Starting from the lowland fields

Mr. Luat is 35 years old this year. Born into a farming family, after learning a trade, he returned to his hometown and opened a 150 m2 mechanical workshop. The business was on the rise, but seeing that mechanical work was dangerous and toxic, in 2016, he sold his house and the entire workshop to move to a low-lying rice field with his family to start a business.

Here, he built 2,300 square meters of greenhouses and net houses to grow cantaloupes, melons, and honeydew melons. He also imported 500 coconut seedlings from Ben Tre to plant in straight rows around the garden and raise grass carp fry.

After growing melons in greenhouses for 3 years, he continued to switch to growing Taiwanese and Thai apples.

Mr. Luat said that although the income from growing apples is not as high as that from growing melons, it is only done in the last few months of the year, when the weather is cool, so it is less difficult. The rest of the time, he takes care of 500 coconut trees.

Many people think that coconut trees are not suitable for the weather in the North, but through a survey in Tu Ky district, Hai Phong city, Mr. Luat found that people still grow coconut trees effectively. According to him, you have to spend time taking care of, fertilizing, and cleaning coconut trees to produce quality fruit.

After 6 years of care, each coconut tree yields 50-70 fruits per year. The small coconuts used for incense burning during Tet are very popular and bring high economic efficiency. On the occasion of Tet Quy Mao 2023, he earned 50 million VND from these small coconuts.

At the end of 2022, seeing that a sister was growing super lotus effectively, he continued to rent 6 hectares of abandoned fields from the commune to grow this type of lotus.

This is a lotus variety that produces a lot of flowers. On average, his family harvests 2,000 flowers a day and sells them at the Quang An flower wholesale market (Hanoi). Each flower costs from 3,000 to 8,000 VND. The Quang An flower market only opens in the evening, so he has to go to the market all night and return home when it is already dawn.

The two words "hardship" were constantly mentioned by him when sharing about his entrepreneurial journey. There were days when he didn't have time to eat, and his sleep only lasted 2-3 hours before he hurried to get to the market on time. However, he always tried to stick with it, because according to him, "every job has its own hardships, but also its own joys." In this field, he felt the fresh air, his mind was relaxed, and his time was freer and more comfortable.

With just the work of picking lotus, clearing weeds, and gardening, Mr. Luat's economic model has been creating jobs for many elderly workers in the locality with an income of 4-5 million VND/person/month. After deducting expenses, Mr. Luat's garden - pond - barn area brings in a profit of 200-250 million VND/year.

In 2017, Mr. Luat was awarded a certificate of merit by the People's Committee of Thanh Mien district for his outstanding achievements in the movement of farmers competing in good production and business.

Mr. Le Binh Giang, Secretary of the Thanh Giang Commune Youth Union, said that with his willpower and determination, Mr. Luat has become rich right on his homeland. Many localities have taken Mr. Luat's model as a model to replicate.