In a spacious house in Trung Kien ward, Thot Not district (Can Tho city), Mr. Ho Ba Phieu (also known as Ba Khem, 52 years old), is full of certificates of merit from the Prime Minister, Farmers' Association... Mr. Phieu is a person who has twice achieved the title of Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer.

Born into a farming family, he grew up and got married, his parents gave him 3 hectares of rice fields (3,000m2).

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Mr. Ho Ba Phieu, billionaire of rice seeds in Can Tho. Photo: HT

Passionate about agriculture and eager to get rich on their homeland, the couple worked hard to grow rice, but their income was low, so they had to work as bricklayers and grow straw mushrooms to earn extra money.

At that time, he thought that his parents had dozens of hectares of rice fields, and for decades they had only had enough to eat, so with his three hectares of rice fields, how could he escape poverty and become rich?

“Those years, even though I worked hard from early morning until late at night, life was still lacking,” Mr. Phieu recalled.

The desire to escape poverty always urged him. Then, by chance, around 1998, he was taken by the agricultural extension center to visit and receive training on rice varieties at the Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute.

After completing the course, he returned home and pioneered rice seed production, with the most popular original rice varieties at that time being Jasmine 85 and IR504.

“My first rice seed crop was more successful than expected,” he excitedly recounted. Building on the success, he rented more land and expanded his rice seed production model.

But luck was not on his side - the second rice crop was affected by pests. However, thanks to the active support of many agricultural engineers, he was able to break even when selling rice.

In the third rice crop, having gained more experience, Mr. Phieu equipped himself with full techniques, monitored the weather, diseases, market demand, etc. and started large-scale production.

That rice crop, he sold all of his and his wife's wedding gold, invested in renting 2 hectares of land, determined to start a business - the result was that he won big, the rice crop was good, and the rice seeds sold on the market "like hot cakes".

With the profit from rice seed production, he bought more land and rented more land to expand his cultivation.

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Mr. Phieu is investing in his yellow apricot garden. Photo: HT

By around 2000, his rice seed market expanded to many provinces such as An Giang, Hau Giang, Vinh Long... from here, the Can Tho man began to cooperate with farmers for production.

Mr. Phieu sent engineers to all households that cooperated in rice seed production to provide technical guidance and inspection...

Currently, his rice seed production facility covers an area of ​​about 100 hectares. Of which, 15 hectares belong to his family and 85 hectares are associated with farmers, producing key rice varieties such as: OM5451, OM18, Jasmine 85, IR50404, Dai Thom... according to certified seed production standards 1.

He also invested more than 10 billion VND to build a 4,000m2 rice seed processing, packaging and service facility, including 4 drying kilns, 2 seed separator machines... to supply rice seeds to customers in many provinces and cities. Since then, Mr. Phieu has created jobs for more than 50 local workers, with an income of 7-15 million VND/month. At the same time, he helps people by "selling rice seeds on installment without interest, providing technical support"...

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Mr. Phieu's yellow apricot garden seen from above. Photo: HT
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In addition to producing rice seeds, Mr. Phieu is also passionate about growing apricot flowers. Photo: HT

Deduct 10% of profits for social security

To increase his income and serve his passion, he grows yellow apricot trees. He currently owns 200 water apricot trees, priced from several million to 2 billion VND/tree, and 200 yellow apricot trees, valued from over 10 million to 2.5 billion VND/tree.

In particular, as a farmer who has experienced difficult times, Mr. Phieu understands the difficulties and hardships of farmers, so this man always wishes that every year when his business makes a profit, he will set aside 10% to carry out social security activities and help the needy.

He also supports and gives gifts to the poor, contributes to the farmer support fund, the education promotion fund, builds rural roads, and builds "farmer shelters"...

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