People who turn 'poor land' into 'pure gold'

With diligence, a spirit of learning, daring to think, daring to do and acumen in applying science and technology to production, many farmers have overcome difficulties and become rich legitimately. Not only that, they have also become active members of social work, helping those in difficult circumstances. Their stories are living proof that, despite their difficult starting points, with dedication and effort, farmers can still become billionaires in their homeland, actively contributing to the construction of new rural areas.

Recently, the Central Executive Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union announced the list of "Outstanding Vietnamese Farmers" in 2025. Among the honored farmers, Tay Ninh has 2 farmers honored to receive this title.

Rising from hardship

Mr. Nguyen Van Buon's efforts were recognized with titles, certificates of merit, and awards (Photo: Van Dat)

From nothing, with effort and diligence, after nearly 25 years of hard work, Mr. Nguyen Van Buon's family (born in 1969, residing in Vinh Thanh commune) rose to become a well-off family. In 1990, due to difficult life, he left his hometown An Giang to Vinh Chau B, Tan Hung district, Long An province (now Vinh Thanh commune, Tay Ninh province) to start a business.

At that time, his biggest asset was only an old tractor. Initially, he rented land for production, plowing, and pumping water for the surrounding households. After a few crops, thanks to "good harvests and good prices", he gradually accumulated. In 1996, he got married, and together he and his wife tried to "take short-term to support long-term", buying more land to expand production. To date, his family has 40 hectares of rice land.

Not stopping there, Mr. Buon also boldly invested in buying plows, combine harvesters, and unmanned agricultural aircraft to serve production, contributing to reducing costs and creating jobs for nearly 30 local workers with stable income.

From nothing, with effort, after nearly 25 years, Mr. Nguyen Van Buon's family has risen to become a well-off household in the commune. On average, each year, he earns nearly 3 billion VND in profit from rice production and agricultural services.

In the list of outstanding Vietnamese farmers in 2025 just announced by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Farmers' Union, Mr. Ta Van Minh (born in 1974), a farmer in Loc Ninh commune, Tay Ninh province, is one of 63 farmers nationwide to be honored. This is the second time Mr. Minh has achieved this title.

Sharing about the early days of starting his business, Mr. Minh said that he was born and raised in Thanh Duc commune (formerly Go Dau district). Due to difficult family circumstances, in 1990, when he was only 16 years old, he had to drop out of school and follow an acquaintance to Phuoc Binh hamlet, Phuoc Minh commune, Duong Minh Chau district (now Loc Ninh commune) to work as a hired worker. After 2 years of saving and borrowing more from relatives, he bought land to grow short-term crops.

According to Mr. Minh, “in the 1990s, Phuoc Minh commune was planned as a new economic zone, with fertile land but lacking in facilities and traffic infrastructure, and difficult travel and living conditions, so many people sold their fields at low prices to return to the city. Taking advantage of that opportunity, in just 3 years, he was able to buy 5 hectares of land.

Mr. Minh recalled that at that time, Tay Ninh had two sugar factories, Bien Hoa and Bourbon, which were developing strongly, and the demand for sugarcane materials increased. Once again, he "took a risk", pooling all his family's capital to rent more land to switch to growing sugarcane. "In 1994 and 1995, the sugarcane growing movement began to spread, and people's demand for seedlings increased, so I boldly converted. At that time, each hectare of sugarcane seedlings sold after deducting costs brought a profit of up to 2 taels of gold, while the land price was only a few taels of gold/ha, so I took this opportunity to buy land. At its peak in the 2000s, I owned up to 140 hectares."

But in 2010 and 2011, when sugarcane began to decline, he switched to growing rubber trees. Currently, Mr. Minh has about 160 hectares of production land, of which 50 hectares are planted with rubber trees, 72 hectares with cassava, 6 hectares with bamboo shoots and the rest with rice. He also proactively organized rubber latex and cassava collection points to bring to factories that consume agricultural products for local farmers.

Up to now, on average, each commune of Duong Minh Chau district (old), he has about 10 noodle purchasing stations. Thanks to this model, on average each year, his economic models bring in profits of 4.5-5 billion VND, creating regular jobs for 30 workers with an income of about 8 million VND/month and from 50-70 seasonal workers.

Imprint in social work

Mr. Ta Van Minh was quick to convert from sugarcane to rubber growing since the early 2000s.

Not only developing the family economy, Mr. Nguyen Van Buon's family also actively participates in social work, supporting the construction of bridges, rural roads, giving gifts to poor students, helping families in difficult circumstances in the commune with an amount of up to hundreds of millions of VND. For those who want to learn experience in production, he actively shares and supports dozens of local households to build economic models.

As for Mr. Ta Van Minh, who started from nothing, he understands the difficulties and hardships of farmers, so whoever wants to learn from his production experience, he wholeheartedly shares. He is even willing to lend capital without interest and buy agricultural products to help farmers. "In the past, when I was in trouble, I also asked my relatives and neighbors for help. Now that I have "food and savings", I help others, that is also a natural thing" - Mr. Minh confided.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Khiem - Vice Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Loc Ninh Commune, said that Mr. Ta Van Minh not only focuses on developing production but also always accompanies the community. Not only sharing experiences, guiding farmers to change crop structure, applying technical advances to reduce costs, increase productivity and quality of agricultural products, Mr. Minh also creates livelihoods by prioritizing the recruitment of workers in difficult circumstances, supporting capital, seeds, crops and closely following the production process of many households, helping them have a stable income.

In addition, he also regularly participates in rural infrastructure construction activities. Each year, he contributes about 80-100 million VND to social security activities such as the Farmer Support Fund; Education Promotion Fund; Natural Disaster and Disease Prevention Fund. In addition, he also invests 200-500 million VND in counterpart funds, plus 100-150 million VND to build intra-field roads and drainage systems.

The success story of Mr. Buon and Mr. Minh is not only the pride of their families and the locality but also a vivid proof of the power of will and innovation. They have proven that their homeland is still a potential place for those who dare to think and dare to do to create "miracles".

It is expected that the Ceremony to honor Outstanding Vietnamese Farmers and Farmers' Scientists in 2025 will take place on October 14, 2025 on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Vietnam Farmers' Union./.

Good Virtue

Source: https://baolongan.vn/nhung-nguoi-bien-dat-ngheo-thanh-vang-rong--a204043.html