Women who do good business

In the modern flow, when opportunities and challenges go hand in hand, the image of Hung Yen women still appears full of courage and creativity. Not only taking care of their families, they also take the initiative to do business , awakening the inherent potential of their homeland. With skillful hands and perseverance, Hung Yen women are contributing every day to the strong transformation of the countryside.

Journey to get rich from longan processing

In Tan Hung commune, the land associated with the famous longan brand, there is a woman who has quietly spent many years preserving and developing her family's traditional profession. That is Mrs. Nguyen Thi My, who has brought longan processing beyond the old production method, becoming a modern and effective business model in her homeland.

Her story began with her family’s 1.5-acre longan garden. Since childhood, Mrs. My has been attached to the sweet aroma of longan, the smell of wood smoke from the drying kiln, and sleepless nights peeling longan with her mother. Her love for the profession has seeped into her blood, and when she grew up, she continued to maintain the longan processing job persistently, from purchasing, preliminary processing, to drying and bringing the product to market.

On average, each year, she processes 40 to 60 tons of fresh longan, producing 4 to 6 tons of finished longan. Realizing the great potential of the traditional profession, in 2022, Ms. My established the Hong Nam Agricultural Production, Trade and Service Cooperative. In her role as director, she and 9 other members are determined to transform from small-scale manual production to a more modern, methodical and collective economic model.

Ms. My shared: The cooperative has invested in building a closed factory of nearly ^200m2 , installing a modern machinery system to dry longan by electricity, an important improvement to completely replace the traditional charcoal drying method. Fresh longan is carefully selected, washed by machine, peeled in a sterile environment and then put into the electric drying system according to a closed process. This method not only retains the flavor and nutrients of longan but also ensures hygiene and safety.

In addition to maintaining traditional longan production, Ms. My also created a lotus-wrapped longan product, combining Hung Yen specialties and the refreshing scent of lotus. Currently, it is the longan season, each day her cooperative processes about 500 kg of fresh longan, obtaining 100 kg of finished lotus-wrapped longan. The product is popular in the market and brings significant economic value.

Ms. Le Thi Hoa, Dien Bien village said: Since working at Hong Nam Cooperative, my life has been stable. The work is meticulous but not too hard, the environment is clean, bringing an average daily income of nearly 300,000 VND.

With the startup project to build an agricultural processing facility associated with enhancing the value of Hung Yen longan specialties, Ms. My won an encouragement prize at the "Women's Creative Startup and Green Transformation" contest in 2024 organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Women's Union.

Sweet fruits from digital thinking

Hung Yen today is also a place that affirms the strong mark of women who dare to think, dare to do, and rise up to become economic masters in their homeland. Among them, Ms. Tran Thi Xuan, Tan Hoa village, Long Hung commune stands out with a high-tech melon growing model, earning hundreds of millions of VND per crop. No longer traditional melon beds, here every stage is automated, from irrigation, drainage to monitoring the growth process. Melons are grown in three gardens, each garden is more than ^3,000m2 , grown in rotation to ensure year-round output. Ms. Xuan said: I have been "fated" with melons for 9 years, when I first watched a video instructing the high-tech greenhouse model on social networks. Seeing the high efficiency, I learned more, learned from many sources, visited effective models in many places and boldly invested.

Thanks to the drip irrigation method and the use of melon varieties suitable for each season, each crop she harvests about 9 tons of fruit/garden, with a selling price of 28,000 - 30,000 VND/kg. After deducting expenses, the profit per crop is estimated at 600 million VND. Not only stopping at production, Ms. Xuan also regularly shares melon growing knowledge with people in need, especially young entrepreneurs, contributing to creating income and changing the mindset of agricultural production for people here, especially the younger generation.

The women's start-up movement in Hung Yen has spread strongly in recent times, creating a clear change in rural economic life. Currently, the province has hundreds of cooperative models, companies, production and business establishments owned by women, including 21 cooperative models, 31 clean and high-tech agricultural economic models. Ms. Vu Hong Luyen, Vice Chairman of the Provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee, Chairman of the Provincial Women's Union said: Hung Yen women today are no longer just stuck in the fields or the kitchen. They are the owners of cooperatives and businesses, reaching out to the international market with high-quality products.

We are very proud that more and more women are boldly innovating their thinking, applying science, technology and digital technology to production. The Provincial Women's Union will continue to accompany, support market connection, train management and start-up skills so that women are more and more confident.