Thanks to the daily care of old farmer Nguyen Dinh Phuc (65 years old, Duc Tho town, Duc Tho district, Ha Tinh), the once-deserted alluvial land along the La River has now become lush, fertile potato fields and apple orchards.
Mr. Phuc is still busy and enthusiastic about working at the age of 65.
At the age of 65, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Phuc (born in 1958) in Hung Dung residential area, Duc Tho town, Duc Tho district is still very strong and healthy. Although he has a decent house and a stable income, he has not thought about retirement. Every day, Mr. Phuc is busy with the work of the parish while still managing the environmental cooperative and directly producing more than 4 hectares of rice fields on the alluvial plain along the La river...
Mr. Phuc recalled: "Born during the war, I followed my father and brother to become a youth volunteer and then enlisted in the army. In 1981, I left the army, returned to my hometown to build a family and start a business. At first, following the tradition of Duc Yen village, my small family produced gai cakes. Later, to earn more income, I studied and worked as a mechanic and agricultural machinery repairman."
The alluvial land outside the La River dike was renovated and produced into a lush green garden by Mr. Phuc.
Although he worked hard, the job at that time only provided a “living wage”, with almost no surplus. Therefore, in 2006, Mr. Phuc left his hometown to work in Australia. At that time, the trip did not bring much economic efficiency, but in return, he learned more experience in modern agricultural production and scientific methods at the workplace.
Returning to his hometown, Mr. Phuc used his savings to invest in buying plows, tillers, and homemade ridge-making machines to modernize agricultural production, reduce labor, and increase production efficiency. At the same time, he bought trucks and established an environmental cooperative to collect waste in the area, contributing to reducing environmental pollution.
Plants like sweet potatoes are suitable for alluvial soil, high yield and quality.
Mr. Phuc shared: "At that time, realizing that the alluvial fields along the La River were very fertile but people abandoned them and did not produce them due to frequent flooding and isolation (outside the dike, no roads), I boldly proposed to the local government to contract 2 hectares and improve the land for production.
I invested more than 50 million VND to build drainage ditches and pour rocks to make roads for production. Next, I chose short-term crops or short-season crops such as biomass corn, sweet potatoes, vegetables, etc. to avoid natural disasters and floods. Not disappointing people, the vegetables grew well, bringing my family hundreds of millions of VND each year."
Apple trees are suitable for the soil, especially sandy soil of alluvial plains, so they develop and grow very well.
Currently, the alluvial area is being re-planned by him, planting fruit trees to increase income and improve production efficiency. Currently, there are more than 300 apple trees - a type of tree suitable for the soil, typical of sandy soil of the alluvial area, developing and growing very well, expected to be harvested at the end of 2023.
Talking about income, Mr. Phuc calculated: "In the past year, I earned about 150 million VND from 3 mechanical machines (serving production for more than 120 hectares of rice fields in the area) and profits from environmental cooperatives, the gai cake production profession... It is expected that when the apple garden is harvested, the family will have hundreds of millions of VND in additional income each year. Currently, I am also experimenting with planting some other types of trees such as guava, mango... in the alluvial area. I also create jobs for more than 20 other local workers with an average salary of 5 million VND/month".
Mr. Phuc is a pioneer in the movements to build new rural areas and civilized urban areas in the locality.
In addition to working and producing well, Mr. Phuc was also elected by the parishioners as Chairman of the Pastoral Council of Yen Nghia Parish and participated in the Catholic Solidarity Committee of Duc Tho District. Therefore, he is exemplary in movements and always reminds people to live a good life, follow their religion, and build their homeland to be richer and more beautiful. In 2018, when the administrative units had not yet been merged, his family took the lead in donating 50 square meters of land to join Duc Yen commune in opening roads to build new rural areas. Then, in 2021, the family donated another 30 square meters of residential land, demolished nearly 80 meters of fence and relocated some auxiliary works to open roads.
In addition, he and members of the Parish Pastoral Council also regularly call for, mobilize and directly contribute to help those in difficult circumstances, especially supporting the construction and repair of many houses for poor households in the area.
“As a veteran and a farmer, I always learn from Uncle Ho the smallest things such as simplicity, hard work and creativity… At the age of 65, I still work hard in production, hoping to create more jobs and income for people and contribute to building my homeland,” Mr. Phuc confided.
Duc Thien - Duong Chien
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