Earthworms for circular agriculture

Le Minh Vuong researched and succeeded in producing a circular agricultural model from raising earthworms - Photo: AN ANH

At 33 years old, Minh Vuong is building a model of raising earthworms and practicing circular agriculture in Tan Son 1 village, Thanh Hai commune, Phan Rang - Thap Cham city (Ninh Thuan province), which is also the first circular agriculture model from earthworms in this province.

Earthworms for clean agriculture

Coming from a farming family in a region of scorching sun and wind, Vuong's childhood was inseparable from the rice fields and shrimp ponds that were discolored by pollution. To clean the shrimp ponds, his villagers would dredge the settled mud, often mixed with dead shrimp, which piled up and polluted the environment.

"I read that earthworms can live and improve this mud, so I started to learn more. I thought why not use this completely natural "machine" to improve the soil and process fertilizer," said Mr. Vuong.

Leading visitors around the 4,000m2 garden - pond - barn model, Minh Vuong proudly shows off the results of his ten years of pursuing earthworms and circular agriculture.

Agricultural waste and by-products are all processed by earthworms. It is considered a closed-loop agricultural product, bringing both economic efficiency and environmental protection.

Earthworms are easy to raise, just create a shady environment and utilize agricultural waste as food for them. The amount of soil after being processed by earthworms will be rich in nutrients for clean agricultural production.

Mr. Vuong calculated that 100m2 can raise 4 tons of worms. After about 3-4 months, he can harvest 8-12 tons of products such as earthworm meat, worm manure, and soil that has been processed by earthworms into natural fertilizer.

"Raising earthworms helps improve the soil to be very rich in nutrients, thus reducing fertilizer costs and can produce clean, high-quality agricultural products that are currently quite popular in the market," Mr. Vuong shared.

... and just published a book on circular agriculture - Photo: AN ANH

Organic products from earthworms

Le Minh Vuong's circular agriculture model currently has many varieties of plants and animals. After the soil is improved by earthworms, he uses it to fertilize vegetables and fruit trees. Live earthworms are used as feed for livestock and poultry and processed into concentrated earthworm juice, which is a nutritional product used to replace chemical fertilizers in organic agriculture.

Not to mention, he also processes earthworm pellets, dried earthworms and frozen earthworms to supply to the market.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Chau - Director of Nhon Hai Purple Onion Cooperative (in Ninh Hai district, Ninh Thuan province) - said that because onions are produced organically, vermicompost and vermicompost products are indispensable fertilizers for 23 member households of the cooperative.

Through practical use, Ms. Chau said that using vermicompost to water onions and garlic is more effective than using chemical fertilizers.

Testing also shows that onions are more spicy and delicious, while ensuring consumer safety and being environmentally friendly.

"Organic purple onions using vermicompost solution are the main product of Nhon Hai farmers, registered and granted 3-star OCOP certification at the district level. This is also one of the few local organic agricultural products exported abroad," said Ms. Chau.

Currently, every month, Le Minh Vuong sells products such as earthworm extract, earthworm manure, dried earthworms, frozen earthworms and some other products to the market, bringing in a stable income of 20-50 million VND. He is also a shareholder of another earthworm farming project in Cu Chi district (HCMC).

Writing a book about circular agriculture

Having worked and gained experience, Minh Vuong chose to share with others about the circular agricultural model with earthworms by writing books. He is the author of many books on earthworm farming and clean agriculture, including: Creativity to serve, Handbook of clean agricultural techniques, Earthworm farming techniques and applications in clean agriculture.

Most recently, Minh Vuong published the book Applied Circular Agriculture. It can be said that this is the sum of his passion and knowledge accumulated after many years of researching and applying circular agricultural production and earthworms. Currently the vice president of the provincial startup club, Minh Vuong actively acts as a bridge to help young people in the province access many good models, effective methods, and start successful businesses.

Mr. Huynh Huu Phuc, Secretary of Ninh Thuan Provincial Youth Union, assessed Mr. Vuong as one of the typical faces of creative startups, an example of dedication, dynamism, creativity, and daring to think and act of Ninh Thuan youth.

"Mr. Vuong often exchanges and shares experiences, inspiring young people about the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in both agriculture and other fields. That is very valuable and worthy of respect," Mr. Phuc expressed.

I did the actual work and then wrote the book to share it with the hope of contributing to spreading the message of building and developing a sustainable agriculture based on safe, environmentally friendly solutions that respect nature and human health.

LE MINH VUONG

Mr. Truong Khac Tri, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ninh Thuan province, said that actual production shows that earthworms help improve soil very well in agriculture, helping to create a source of organic fertilizer that is very beneficial for crops. In addition, earthworms also bring great value in environmental protection, bringing economic benefits to breeders and users.

"These are in line with the development of organic agriculture, which is the current trend. Especially with the production of Ninh Thuan's key crops such as grapes, apples, and purple onions for export," Mr. Tri shared.

The earthworm king has a destiny with awards

Participating in several startup competitions, Le Minh Vuong won first prize in the Ninh Thuan startup project competition in 2023 with the applied circular agriculture and earthworm project. At the same time, he won the encouragement prize in the National Rural Youth Startup Competition (Central Youth Union) with the applied circular agriculture project.

With the same project, he received a letter of commendation from the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in 2024. Previously, Minh Vuong also won first prize in another competition organized by the Central Youth Union on national innovation and energy saving with the Solar EGG portable battery charger product.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vuong-trun-que-lam-nong-nghiep-tuan-hoan-20250402101522354.htm