The “Captain” of the Circular Agriculture Cooperative

In the first days of the new year, we had the opportunity to visit Thuan Thoi Cooperative in Tra On District, Vinh Long Province. This is the starting point of 23 local farmers, including Mr. Nguyen Van Thao (born 1990), the director of the cooperative. He graduated in 2018 with a master’s degree in Biotechnology (Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry). With a cherished love of farming, he decided to leave town to start a business.

Thao shared that Thuan Thoi’s countryside has a tradition of raising cattle and poultry and cultivating fruit trees. However, livestock waste was not used by farmers and is heavily polluted. In August 2018, with the intention of “turning waste into gold”, he decided to mobilize some friends and local farmers to set up Thuan Thoi Agricultural Cooperative to start a business together.

The main activities of the cooperative are cow husbandry, worm breeding and the production of organic fertilizer. The cooperative will transfer techniques for raising cows, growing grass and using cow manure to raise earthworms. After that, the cooperative buys vermicompost from its members as raw materials for organic fertilizer production.

With the model of raising 2 cows, monthly household members have an additional income of VND 700,000 by selling vermicompost. This is a closed breeding model that thoroughly solves the problem of pollution and makes good use of waste products in livestock farming.

“Local rancher households will earn more income by selling vermicompost to cooperatives. You can make your own vermicompost at home. After more than 3 months, it can be sold at VND 1,500-2,000/kg. When farmed, meatworms are purchased from the cooperative at a price of VND 40,000/kg,” Thao said.

Up to now, after 3 years of operation, Thuan Thoi cooperative is making steady progress. The cooperative rents 2 acres of grass from farmers to breed cows, goats and worms, and to adopt dispatched cows from farmers. The farm area was expanded from the original 200 m2 to over 4,000 m2.

In addition to meat worms, the income of the cooperative also comes from trading in organic fertilizers. The product is processed through a rigorous process managed by Mr. Thao, adding nutrients and beneficial microorganisms to make a difference from ordinary vermicompost.

Currently, the cooperative’s dry and liquid fertilizer product lines are licensed for distribution nationwide. In 2022, the cooperative’s turnover from organic fertilizer business will reach VND 2.3 billion; The profit reached over 350 million Dong. Annual profits are used by the cooperative for reinvestment and new investment to expand scale and scope.

“My initial goal was to connect farmers into cooperative groups in order to develop together and achieve more stable results. It will also solve the pollution problem and increase farmers’ incomes,” said captain of the agricultural cooperative Thuan Thoi.

Regarding upcoming projects, Mr. Thao said the cooperative plans to produce orange juice and is expected to start in March. In addition, the cooperative conducts research to incorporate experiences in local communities into ecotourism projects.

Master of Laws Organic Farming

Similar to Mr. Thao in Vinh Long, Mr. Tram Minh Thuan (born 1993) from Long Hiep Township, Tra Cu District, Tra Vinh Province is a young intellectual who has successfully started a business using the cooperative model. He currently serves as Chairman and Director of Long Hiep Agricultural Cooperative.

Mr. Thuan was originally a Bachelor of Law, then studied for a Master’s degree and graduated with a Master’s degree in Law from Tra Vinh University. After graduating, he worked for the Land Registry of Duyen Hai District. However, with the desire to be self-employed, he decided to start a company with the cooperative model.

In July 2018, the Long Hiep Agriculture Cooperative was founded with more than 60 members. Among the 6 members of the board, it is worth highlighting young people with high professional qualifications, including 4 masters and 2 universities.

The cooperative is engaged in worm farming for the production of organic fertilizers, clean rice production and a combination of organic shrimp farming. Currently, the cooperative with the area of ​​rice production combined with organic shrimp farming on an area of ​​more than 30 hectares has been successful to produce clean rice with the “Hau Ngoc Rong” brand.

“The paddy rice that the cooperative buys from the farmers to process into organic rice with Ngoc Rong seed brand, Gia Dinh rice. Both products are OCOP certified products. Ngoc Rong rice in particular is recognized as a 4-star OCOP product,” said Mr.

So far the cooperative has 72 members, 32 of whom are ethnic Khmer. In addition to selling organic rice for the people of Dong Xuan Township, the cooperative also buys hundreds of hectares of rice for the farmers in Long Hiep Township of Tra Cu District, and produces and sells organic fertilizers.

Over the years, thanks to efficient production and operations, the cooperative has increased its founding capital three times, from the initial VND 700 million to VND 2 billion. Revenue has also been growing steadily, reaching over 9 billion dong in 2021, about 12 billion dong in 2022.

Trigger market fever with Waxy Coconut

In 2020, Mr. Tran Duy Linh (born 1987) has a law degree but is very successful in choosing a specialty of waxy coconut to start a business.

The Cau Ke Wax Coconut Processing Co., Ltd (Vicosap) he operates has produced many unique and feverish products in the market such as Three Flavor Waxed Coconut Candies, Coconut Wax Fiber, Crispy Shredded Coconut and Yogurt.Crispy Shredded Coconut with Many Flavors.

Products are not only accepted in the domestic market, but also exported to countries and areas such as EU, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States. Currently, many Vicosap products are recognized as 4-star OCOP products and have the potential to achieve 5 stars.

“When I saw that the native waxed coconut was not fully exploited, Linh was very upset. In launching high-end product lines, Linh’s desire is that the product must be of good quality and beautiful design. At present, all products are organic, completely natural, without chemicals,” shared Mr. Tran Duy Linh.

Enthusiastic and persistent, he spent 3 years researching and understanding the processing technology of coconut wax. It took another 4 months from the idea to the first product. “In addition to quality, the product also expresses our dreams and feelings towards consumers,” he confided.

In the coming period, Mr. Linh said he will work with cooperatives and households, especially Khmer, to guide the development of raw material areas and develop the area of ​​local special wax coconuts.

Like Mr. Linh, Mr. Nguyen Hoang Khang (born in 1991 in Vung Liem Town, Vung Liem District, Vinh Long Province) establishes a company with a model of processing and valuing Cat Nit Mango, a mango species recognized as a mango species, in the district Vung Liem is grown and rated as delicious only after Hoa Loc Sandmango.

However, sandy mango is only used fresh without many processed products. Besides, the price of mango is also unstable, which makes the income of mango farmers unstable and has no interest in expanding the area.

Khang’s startup project with the first idea is to create a stir through its mango jam and attract the attention of consumers and farmers.

He and his colleagues researched, learned and implemented the manufacturing process for Foodo brand mango jam. The product has been on the market since August 2022. So far, after many promotional trips to trade fairs, the product has been noticed by consumers to try to be accepted by the market.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Khang holds a Masters degree in Organic Farming from Canada. Since 2019, Vinh Long’s first batch of mangoes exported to the US has caught his attention for this crop. Since then he has been researching and nurturing the idea of ​​starting a business with the aim of increasing the value of mangoes and local mango farmers.

He also worked at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vung Liem District. In early 2022, he decided to quit his job to start a company with a mango mango jam processing project. Hopefully, Khang’s project will open a new direction for nearly 400ha of mango trees in Vung Liem district of Vinh Long province.