Young pioneer brings science to the fields

Mr. Luong Van Truong, Chairman of the Board of Directors - Director of the Nam Dai Duong Youth Cooperative (Nghia Hung Commune) is known by many people as a typical face of the young, dynamic and creative generation of farmers who boldly apply science and technology to production. With many typical scientific research initiatives, he not only enriches his family but also develops his hometown's agriculture, affirming the pioneering role of young people in rural economic development.

With many outstanding scientific research initiatives, Mr. Luong Van Truong (white shirt) not only enriches his family but also contributes to promoting agricultural development.

The origin of passion

Mr. Truong was born and raised in the low-lying countryside of Nghia Hung commune, his family's economy depended solely on rice. His childhood days following his parents to the fields, his feet covered in mud, witnessing the hardships of farming... planted in him a passionate love for the fields and nurtured in him a passion and aspiration to be attached to and innovate his hometown's agriculture.

Mr. Truong shared: “In the past, although the fields in my hometown were large, they were fragmented, divided into small squares, making it difficult to mechanize production. My family was the same, we had 6 sao of fields but each place had a plot. That is why I always longed for the day when we could consolidate and exchange plots to build large fields.”

Mr. Luong Van Truong (white shirt) - a person with a passion for agricultural production.

With plans and aspirations to contribute to agricultural innovation, after graduating from high school, young man Luong Van Truong determined to enter Da Lat University to study Post-harvest Technology. With his diligence and impressive academic achievements, in 2011, when he had just graduated from university, he was selected to participate in the Pilot Project to select 600 excellent young intellectuals with university degrees to become Vice Chairmen of People's Committees of 62 poor districts and became Vice Chairman of People's Committee of Lung Than commune, Si Ma Cai district, Lao Cai province (before the merger) in charge of the local agriculture and forestry sector from 2012 to 2016.

The appearance of the young and enthusiastic engineer Luong Van Truong, along with the close coordination of the cadres and people in the commune, breathed new life into Lung Than agriculture at that time. Many hunger eradication and poverty reduction models that he directly participated in implementing brought about clear results, typically: developing buckwheat flower experience tourism associated with community tourism; expanding the area of ​​Ta Van plum cultivation, a local specialty; building 40 biogas models in compost bags, converting livestock waste into biogas,...

Being directly in charge of the agricultural sector in a locality with a low starting point like Lung Than is a huge challenge for the young engineer, but this is also the environment for him to apply knowledge from books to practice, thereby drawing experience for himself.

Conquer the challenge

After 5 years of hard work, accumulating both theoretical knowledge and practical experience, Mr. Luong Van Truong decided to return to his hometown to realize his unfinished ambition.

On the fallow fields, the young engineer boldly applied science to production, researching solutions to improve rice cultivation efficiency. With the support of the local Party Committee and government, he rented 7 hectares of agricultural land and established “Co Do Farm” with a large-scale field model.

However, due to choosing large-scale farming from the beginning, the weather was not favorable, so the model did not bring the expected results. In particular, the 2018 crop encountered prolonged heavy rains, causing the rice seeds to rot after being sown, losing 4-5 tons of rice seeds, causing a loss of more than one billion VND. The first shock on the journey to start a business made many people doubt the young engineer's ability, but he remained steadfast on the chosen path with the spirit of "falling where, standing there".

It was from this failure that he realized that seed incubation depended too much on weather conditions. From here, he focused on researching and finding ways to extend the seed preservation time so that when the weather was favorable, farmers could proactively plant seeds. Then he created a process for producing pre-germinated rice seeds. This process puts germinated seeds into a "dormant" state (germinated seeds are brought to a dry state, resistant to impact), so that farmers can easily use them without breaking the sprouts or rotting like the traditional method of soaking and incubating seeds. When using dormant seeds, farmers do not need to soak and incubate them but sow them directly, the seeds will return to a germinating state within 30 minutes.

