Realizing the dream of Green Agriculture

From a teacher to a hired grass bearer

Nguyen Van Ly's childhood attached to the "kingdom" of acidic soil eagle grass. The grass used to grow wild until people grew and sold them to households making mattresses and handicrafts. Many families in My Hanh Bac were able to make their breakthrough and send their children to school thanks to the grass. But as society develops, along with the popularity of plastic, many handmade products gradually disappear from daily life. Day by day, the fields of eagle grass are being replaced by industrial land or other crops. Young people in this countryside are no longer interested as the income is not compatiple with the hard and seasonal work.

With the perseverance and efforts, Mr. Nguyen Van Ly has raised the value of eagle grass in his homeland (In the photo: The workers harvest the grass for Nong Nghiep Xanh (Green Agriculture) production facility)

Like many other young people, after graduating from university, Mr. Ly went to work far away from his hometown. However, the agriculture dream is always in his heart. While working as a teacher of Agriculture for a college in Binh Duong province, he usually planted vegetables in his free time. Mr. Ly said, because he chose Agriculture, he always found his life attached to fields and cultivation. Once in a cafe, Mr. Ly saw that the shop used a straw of fresh eagle grass, and the idea flashed in his mind: "My hometown has been growing eagle grass for generations, why don't I come back there, live in the countryside and work in agriculture!" After discussing, Mr. Ly and his wife decided to give up their jobs and return to their hometown. As a common sense, their family opposed the idea of giving up their stable jobs and choosing the path of hardship.

In the first days of returning, the story of Mr. and Mrs. Ly became the topic of discussion for many people, when a teacher left his job to work on field. “From concept to actual production is a very long and difficult journey. My family had no conditions for me to invest in production right away back then, so I had to harvest and carry eagle grass for other households, do research and experiment by myself. There were too many things to worry about such as choosing quality grass, cultivating them clean, how to not crush the grass when cutting, how to preserve the products,etc. It took me 2 years from 2018 to 2020 to stabilize and bring the production into a closed, controlled process from raw materials to output "- Mr. Ly said.

Making the dream come true

Nobody would expect the young, small man, with a worried and busy appearance to be the owner of a production facility with nearly 30 employees, selling millions of eagle grass straws and many other related products every month, bringing in stable income. In addition to the workers who are working directly in production, Mr. Nguyen Van Ly also cooperates with about 30 farmers (with about 35 hectares of land) cultivating eagle grass according to the process and regularly providing input materials for the production facility. Mr. Ly said: "Previously, grass was only grown seasonal, so if you want to have year-round production materials, you must have a overlap production schedule. In the off-season, the yield and quality are not as good as in the main crop, so I had to support farmers with seeds and techniques. Now they have stable income all year round, I have quality raw materials and little loss in production."

Nong Ngiep Xanh production facility creates jobs for local workers

“Ly's business created job for many people. My family also grows eagle grass. In the past, when the crop was over, I had to look for a job. Recently, thanks to working for him, i have a steady income." Mr. Nguyen Van Dung (Tram Lac hamlet, My Hanh Bac commune) said excitedly. Mr. Dung is one of the seasonal workers at Mr. Ly's Nong Nghiep Xanh production facility, specializing in harvesting eagle grass. In addition, other stages such as selecting, washing, cutting, sorting, packing,etc also need regular workers. As a result, local people can have more stable and suitable job opportunities.

Nguyen Van Ly and his wife Nguyen Thi Bich Chi check the product before packing

Mr. Ly's Nong Ngiep Xanh production facility is a reliable supplier of seeds, raw materials and grass straws for many domestic and foreign enterprises. The grass variety NNX2020, propagated by Mr. Ly himself, has "rooted" in a number of countries: Korea, Japan,etc. The straws from Nong Ngiep Xanh production facility are also exported to many countries. Currently, he is gradually expanding the production to straws from other materials to diversify products and meet market requirements.

After nearly 6 years of leaving then coming back, Mr. Nguyen Van Ly has proven that his decision to "choose the path of hardship" is right. More importantly, he can now do what he loves - bonding with hometown agricuture./.

By Que Lam - Translated by Q. Thien

Source: https://baolongan.vn/hien-thuc-hoa-uoc-mo-nong-nghiep-xanh-a158893.html