Used to be an excellent Vietnamese Farmer

Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Director of An Hoa Commune Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative - Ms. Hoang Thi Gai, was awarded the title of Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer in 2021 by the Vietnamese Farmers' Pride Program. The title of Central-level Excellent Farmer and Business Household, Certificate of Merit for outstanding achievements in the emulation movement of farmers in excellent production and business...

Through continuous efforts, from a rice purchasing and milling agent distributing throughout the South and North (in 1992). Director of the Cooperative - Hoang Thi Gai rolled up her sleeves to grow rice, accumulate land, build large-scale fields right in her hometown, and distill Man village rice products into wine under the Hoang Quan wine brand. The product meets 3-star OCOP standards and is distributed in many provinces and cities across the country.

From a small production service group, in 2017, Ms. Gai mobilized to establish the An Hoa Commune Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative (An Hoa Cooperative) consisting of 9 members, with an initial capital of 1 billion VND contributed by the members of the cooperative.

To solve the problem of farmers abandoning their fields to prevent weeds from growing, the Cooperative has boldly and pioneered in investing in agricultural mechanization, implementing production on concentrated fields and large-scale fields. Linking product consumption on a scale of over 100 hectares, successfully producing high-quality rice, following the organic direction, with a yield of 8 tons/ha, and an output of 800 tons/crop. Production efficiency of 70 million/ha/year is 3-5 times higher than conventional rice cultivation. The total revenue of the Cooperative is 7.6 billion/year, after deducting all expenses, the profit is over 700 million/year.

Sharing with Dan Viet Newspaper reporter, Ms. Hoang Thi Gai said that in 2014, she mobilized the establishment of a service association to implement synchronous mechanization to build a large-scale field with 364 members. Investing in 6 types of mechanical machines including plows, transplanters, harvesters, etc. with a total investment of over 1.8 billion VND, the entire production process was synchronously mechanized from land preparation to harvesting.

Recently, the cooperative has started using some automatic agricultural equipment such as transplanters, harvesters, self-driving tillers, fertilizer spreaders, pesticide sprayers using drones... saving time, labor and many other costs.

On the high-lying rice fields, the cooperative applies crop rotation to increase soybean and vegetable crops, linking product consumption and export to the Japanese and UK markets.

"Vegetable soybeans adapt quite well to local soil and do not require much fertilizer. The roots of vegetable soybeans have a very good effect on soil improvement, making the soil more porous and limiting pests and diseases when switching to rice cultivation.

The harvested soybean fruit always has a stable output. On average, 1kg of soybean costs 10-15 thousand VND. After deducting all expenses, the profit is 25-35 million VND/ha/crop, the efficiency is 2-3 times higher than rice cultivation" - Ms. Hoang Thi Gai said excitedly.

Up to now, the cooperative has accumulated 70ha - 100ha, the value of which is 65-85 million VND/ha/crop, after deducting costs, the net profit is 25-35 million VND/ha/crop. Soybean plants are cultivated according to safe and environmentally friendly processes.

Essence of Hoang Quan OCOP 3-star sticky rice wine

The main ingredient is sticky rice grown in the fields of Man village in Kenh Huu hamlet, An Hoa commune (Vinh Bao district, Hai Phong city) - this is the most famous area of ​​Vinh Bao district since ancient times. People specialize in growing the golden flower sticky rice variety for plump, sticky, delicious rice grains.

Man sticky rice is cooked into rice, fermented with Chinese medicinal yeast, and distilled twice. After being distilled, the wine is buried in the ground using the traditional method. After 8 months - 1 year, it will be processed through a detoxification machine before being bottled.

In one year, the cooperative produces 30,000 liters of Hoang Quan sticky rice wine, which is distributed in Hai Phong, Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Hai Duong, Ho Chi Minh City, on supermarket systems, restaurants and trading floors such as postmart, tiki, lazada... bringing great economic efficiency to the cooperative.

Currently, there are 3 products, golden flower sticky rice, sticky rice soaked with ginseng root and sticky rice soaked with Morinda officinalis root, recognized as 3-star OCOP products for the first time in 2019 and the second time in 2022.

Hoang Quan sticky rice wine is the first wine product recognized by Hai Phong city as a 3-star OCOP product, granted a standard certificate, and registered an exclusive trademark.

The production and business activities of the Cooperative also create regular jobs for 09 employees and over 50 seasonal workers in the locality with an income of 6.5 - 7.5 million VND/person/month, with social insurance. Every year, the Cooperative summarizes the business results and distributes profits to members based on the percentage of capital invested in the Cooperative.

Talking to Dan Viet Newspaper reporter, Mr. Tran Quang Tuong - Chairman of Hai Phong City Farmers' Association said that An Hoa Commune Agricultural Production and Service Cooperative is one of the cooperatives with both typical industrial and agricultural products of Hai Phong City.

The concentrated production and mechanization of fields with modern machinery of An Hoa Cooperative - headed by Ms. Hoang Thi Gai has made an important contribution to changing the thinking of agricultural production throughout the city. Promoting the restructuring process of the agricultural sector, contributing to reducing input costs, bringing stable development of agricultural production. Creating good, safe and high-quality agricultural products in a modern direction.

It is known that An Hoa Cooperative is a unit that has been awarded certificates of merit by central and local levels and sectors for many consecutive years for its outstanding achievements in cooperative development, always enthusiastically participating in social activities to help poor households, policy households, and households facing difficult circumstances in the locality to overcome poverty and rise up. Annually, it supports funding for local humanitarian and charitable activities of 10-20 million VND.