Compared to many other regions in the country, Binh Phuoc is blessed with a mild climate and weather with few extremes. In particular, Binh Phuoc has a large area of agricultural land with many types of industrial crops and fruit trees - where many food sources such as flowers, fruits, microorganisms and insects are produced. These are favorable conditions for swiftlets to nest, grow and develop.
Chance with "heavenly gift"
“Around 2002, in Tien Thanh commune (now Tien Thanh ward), a household built a house to live in. When the house was completed, flocks of swiftlets came to make nests. In order to effectively utilize the “heavenly blessing”, this family contacted a bird’s nest business organization in Khanh Hoa province to harvest and find outlets for the bird’s nest products. Realizing the effectiveness, many households in the area followed suit and in fact many households have been successful, averaging 3-20kg of raw bird’s nests/year” - Vice Chairman of Dong Xoai City People’s Committee Vu Van Muoi shared about the origin of the profession of welcoming “heavenly blessing” in the area.
Currently, in Dong Xoai city, there are about 200 households working in the business of attracting and raising swiftlets, many of whom also process raw bird's nests into refined bird's nests to create jobs and increase their income. According to the reporter's records, Group 5B, Tan Tra 2 Quarter, Tan Binh Ward is an area with many households developing the business of attracting and raising swiftlets. The houses for raising swiftlets here are built close together, including newly built houses, but also houses that have been renovated and expanded from residential houses. And not all of these bird's nest house owners live in the same place but come from many other places.
Mr. Phung Van Hau lives in Quarter 5, Tien Thanh Ward, but has a house that attracts and raises swiftlets at Nest 5B, Quarter Tan Tra 2, Tan Binh Ward for about 10 years now. Mr. Hau said that to have a large number of swiftlets, clean raw swiftlet nests depends on many factors, from installation techniques, methods of attracting to care, disease safety, preliminary processing, and processing. With only one swiftlet house, each year the family harvests 35-36kg of raw swiftlet nests with an average price of 23-25 million VND/kg, depending on quality and current prices. To create jobs and increase income, the family does not sell raw but processes, removes impurities, dries, and packages them to supply the market with a price of 28-30 million VND/kg. "We are farmers, so compared to other professions, the profession of attracting and raising swiftlets and preliminary processing of swiftlet nests brings in quite a high income. At the same time, it reduces labor costs and creates jobs for relatives and neighbors" - Mr. Hau shared.
Not only Tan Binh ward but also many other areas in Dong Xoai city have households renovating and expanding their houses to attract swiftlets. In 2014, the family of Ms. Doan Thi Phuong, residing in Quarter 5, Tien Thanh ward, invested 2.5 billion VND to build a house, and at the same time used the upper floor as a house to attract swiftlets. On average, each year her family collects about 20kg of raw bird's nests, equivalent to more than 400 million VND. Ms. Phuong shared that the job of attracting wild swiftlets is also a matter of luck, if you have the luck, many swiftlets will come to live with you, not everyone is successful. In reality, there are many households that build tall houses, invest a lot of money but the birds have not come to nest or have made very few nests even though they have been operating for a long time.
Billionaire income
Compared to other localities, the movement of attracting and raising swiftlets and producing and processing products from bird's nests in Chon Thanh town has increased rapidly in recent years and developed the most strongly in the province, with 297 households. Among them, many households have effective installation, attracting and environmental sanitation techniques, and disease prevention, so they earn hundreds of millions of VND, even billions of VND/year from selling bird's nests. In particular, seeing the economic efficiency that this natural product bestows, many households have developed dozens of attracting houses combined with preliminary processing and processing of products from bird's nests, bringing in huge income. "The family's house to attract and raise swiftlets was built more than 10 years ago. Currently, each month, we collect about 10kg of raw bird's nests with an amount of more than 200 million VND. Realizing the high efficiency, in recent years, my family has built another chain of birdhouses in Lam Dong, Gia Lai, Tay Ninh provinces. Because it is still new, the income is less, about 2kg/month" - Mr. Tran Minh Tho, the owner of a birdhouse in Quarter 2, Hung Long Ward, Chon Thanh Town shared.
Mr. Tho's family is one of many households in Chon Thanh who have become rich from the bird's nest business. With 16 hectares of land, Mr. Dinh Van Son's family, Ward 10, Hung Long Ward, grows fruit trees, builds more than 10 houses to attract and raise swiftlets, and processes products from bird's nests called "Thien Thanh Bird's Nest" to supply the market, bringing in a large source of income. Mr. Son's family's model of attracting and raising swiftlets is considered a large-scale, closed household in the garden in Chon Thanh.
Not only that, many households have also established businesses that combine many stages and processes to create more income and jobs for local workers. Typically, from piloting 2 birdhouses in 2015 under the name Nam Phu Bird's Nest Facility, 2 years later, this facility was upgraded to Nam Phu Bird's Nest One Member Co., Ltd. in Ward 1, Thanh Tam Ward, Chon Thanh Town. In addition to attracting bird's nest farming, the company also consults, installs equipment, builds houses, purchases, consumes bird's nest products, processes and makes products from pure bird's nests and refined bird's nests. With clean, natural quality products, the bird's nest products of Nam Phu Bird's Nest One Member Co., Ltd. have been recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as achieving 3-star OCOP in 2020, supplying the market with dozens of kilograms/month. In addition, in Chon Thanh town, cooperative groups for raising swiftlets have been established to link up to share experiences in raising, processing, and finding stable output, such as the cooperative group for raising swiftlets in Minh Hung ward with 12 members...
Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Van Phuong said that Binh Phuoc has a climate as well as natural conditions, soil, and abundant food sources that are very suitable for the development of swiftlets. Meanwhile, bird's nest is a high-value food, which has been processed into many nutritious products for domestic consumers and for export. Currently, the Department of Animal Health (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) is implementing guidelines for building codes and facilities for packaging and processing bird's nests that meet food safety standards for official export to China. This will contribute to increasing the value and efficiency of the bird's nest industry.
Source
Comment (0)