Lesson 1: "Good land attracts birds"

Compared to many other regions in the country, Binh Phuoc is blessed with a temperate climate and weather with few extremes. In particular, Binh Phuoc has a large area of agricultural land with many types of industrial crops and fruit trees - where many food sources such as flowers, fruits, microorganisms and insects are produced. These are favorable conditions for swiftlets to nest, grow and develop.

Chance with "heavenly gift"

“Around 2002, in Tien Thanh commune (now Tien Thanh ward), a household built a house to live in. When the house was completed, flocks of swiftlets came to make nests. To effectively use the "heavenly blessing", this family contacted a bird's nest business organization in Khanh Hoa province to harvest and find outlets for the bird's nest products. Realizing the effectiveness, many households in the area followed suit and in fact, many households were successful, averaging 3-20kg of raw bird's nests/year" - Vice Chairman of Dong Xoai City People's Committee Vu Van Muoi shared about the origin of the profession of welcoming "heavenly blessing" in the area.

Group 5B, Tan Tra 2 residential area, Tan Binh ward, Dong Xoai city has many newly built or renovated swallow houses, extensions from old houses "growing" close together.

Currently, in Dong Xoai city, there are about 200 households that are engaged in the business of attracting and raising swiftlets, many of which also process raw bird's nests into refined bird's nests to create jobs and increase income. According to the reporter's records, group 5B, Tan Tra 2 quarter, Tan Binh ward is an area with many households developing the business of attracting and raising swiftlets. The houses for raising swiftlets here are built close together, including newly built houses, but also houses that have been renovated and extended from residential houses. And the owners of these bird's nest houses are not all permanent residents but come from many other places.

Mr. Phung Van Hau lives in Quarter 5, Tien Thanh Ward, but has a house to attract and raise swiftlets at Nest 5B, Quarter Tan Tra 2, Tan Binh Ward for about 10 years now. Mr. Hau said that to have a large number of swiftlets, clean raw bird's nests depends on many factors, from installation techniques, how to attract them to care, disease safety, preliminary processing, and processing. With only one bird's nest house, each year the family harvests 35-36kg of raw bird's nests with an average price of 23-25 million VND/kg, depending on quality and current prices. To create jobs and increase income, the family does not sell raw bird's nests but processes them, removes impurities, dries them, packages them, and supplies them to the market with a price of 28-30 million VND/kg. “We are farmers, so compared to other professions, the profession of attracting and raising swiftlets and processing bird nests brings in quite a high income. At the same time, it reduces labor costs and creates jobs for relatives and neighbors,” Mr. Hau shared.

In addition to raising swiftlets, Mr. Phung Van Hau in Ward 5, Tien Thanh also processes bird's nests to sell on the market to increase his income.

Not only Tan Binh ward but also many other areas in Dong Xoai city have households renovating and expanding their houses to attract swiftlets. In 2014, Ms. Doan Thi Phuong's family, residing in Quarter 5, Tien Thanh ward, invested 2.5 billion VND to build a house, and at the same time used the upper floor as a house to attract swiftlets. On average, each year her family collects about 20 kg of raw bird's nests, equivalent to more than 400 million VND. Ms. Phuong shared that the job of attracting wild swiftlets is also a matter of luck, if you have the luck, many swiftlets will come to live with you, not everyone is successful. In reality, there are many households that build tall houses, invest a lot of money but the birds have not made nests or have made very few nests even though they have been operating for a long time.

Billionaire income

Compared to other localities, the movement of attracting and raising swiftlets and producing and processing products from bird's nests in Chon Thanh town in recent years has increased rapidly and developed the most strongly in the province, with 297 households. Among them, many households have effective installation and attracting techniques as well as environmental sanitation and disease prevention, so they earn hundreds of millions of VND, even billions of VND/year from selling bird's nests. In particular, seeing the economic efficiency that this natural product bestows, many households have developed dozens of attracting houses combined with preliminary processing and processing of products from bird's nests, bringing in a huge source of income. “The family's birdhouse was built more than 10 years ago. Currently, each month we collect about 10kg of raw bird's nests, earning more than 200 million VND. Realizing the high efficiency, in recent years, my family has built a chain of other birdhouses in Lam Dong, Gia Lai, and Tay Ninh provinces. Because it is new, the income is less, about 2kg/month" - Mr. Tran Minh Tho, owner of the birdhouse in Quarter 2, Hung Long Ward, Chon Thanh Town shared.

Mr. Tho's family is one of many households in Chon Thanh who have become rich from the bird's nest business. With 16 hectares of land, Mr. Dinh Van Son's family, Ward 10, Hung Long Ward, grows fruit trees, builds more than 10 houses to attract and raise swiftlets, and processes bird's nest products called "Thien Thanh Bird's Nest" to supply the market, bringing in a large source of income. Mr. Son's family's model of attracting and raising swiftlets is considered a large-scale, closed household in the garden in Chon Thanh.

Not only that, many households have also established businesses that combine many stages and processes to create more income and jobs for local workers. Typically, from the pilot raising of 2 birdhouses in 2015 under the name Nam Phu Bird's Nest Facility, 2 years later, this facility was upgraded to Nam Phu Bird's Nest One Member Co., Ltd. in Ward 1, Thanh Tam Ward, Chon Thanh Town. In addition to attracting bird's nest farming, the company also consults, installs equipment, builds houses, purchases, consumes bird's nest products, pre-processes and makes products from pure bird's nests and refined bird's nests. With clean, quality products from nature, the bird's nest products of Nam Phu Bird's Nest One Member Co., Ltd. have been recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as achieving 3-star OCOP in 2020, supplying the market with dozens of kilograms/month. In addition, in Chon Thanh town, cooperative groups for raising swiftlets have been established to share experiences in raising, processing, and finding stable output, such as the Swiftlet Cooperative Group in Minh Hung ward with 12 members...

Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Tran Van Phuong said that Binh Phuoc has a climate as well as natural conditions, soil, and abundant food sources that are very suitable for the development of swiftlets. Meanwhile, bird's nest is a high-value food, processed into many nutritious products for domestic consumers and export. Currently, the Department of Animal Health (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) is implementing guidelines for building codes and facilities for packaging and processing bird's nests that meet food safety standards for official export to China. This will contribute to increasing the value and efficiency of the bird's nest industry.

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