Leave the city for the forest
Mr. Le Dinh Tu (59 years old, living in Bao Lam village, Binh Son commune, Trieu Son district, Thanh Hoa province) has dark skin, nimble hands, diligently picking tea on the hill behind the factory.
With his farmer-like appearance, if not introduced, no one would think he was the famous Director in this semi-mountainous land.
Looking at his appearance, few people would expect that Mr. Le Dinh Tu is the Director (Photo: Thanh Tung).
He said that he was born in Dong Cuong ward, Thanh Hoa city, and used to be an electrician with a stable income. In 1996, introduced by friends, he left the city to go to the forest, to Binh Son commune to reclaim land and start a business.
"It was a bold decision that took my life in a new direction. At first, I only intended to buy some forest land to plant trees and then go downstream to continue my work as an electrician. But when I got here and saw the fertile hills, I decided to change direction and reclaim the land because I love agriculture," Mr. Tu recalled the early days.
Having worked as an electrician with a stable salary, Mr. Tu decided to leave the city for the forest at the age of 32 (Photo: Thanh Tung).
With all his capital of 20 million VND, Mr. Tu bought 3 hectares of forest land from local people to cultivate. At the beginning of his career, the hills where he set foot were deserted lands with the characteristic of "3 no's" - no road, no electricity, no phone signal.
To get started, he patiently opened roads, dammed water, spent his own money, coordinated with local people to bring electricity up the hill, then brought seedlings back to plant.
"At that time, Binh Son commune was in a particularly difficult situation, the hills were mainly covered with mixed trees and tea. The first thing I did was to open a road and bring electricity up the mountain. It was not until 1998 that the electricity line was completed. After that, I reclaimed the hilly land and opened a road to the farm," said Mr. Tu.
In the past, people in Binh Son commune relied on tea trees all year round but life was still difficult (Photo: Thanh Tung).
In the middle of the deep, desolate forest, regardless of hardship, every day Mr. Tu and his wife dug, built roads, and set up a pond system for irrigation. After a period of hard work, the previously barren hills were gradually covered with green with about 3 hectares of sugarcane.
"There were days when my wife and I worked until late at night to build dams and banks. The whole hill was immense, and everywhere we looked there were only trees and grass. When we first came here, my wife was so scared that she cried. But after a while, we got used to it. My wife and I encouraged each other to work hard together," Mr. Tu recalled the difficult early days of starting a business.
Awakening the tea region, forcing the difficult land to "give gold"
Mr. Tu said that in the past, in addition to growing sugarcane and acacia, the people of Binh Son commune were also famous for growing tea. However, due to small-scale production and trading, their strengths were not fully exploited, and despite working hard all year round, they still could not escape hardship.
The previously bare hills are now covered with green tea trees (Photo: Thanh Tung).
There was even a time when a tea production cooperative was established here, but after only a few years it fell into a state of loss and bankruptcy.
Looking at the lush green tea fields with no place to sell them, Mr. Tu felt heartbroken and worried. At this time, he decided to call on his friends and people in the commune to re-establish a cooperative, with the hope of "reviving" a famous tea region.
In 2016, Binh Son Agricultural and Forestry Service Cooperative was established, Mr. Tu became the Director. To develop the market, Mr. Tu and some members went to trade fairs, even brought tea to the market to promote the brand.
Green tea buds are harvested by people, preparing to produce dry tea for the market (Photo: Thanh Tung).
At the same time, he sought to change the design, packaging, and brand of tea, and invested in machinery and technology to produce on a large scale.
"If we want to develop, we cannot work on a small, fragmented scale. Therefore, after bringing Binh Son tea to the market, we built typical, characteristic tea growing areas and invested in machinery to ensure supply to the market," Mr. Tu shared.
In 2019, Binh Son clean tea was recognized as a 3-star OCOP product at the provincial level. To date, Binh Son Agricultural and Forestry Service Cooperative has nearly 80 hectares of tea (including 12 hectares of tea meeting VIETGAP standards). The cooperative's scale of operation has also been expanded with 20 official members and 100 associate members.
In 2023, Mr. Le Dinh Tu was voted by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union as one of the 100 best farmers in the country (Photo: Thanh Tung).
"Binh Son tea products are present in about 30 provinces and cities across the country. The cooperative's average annual revenue is nearly 3 billion VND. In addition, tea cultivation is gradually improving, creating jobs, increasing income for member households, contributing to reducing the poverty rate. There are households that are developing well and bringing in an income of 100 to 150 million VND/year thanks to tea trees," said the Director.
Recently, Mr. Le Dinh Tu was also voted by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union as one of the 100 outstanding Vietnamese farmers in 2023.
Looking back on nearly 30 years of leaving the city for the forest, the cooperative director was moved and full of pride, because this was an extremely great achievement for him personally and the members of the cooperative.
Thanks to tea trees, in recent years many households in Binh Son commune have escaped poverty and become economically successful (Photo: Thanh Tung).
"When I left the city to start a business here, my hair was still green, now it has turned white. I have spent nearly half my life on this land, and now looking at the results I have achieved, I am very proud. Hopefully, one day soon, Binh Son tea will be one of the top delicious products in Vietnam.
I have a passion for farming, and living with passion is also my motto. Only with passion can we strive to achieve our goals. Making tea is the same, farmers must be like artisans, must be dedicated to produce satisfactory tea products," Mr. Tu confided.
Regarding future plans, Mr. Tu said he is nurturing and hoping that relevant agencies will coordinate and develop a plan to implement a community ecotourism model project in the local tea growing area.
Currently, the entire Binh Son commune has more than 300 hectares of tea (Photo: Thanh Tung).
Mr. Le Cong Son, an agricultural officer of the People's Committee of Binh Son Commune, Trieu Son District, said that the whole commune has 300 hectares of tea. Mr. Le Dinh Tu is the most outstanding farmer in the locality, and has made great contributions to reviving tea products.
"With the current development of tea trees, in the coming time, we will coordinate and encourage people to expand the tea growing area from 300 hectares to 400 hectares, while combining eco-tourism and experiencing the tea region to increase income for people," said Mr. Son.
The barefoot director has spent nearly 30 years catching difficult lands to "yield gold" (Video: Thanh Tung).
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