Master of Sociology returns to hometown to get rich from agriculture

Graduated with a bachelor's degree in Sociology from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (Vietnam National University, Hanoi) in 2013 and successfully defended her master's thesis in 2018, while many other young people choose the capital as their place to start a career, Duong Thuy Luong, born in 1993, chose to work in her hometown of Vo Nhai, Thai Nguyen.

Young master's degree holder returns to her hometown to start a business with clean agriculture

When returning to her hometown to start a business, Luong participated in the Youth Union and the Young Pioneers, so she had the opportunity to visit many localities in Thai Nguyen. Luong realized that La Hien commune, where she lives, has the potential to develop high-quality agriculture, including many vegetable and fruit models that bring economic benefits. However, the production and business process is not stable, all products have to find their own markets, so these models are not really sustainable, and prices are still unstable. Faced with this situation, Duong Thuy Luong asked the question, how can farmers have a stable consumer market so that their products can have a sustainable position? Luong hopes that one day in the near future, farmers will have a place to buy their products, and can confidently develop production.

Thinking is doing, Luong went to learn about clean agricultural production models and the market for these products. The research process helped Luong gain a lot of new knowledge that she had no concept of before.

After graduating with a master's degree in Sociology, Luong boldly proposed to his parents and relatives to establish a cooperative specializing in clean agricultural products. In March 2019, La Hien Clean Agricultural Products Cooperative was established with 7 members and a charter capital of 200 million VND, with Luong as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director.

Duong Thuy Luong's wish when establishing the clean agricultural cooperative was to connect households to produce clean and safe agricultural products. According to the plan, the products would initially meet the consumption needs of the people in the commune, then expand to larger markets.

With the knowledge gained from consulting clean agricultural production models, Luong focuses on cultivating mushrooms such as shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, brown mushrooms, raising bees for honey and growing custard apples according to VietGAP standards.

From the cooperative’s capital, Luong and other members built a mushroom-growing factory of over 150 square meters with a total cost of over 100 million VND. In addition, Luong also re-planned the custard apple growing area of ​​1 hectare and consolidated and developed over 300 beehives.

Thanks to good quality and safety standards, La Hien Cooperative's products are purchased by Phu Gia Biotechnology Company Limited (Hung Son town, Dai Tu district). In 2019, the Cooperative achieved a revenue of over 500 million VND with an output of 4 tons of dried wood ear mushrooms, 100 kg of shiitake mushrooms, 100 kg of brown mushrooms and 1,000 liters of honey.

Other products such as custard apples and honey are consumed in the provincial market and some stores in Hanoi. In addition to bringing in high revenue, the Cooperative creates regular jobs for more than 10 local workers with an income of 4 - 5 million VND/person/month.

Not only nurturing the desire to be rich for herself, Duong Thuy Luong also wants to help farmers in the localities get rich. In early 2020, Duong Thuy Luong provided seeds, trained in planting and caring techniques for chili peppers for 15 farmers in the commune and some hamlets of Khe Mo commune (Dong Hy) with a total area of ​​2 hectares.

Luong has committed to purchasing all the products produced by these farmers. It is estimated that each sao of chili pepper brings the income of the people 5 times higher than that of rice cultivation, about 20 million VND.

Duong Thuy Luong said that in the coming time, she will continue to grow more lingzhi mushrooms, expand the custard apple area, and increase the number of bee colonies to 400 boxes.

At the same time, we will expand the linkage to provide seeds, science and technology and product consumption for nearly 50 households growing chili peppers, with an area of ​​about 5 hectares.

With the boldness and daring to think and act of youth, Duong Thuy Luong was recently honored to be one of 43 outstanding young people honored at the "Youth Following Uncle Ho's Teachings" Festival 2020 organized by Thai Nguyen Provincial Youth Union.