Mr. Truong said: “This process has an industrial production cost of only about 2,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, if farmers soak and incubate fresh seeds, the cost for 1 kg (including labor, materials, water, electricity...) must be at least 10,000 VND. Vietnam is currently growing about 7 million hectares of rice, requiring about 700,000 tons of seeds each year. If we follow the process of germinating seeds, we will save about more than 3,000 billion VND and millions of laborers each crop.”

Also from the super-fast seed germination technology, Mr. Truong came up with the idea of ​​producing fresh germinated rice with high nutritional value, bringing health to consumers.

Thanks to its outstanding effectiveness, Mr. Truong's "dormant" seeds were quickly sown widely in the province, expanding to other localities across the country such as Hung Yen, Ca Mau,... to evaluate their adaptability to soil and climate in different regions. As a result, the seeds sown anywhere germinated very well, with a very low failure rate.

It was also from this super-fast germination technology that he came up with the idea of ​​producing fresh germinated rice with high nutritional value, bringing health to consumers, especially people with diabetes and overweight. Fresh germinated rice products can be used to cook rice, roast to make tea, brown rice flakes, make rice milk, grind into baby food powder, etc. With these benefits, fresh germinated rice products when introduced to the market are widely accepted by consumers.

Aspiration to reach far

After more than 4 years of implementation, from a single farm, by 2021, Mr. Truong had linked up and gathered like-minded young people with the same passion to establish the Nam Dai Duong Youth Cooperative (with 7 founding members and hundreds of associated members) to research technical solutions to support rice cultivation and commercial rice production on a large-scale field model applying high technology. The total production scale of the Cooperative is currently 52 hectares. In 2025, the estimated revenue of the Cooperative will reach about 9 billion VND, creating jobs for over 50 workers.

Not stopping there, as the head of the Cooperative, Mr. Luong Van Truong is always proactive , constantly researching and applying many initiatives to produce high-quality rice products such as: Large-scale seed soaking and incubation techniques to save water; Application of Java citronella essential oil in pest control on rice plants; 3-in-1 multi-function rice care machine to save water; Equipment to support spraying plant protection chemicals to save water integrated into available shoulder sprayers; Solving the problem of golden apple snails harming rice and creating high-quality fertilizer products from harmful organisms, ... In particular, the technology of growing rice without tilling by watering with biological products that decompose straw, dissolving water and then leading it throughout the ground helps save 20% of production costs, reduce time, reduce 10-15% of fertilizer and eliminate ghost rice plants, reduce methane emissions causing the greenhouse effect, reduce 100% of smoke and dust causing pollution, increase 30% of profits on the entire applied area.

These initiatives are not only applied to local production, but Mr. Truong also deploys and tests models in many regions in the country and internationally (Japan, Indonesia, Laos) to evaluate the adaptability of the technology to different soil conditions. Thereby, he aims to research and transfer technology to domestic localities and gradually expand technology exports abroad.

In 2024, Mr. Luong Van Truong was honored to be recognized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union with the title "Farmer Scientist".

With his efforts to overcome difficulties in starting a business and his practical contributions, Mr. Luong Van Truong was honored to receive many Certificates of Merit from the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union: "Youth Union member with outstanding national works, solutions and innovative products" in 2020, First Prize for Rural Youth Entrepreneurship, Luong Dinh Cua Award for Outstanding Young Farmers in 2021...; The Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union honored the title of "Farmer's Scientist", Second Prize in the 2024 Farmers' Technical Innovation Contest and many other awards and titles from all levels and sectors.

Mr. Luong Van Truong's journey is a vivid testament to the will to dare to think, dare to do, dare to innovate of today's young generation. From initial failures to recognized successes, he has affirmed that the path to modern agricultural development does not only start from knowledge but is also fostered by courage and aspiration. His story not only brings a new direction to the agriculture of his hometown Ninh Binh, but also contributes to spreading the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation, affirming the pioneering role of young people in the cause of building new rural areas and developing the country.

Tran Giang - Duc Huy

Source: https://baoninhbinh.org.vn/chang-trai-tre-ap-dung-nghien-cuu-khoa-hoc-vao-dong-ruong-251003172625540.html