Farmer creativity - the source of innovation

Without formal training, working in the fields all year round, but with a passion for mechanical engineering, many farmers have researched, improved techniques, and manufactured highly applicable machinery products in production. Thanks to that, the shortage of labor in the locality has been overcome, labor force has been reduced, contributing to innovation in agricultural production, increasing economic value, and improving rural life. This is also one of the basic and effective solutions to promote the movement of farmers competing in production, good business, uniting to help each other get rich and sustainably reduce poverty in the province.

The multi-purpose weeder manufactured by Mr. Phan Ba ​​Hung is widely used in production.

Meet practical needs

Thanh Thuy is a semi-mountainous area, so the economy of the people in the district has long relied mainly on agricultural production. However, the fields here are still fragmented and small. Although the district has implemented a land consolidation policy, due to the terrain characteristics, it is difficult to form large-scale fields. That is the reason why the application of mechanization to agricultural production in many localities in the district is still difficult.

Faced with the reality that agricultural production still applies traditional methods, mainly using farmers' labor, Mr. Phan Ba ​​Hung, born in 1992 in Zone 4, Tu Vu Commune, was determined to research, manufacture and assemble a compact, easy-to-move, fuel-efficient, simple-to-assemble, low-cost multi-purpose weeder, and especially suitable for local field terrain. Thereby, contributing to reducing labor, reducing investment costs, increasing economic efficiency, and at the same time solving the problem of abandoned land due to a shortage of agricultural labor. Through practical testing, Mr. Hung's multi-purpose weeder can save 70-80% of time compared to conventional manual methods and save 80-90% of labor costs.

Mr. Phan Ba ​​Hung shared: “Coming from a farming family, I understand the hardships and difficulties of farmers who are attached to their fields and gardens all year round. Therefore, I am always struggling to find ways to improve labor productivity and reduce labor. After many months of research and learning, in early 2022, I launched the first multi-purpose weeder. This machine can replace about 3 workers, bringing high productivity, saving time, costs, fuel and effort for farmers. Up to now, I have transferred the technology and supported the assembly of multi-purpose weeders to many farmers in the region so that everyone can easily apply it to crop cultivation, reducing the cost of purchasing agricultural tools.”

Mr. Duong Thanh Toi checks the products after assembly and prepares them for shipment.

Born and raised in the rural area of ​​Quang Yen commune, Thanh Ba district, Mr. Duong Thanh Toi (born in 1988) is known by many people for successfully researching and manufacturing many highly applicable agricultural machinery products, contributing to reducing labor and increasing productivity.

Mr. Toi confided: “Every day, witnessing the hard work of people in the commune pounding the soil, sifting the soil to make seedling pots, I came up with the idea of ​​inventing tools and machines to serve the production of my family and the people around me. While working and gaining experience, after nearly 3 months of testing to evaluate the effectiveness and overcome existing shortcomings, right after its launch, the soil crusher product has become a powerful assistant to help pounding the soil, sifting the soil to make seedling pots become quick and effective; reduce labor, reduce costs and improve production efficiency”.

Compact design, weighing less than 100kg, easy to move, running on electricity or oil, but within 1 hour, Mr. Duong Thanh Toi's soil crusher can crush and screen about ^2.5-3m3 of soil. While if crushed and screened manually, it would take about 8 hours to complete about 2m3. Using the machine will give productivity nearly 10 times higher than the previous manual method. Up to now, on average, each year, Mr. Toi's factory supplies the market with 70-80 products, creating jobs for 3-5 regular workers with an income of 6-8 million VND/person/month. Revenue from the production and trading of agricultural machinery of his family brings in a profit of over 300 million VND each year.

Nowadays, when agricultural production is shifting strongly to mechanization in the fields, the production tools of "barefoot engineers" like Mr. Duong Thanh Toi or Mr. Phan Ba ​​Hung are becoming increasingly necessary for farmers. From there, contributing to the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

Spread creative competition

Never before have farmers' technical innovations been so strongly promoted and paid attention to as they are today. 2024 is also the first year that the "Farmers' Technical Innovation" Contest organized by the Provincial Farmers' Association has attracted many participants. After more than 3 months of launching the contest, the Organizing Committee has received 32 outstanding technical solutions selected from 11 district-level Farmers' Associations. The solutions participating in the contest are quite diverse, in many fields, of which 22 solutions belong to the mechanical and processing group, 7 solutions belong to the cultivation, biology and environment group, and 3 solutions belong to the livestock and aquaculture group.

Mr. Dang Duc Ninh in Xuan Ang area, Chi Dam commune, Doan Hung district invented a remote-controlled sprayer that automatically winds and releases the spray hose with many functions, contributing to increasing labor productivity, increasing efficiency when spraying and helping to ensure the health of the user.

Among the solutions participating in the Competition, there are many highly practical solutions such as: The solution "Technique for processing and packaging cold-dried green pumpkin tea" by author Pham Ngoc Doanh in Van Lang commune, Ha Hoa district has researched the technique for processing and packaging cold-dried green pumpkin tea to change the traditional planting and manual processing methods of local people, creating a safe and highly nutritious "Cold-dried green pumpkin tea" product, increasing labor productivity and increasing product value. The solution "Research and manufacture of rice noodle cutting robots" by author Cao Dang Duy in Hung Lo commune, Viet Tri city has researched and manufactured rice noodle cutting robots to replace manual steps, helping to produce consistent products, increase labor productivity, reduce product costs, and protect the health of workers.

Mr. Do Nguyen Duc in Cu Thang commune, Thanh Son district with the solution "Composting microbial yeast to deodorize with available biological materials for households" has researched and perfected the fermentation formula from available materials at home to create a product to deodorize household waste, livestock farms, ferment feed for livestock and poultry; ferment biological waste to make organic fertilizer,... The initiatives and solutions participating in the Competition have all been implemented in practice and brought about economic efficiency. Among them, there are special initiatives that solve the need for machinery and equipment for production and processing of agricultural products, bringing high added value at a more reasonable cost compared to importing production lines and machinery from abroad.

Comrade Phung Thi Hong Chuyen - Vice President of the Provincial Farmers' Association said: "The first time the Contest is organized is to improve knowledge and the ability to effectively apply science, technology and technology for cadres and farmer members. From there, it creates a foundation to promote emulation movements among members and farmers, especially emulation in building new rural areas, emulation in good production and business, solidarity to help each other get rich and reduce poverty sustainably. Through the movements, the potential and creative thinking of farmers in the field of science and technology have been aroused, promoting the application of innovative solutions and models in agricultural production, contributing to the socio-economic development of rural areas of the province. The Association also hopes that the authors will continue to improve processes and technology and actively transfer solutions to help farmers improve production and processing activities and increase income".

In the coming time, the Provincial Farmers' Association will continue to focus on directing districts, cities and towns to propagate and train digital transformation in agriculture, apply technology of the 4.0 era, encourage farmers to apply high technology, produce concentrated goods, link along the value chain, connect trade and consume products; participate in bringing farmers to the e-commerce platform, the Potsmat.vn e-commerce platform; continue to innovate, create, integrate and be determined to create breakthroughs in agricultural economic development, contributing to building ecological agriculture, modern countryside, and civilized farmers.

Hong Nhung

Source: https://baophutho.vn/sang-tao-nha-nong-khoi-nguon-doi-moi-220261.htm