. In Thanh Hoa they met farmers with similar conditions and heard how they started at similar points and in similar situations and this was very encouraging and motivating, giving them a sense that they could also be successful in choosing the right direction and taking responsibility for prosperity in their households and community.
Determined to fight for a better future!