Having a stable job at a garment company, Ms. Mai Thi Anh Xuan (currently 33 years old, residing in An Khanh commune, Chau Thanh district, Ben Tre province) decided to change direction to start a mushroom growing business because she loves eating mushrooms.
Ms. Mai Thi Anh Xuan said that in 2017, because she was very fond of dishes made from mushrooms and realized that the demand for clean food among consumers was increasing, she began to research information related to mushroom cultivation. At that time, in addition to working as a planning staff at a garment company in the province, she also spent time on the internet researching and learning about clean mushroom cultivation.
Initially, Anh Xuan chose to grow oyster mushrooms, which are disease-free, easy to grow, require simple care techniques, and have high nutritional value. Moreover, growing oyster mushrooms does not require a large amount of capital and does not require too much time for care.
After choosing the type of mushroom to grow, Anh Xuan started building a mushroom house. With a small initial capital, she asked her relatives to cut coconut trees in the garden and used the coconut leaves to make the roof. However, due to her lack of experience in building a load-bearing frame, when hanging the mushroom spawn, the frame collapsed. With the help of her family, the mushroom house was later rebuilt more solidly.
After the initial difficulties, Anh Xuan's startup gradually showed results. The first mushroom crop brought in good profits. "Riding on the momentum", Anh Xuan spent more money to reinforce the mushroom house and buy more irrigation equipment.
Ms. Mai Thi Anh Xuan takes care of mushrooms
By 2020, having met many people in the mushroom growing industry, as well as the increasing demand for clean mushrooms, Anh Xuan thought about spending more time on the mushroom industry, expanding the mushroom farm and learning more knowledge. Therefore, she decided to quit her job at the company to devote all her time and passion to the mushroom industry.
Not only stopping at growing oyster mushrooms, with the experience gained after starting her business, Anh Xuan boldly grew many other types of mushrooms such as termite mushrooms, golden mushrooms, emperor mushrooms, Taiwanese lingzhi mushrooms, etc. In particular, to improve product quality, she also proactively registered and practiced according to VietGAP standards.
Clean mushrooms grown by Ms. Mai Thi Anh Xuan are supplied to the market.
With a variety of high quality mushrooms, combined with sales through social networking sites, the product's market is no longer limited to the local area but also reaches consumers in many provinces/cities across the country.
According to Ms. Anh Xuan, in addition to technical difficulties, the problem of drought and salinity also makes production difficult due to lack of irrigation water. To overcome the shortage of fresh water, she has invested in rainwater tanks. In this way, she not only reduces the cost of using tap water on normal days, but also ensures a stable source of irrigation water for mushroom growth during the salty and dry season.
The mushroom farm's products are currently trusted by consumers in many provinces/cities across the country.
In recent years, in order to diversify and increase the economic value of the product, Ms. Anh Xuan has also made colorful bouquets of mushrooms as gifts. As for the lingzhi mushroom, she also grows them in bonsai pots to sell as decorations during the Tet holiday. After that, the mushrooms can be used to prepare dishes or soak in drinks depending on each person's preference.
Currently, the farm has 10 mushroom growers, importing 10,000 bags of spawn each month with many different types and colors. On average, the farm supplies the market with 1 - 1.5 tons of various types of mushrooms each month, bringing high economic value.
With the results achieved, Anh Xuan also created a group of 200 members, including rural women in and outside the province who are interested in growing mushrooms. This group shares experiences in production, trading and supports input and output in production.
Mushroom farm brings efficiency, stable monthly income
Sharing about her startup process, Ms. Mai Thi Anh Xuan said that to start a business and start a business successfully, women must have passion, identify specific goals to have a strategy and develop accordingly. "There are many places across the country that grow mushrooms, so you have to have a specific way of doing it and a specific direction for yourself to be successful. Regarding investment, I think that at first you should only invest small, you should not open a large-scale farm, if there is no output, it will be very difficult. If you want to do anything, you have to learn, prepare carefully, and develop gradually," Ms. Anh Xuan shared.
Ms. Anh Xuan also hopes to build a mushroom production and processing line that meets export standards in the near future to increase the value of mushroom products and contribute to solving the output for mushroom growers and developing the local economy.
Contact information:
Xuan Mai Mushroom Farm
Address: Phuoc Xuan Hamlet, An Khanh Commune, Chau Thanh District, Ben Tre Province
Phone: 039 259 9775.
Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/me-an-nam-co-gai-ben-tre-lam-luon-nha-trong-nam-de-khoi-nghiep-20240621072606289.htm
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