Woman’s hard work bears fruit
HANOI: She dared to do what others didn’t, and now she is seeing the fruits of her labour.
“People thought I was taking a great risk when I decided to develop this land and that it was impossible because of a lack of water and the hard laterite rock,” said Tho.
Tho was born in 1960 to a poor family in the district’s Vat Lai Commune. After leaving the army in 1982, she got married and began farming.
In 1997, she called on her family to sign a 50-year-contract with local authorities to cultivate 12ha of barren land as part of afforestation promotion programme.
Having land and the help of friends and relatives, her family started building a garden -pond-cage model.
Choosing which seedlings and animals to raise was next, working out the best options to reap rewards and ensure the family’s livelihood as well as the study of children. “I never thought I could succeed,” said Tho. The early years were tough, and time after time Tho thought about giving up.
Instead she sought out experts to learn the best methods and took part in training classes organised by the local farmers’ union.
Efforts made by Tho’s family have paid off. Now, her family has nearly 20ha of farm growing pineapples, grapefruits and longan.
Besides growing fruits, Tho has also raised cows, buffaloes, pigs, chickens and fish.
The turnover from the farm has reached nearly 20 billion dong (US$862,200) per year and profit of over one billion dong.
About 30 workers are employed on the farm earning between four and seven million dong per month. — Viet Nam News/ANN