Every time you spray evacuate people, cage chickens and chain dogs

In the fresh mountain air, at noon with chickens roaring, the grapefruit garden is freed from dust after the rain, shines in cool green, every drop of water that remains on the leaves also glitters like pearls. Mr. Do Quoc Huong, director of My Tan Agricultural Cooperative, Cao Duong Township, Luong Son County, Hoa Binh Province, leisurely picked some pomelos, peaches and dien pomelos in the garden, peeled them personally and invited me to visit the house. enjoy in the middle of the garden.

The tangy fragrant segments of grapefruit are smooth, sweet, not bitter but leave a rich, unadulterated aftertaste in the right way of organic farming. When the harvest is over, but leave the fruit in the water for a while before eating, then it will be even more delicious. Show me the Prime Minister’s certificate of merit, Mr. Huong proudly said, “There are only 2 farmers in Hoa Binh province who receive this batch”.

Originally a resident of the former Ha Tay province, he previously worked as a laborer at the Luong My tea farm, but in 1993 that unit was disbanded and the land was handed over to the workers. Since then he has been studying day and night how to get rich with the garden. First he collected 30 diene pomelo roots for planting, 3 years later they were fortune tellers and sold 12,000 – 15,000 VND/fruit which at that time equaled 5-6 kg of rice or 1 working day.

Like someone who got lost in the dark forest and suddenly found his way, he and his wife were busy planting more species of diene grapefruit, king peach grapefruit and greenskin pomelo, while at that time the whole area was only busier was flowers junkyard. In just a short time they have a lot of money, forced to spend, forced to save, but before that, even in the middle of the day, they never dared to think about it.

The highest peak is for many years, from 2017 to 2020, the price of pomelo always reaches VND 35,000 / fruit, even those stung by bees fall to the ground and still sell VND 5,000 / fruit, they earn every year a profit of 700 million to 1 billion VND on average. The economics of grapefruit trees then and perhaps forever in this area has not been compared to any other tree. But that was also the time when Mr. Huong woke up to the chemical growing style when he saw some gardeners in Hoa Binh province suddenly died or died from cancer. Money, land, red book, nice house, luxury car also became meaningless at that time.

Leisurely sipping a cup of homemade organic tea, he continued around a time around when his family still relied on chemicals, although the grapefruit tree was quite healthy but sprayed insecticide at least 3-4 times each year. The house was in the middle of the garden, so on such occasions he had to evacuate his elderly parents and children and send them to neighbors or relatives for a few days to let the smoke clear before he dared to return. Even farm animals like chickens and ducks have to be kept in cages, not let loose, dogs and cats also have to be chained together for fear of poisoning and death.

Only he and his wife and a few workers struggled with the long, tangled lines of insecticide, dragging it across the garden to be sprayed, the chemical fumes rising like mist; Close the door at night and endure the pungent smell alone in the house. Except when eating and drinking, they have to open their mouths, but even when they go to sleep, they still wear masks to avoid the smell.

However, people are still tired, their mouth is bitter, chewing rice is like chewing straw, often sleep dreaming, because they are always afraid of getting sick…

So in 2018 he started converting to farming according to VietGAP standards, in 2019 he switched to organic standards, initially to save himself and his family but not thinking of anything further away.

He stopped using chemicals as he was interested in adding nutrients to improve soil fertility by fertilizing organic fertilizers with microorganisms to help plants maintain the best health.

Every time I lie down, I sleep well

Since the conversion to organic farming, her family has not had to evacuate the elderly and children three to four times a year. Each member can train right in the garden at any time of the year to breathe in the scent of flowers and leaves instead of the strong, pungent chemical smell. In the past, Mr. Huong had a sore throat every month that seemed to be chronic, but he hasn’t had it for several years due to the fresh environment, pleasant thoughts, and gradually recovered health.

At almost 60 years old, but every time he lies down, he sleeps well from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., eats everything, feels well, no longer has the feeling of restlessness like chewing straw, a bitter mouth like taking medicines as usual . before.

“The abuse of chemicals in manufacturing exploits the health of trees, the exploitation of trees harms the soil, trees and people. I am now on the board of the Central Horticultural Association, on the board of the State Cooperative Association, and on the Standing Committee of the State Horticultural Association. At forums, conferences and seminars, I always warn that if you continue to abuse such chemicals, the cancer will soon be gone. Some multi-billion annual turnover orange orchard owners in Cao Phong district, Lac Thuy district in Hoa Binh province are also ill.

Like my friend who has 2 hectares of oranges, he collects more than 2 billion VND every year for 4-5 years, houses and vehicles are so full that he died suddenly in 2020. His death has shocked and upset many members of Hoa Binh Provincial Horticultural Association because he was one of the most outstanding people,” Huong lamented.

Mr. Huong is not only changing himself, but also wants the entire community in his hometown to participate in organic farming. Therefore, in 2011, he founded the Commune Gardening Association, with 21 members, then went to the cooperative group, and then switched to My Tan Agricultural Cooperative, with 55 members, 128 hectares of land to grow pomelo, guava, ornamental plants, herbs, tea … linkage from cultivation to for pre-processing, preservation, marketing, customer care. The main task of the cooperative is to bring members together to exchange techniques and together build a raw material range that meets both quality, quantity and consumer tastes.

Mr. Huong visits and learns from many good farming models at home and abroad, sharing experiences with cooperative members to replan the garden, improve the land, design plots, plant trees, and in line with the spirit level, an automatic Apply irrigation system , sprinkler irrigation… To limit pests and insects from the soil that damage plants, they whitewash the roots while tying sticky plastic traps to kill insects. Insects fly into the tree.

As a result, many areas of membership have been recognized as VietGAP, PGS Organic, supplying the market with tens of thousands of tons of produce each year. Some large and typical customers of the cooperative can be mentioned, such as Big C supermarket, Uncle Tom chain stores, Sea Wolf, Government Office kitchen…

The cooperative has model gardens at district and provincial levels, typically Mr. Huong’s garden of 21,000 m2, including grapefruit, tea, fish pond, closed barn, thorough composting of cattle manure to fertilize plants, planting flowers, both help harmful insects ward off, and adorn and beautify them. Thanks to a stable income, his family raised two children to study, graduated from the best universities in the country, then sent them to study abroad and returned to serve the country.

Contrary to the golden age, the price of pomelos in general and diene pomelos in particular is going downhill as too many places are struggling to grow. Although the farm is organic, but now the farm only earns about 200 million / year, but Huong’s mind is still comfortable because he knows enough, knows his health and cares about the community.