People in Phia Chang village, Son Phu commune (Na Hang district, Tuyen Quang province) nicknamed Mr. Trieu Quy Vuong "the old man of the forest". At first hearing, everyone imagined the rather strange appearance of the old farmer with a shaggy beard and hair.
Over 40 years old just started a business
I got to know Mr. Vuong through the introduction of the 8x village chief Trieu Van Sinh, when he went to Tuyen Quang city to attend a training class on caring for the ancient Shan Tuyet tea trees of his hometown.
The concrete road from Highway 279 to Mr. Vuong’s farm is nearly 5 km long, steep and winding, with both sides of the road lined with ancient forest trees. At the Khuoi Chuon intersection, Village Chief Sinh was waiting to take me to visit the farm.
The distance is only over 2 km, but you have to cross 2 streams and your driving skills must be quite good to control on the bumpy, homemade concrete road that is only wide enough for the wheels.
Mr. Vuong, a strong, dark-skinned man with a distinct highland character, enthusiastically welcomed us. He said that this entire farm of nearly 3 hectares had been built for nearly 15 years.
It was 2010, when he was over 40 years old, his children were old enough to go to professional school, the cost of education and living increased every day, he had been attached to agriculture for more than half of his life but due to limited land and lack of water, the family economy was still stagnant. Mr. Vuong was determined to start a business.
The location chosen for the farm used to be the "free" land of the Phia Chang people. It was the border of the two areas of Khuoi Luong and Vang Mun. There were countless poisonous snakes and difficult roads, so although the land was very fertile, few people bothered to look at it.
Mr. Vuong asked the government to reclaim the land for economic development. At first, he only planted old tea trees, cleared grass, and leveled the land. By 2014, the tea area had gradually covered the land that was previously full of weeds. Seeing the great potential, in 2014, Mr. Vuong decided to build a shack to make a farm.
People began to get used to the image of the old farmer at 8am tucking in his trousers with a cup of tea and returning home when the sun had set.
I asked, what was the tree you planted at first?
Mr. Vuong said he chose to grow corn to ensure food. The first crop that year yielded nearly 1 quintal per sao, 1.5 times higher than normal. That success also made him think about raising livestock and growing fruit trees.
Mr. Trieu Quy Vuong, a talented farmer who became rich from "a forest man" on Phia Chang mountain, Son Phu commune (Na Hang district, Tuyen Quang province) is taking care of his family's tangerine tree.
Build rocks, pour soil to plant sweet potato
The hut shook, as the pigs grunted and snarled, demanding food. The story gradually became more interesting, pointing to the wild boar hybrids, he said, training these pigs not to destroy fruit trees was as much work as training craftsmen to carve handicrafts.
In 2015, Mr. Vuong began to renovate nearly 1 hectare of land to grow 270 tangerine trees, using seeds from Bac Kan province himself.
He said that due to the suitable soil and cool soil, the tangerine trees grow quickly, with few pests and diseases, and only suffer a little loss due to occasional rainstorms that wash away nutrients from the soil. Then the journey of planting Ham Yen orange trees in 2016 with more than 200 trees.
With a face darkened by the wind and frost of the mountainous region, Mr. Vuong smiled and whispered that thanks to God's grace, in 2019, he started to harvest 800 kg of tangerines, selling them for 8 million VND. That was also the first capital to start his business. At the end of that year, he invested all the profits to buy 6 hybrid wild boars for breeding.
Raising hybrid wild boars under orange and tangerine trees, the whole village said, was like “giving eggs to the devil”. He just smiled, at the roots of fruit trees, he always chose pebbles with sharp edges to spread under the tree roots, pigs are intelligent creatures, from a young age when they encounter sharp objects poking their noses, they will be afraid and give up their habit of running when they sense danger.
Because it is located in the middle of a valley, Mr. Vuong's farm can be likened to a natural cage, with only one entrance and exit, and all sides are closed.
In 2021, Mr. Vuong had nearly 80 large and small hybrid wild pigs, but at this time the food source began to be insufficient for raising them, and the huge amount of wild bananas in the forest in the past was gradually depleted.
Pointing to the lush sweet potato plants, rolling and clinging to the rocks, Mr. Vuong proudly said that this area is about 300 square meters, and that he and his family personally arranged the rocks and filled the soil to plant them.
Instead of having to go everywhere to beg for wine, now the food source is guaranteed and raising hybrid wild boars has become easier.
Due to his poor health and recovery period, his wife is currently in charge of the farm growing specialty crops (raising hybrid wild boars, raising free-range chickens), and raising specialty animals.
At the end of 2021, when the hybrid wild boar herd was ready to be sold, the price was forced down because the roads were too difficult to travel on, the roads could only be traveled by motorbike when it was sunny, but when it rained, they could only walk.
After finishing the pig batch that year, Mr. Vuong invested 50 million VND to build a road. He joked that the road that the journalist had just walked on was built by his family in nearly a month. Although it was a bit bad, it was much better than before.
Being a careful person, Mr. Vuong records the quantity of imported and sold products of the farm. He said that 2023 and 2024 were successful years, he harvested over 15 tons of oranges and tangerines, sold nearly 100 wild boars for breeding and meat, and earned a total income of nearly 200 million VND.
Comrade Ha Van Duc, Chairman of the People's Committee of Son Phu commune (Na Hang district, Tuyen Quang province) assessed that Mr. Vuong's hill garden economic model is leading the whole Phia Chang village in terms of economic efficiency.
Recently, he has also planted lychee, dragon fruit, and plum trees to gradually replace the orange growing area, and the initial results are bringing good results.
Mr. Duc added that on the occasion of the merchants' trucks stopping outside to import goods and the bustling crowds of carts carrying products from the farm going out, it was as joyful as going to a festival.
This year, Mr. Vuong is weak, having just suffered a mild stroke at the end of 2024. Currently, the entire farm is being managed by his wife alone.
He said that instead of doing heavy work like before, he now helps his wife with light work.
He is determined to try to practice to recover his health soon, because his plan is to expand the farming of free-range chickens to 500 chickens instead of a few dozen as at present, because the land potential is still very large.
Source: https://danviet.vn/mot-nguoi-rung-tren-ngon-nui-cao-o-tuyen-quang-nuoi-lon-rung-ga-ta-thuong-lai-mua-het-veo-2025022819462564.htm
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