(HBO) – Luong Van Suong, a resident in Na Loc village, Dong Chum commune (Da Bac district) started his agricultural business not by growing rice, maize or any other food crops but grass. The man’s determination has been translated into a persuasive economic model, helping him gain the title of "Vietnam’s excellent farmer” last year.
Luong
Van Suong has dedicated his efforts to cow raising and passion fruit farming,
earning millions of VND on an annual basis.
Everything began in 2012 when Suong knew he needed to switch to a
new production model and was interested in growing grass for cow and buffalo farming.
After careful consideration, he used five hectares of his family’s corn field
to grow crass, offering a good source of nutrition for his cattle to be healthy
and thrive. The herd now grows to 150 heads, producing between 20 and 40 calves
and generating more than 300 million VND each year.
He also offers jobs to poor families by contracting them to raise cows
and buffalos, who will raise the cattle till they produces calves and give back
half of their profits from the cattle to Suong. The service has helped many
needy households escape poverty.
In 2016, Suong invested in 10 hectares of clean passion fruit
plantation, with all fruit harvested sold to a processing company. In the first
fruit crop, the garden yielded 60 tonnes of fruit, reeling in around 100 million
VND.
Suong’s business has also created stable-income jobs for dozens of
local labourers.
As Suong moved forward with his agricultural projects, he learned
the danger of herbicide. He then became the first in his locality to encourage
people to say no to the dangerous substance. One-hundred percent of households
in Na Loc signed an anti-herbicide commitment and agreed to make it part of the
village’s informal common law. The campaign spread throughout Dong Chum commune
and local people agreed to follow the commitment since January 1, 2017, with no
violations spotted to date. Dong Chum was the first commune in Da Bac district
and Hoa Binh province to successfully launch the campaign.
Suong now began raising free-range chickens on his fields. He said
when people used weed killers rampantly, the method was impossible, as the
chickens kept dying of herbicide poisoning. Now, the environmentally friendly
free range farming has been proved effective and attracted increasing
involvement of local farmers./.
Once a mountainous province facing many challenges, Hoa Binh has, after more than a decade of implementing the national target programme on new-style rural area development, emerged as a bright spot in Vietnam’s northern midland and mountainous region. In the first quarter of 2025, the province recorded positive results, paving the way for Hoa Binh to enter a phase of accelerated growth with a proactive and confident mindset.
Hoa Binh province is steadily advancing its agricultural sector through the adoption of high-tech solutions, seen as a sustainable path for long-term development.
The steering committee for key projects of Hoa Binh province convened on May 14 to assess the progress of major ongoing developments
A delegation of Hoa Binh province has attended the "Meet Korea 2025" event, recently held by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea (RoK) in Vietnam, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, and the People's Committee of Hung Yen province.
Hoa Binh province joined Vietnam’s national "One Commune, One Product” (OCOP) programme in 2019, not simply as a mountainous region following central policy, but with a clear vision to revive the cultural and agricultural values in its villages and crops.
From just 16 certified products in its inaugural year to 158 by early 2025, the One Commune One Product (OCOP) programme in Hoa Binh province has followed a steady and strategic path. But beyond the numbers, it has reawakened local heritage, turning oranges, bamboo shoots, brocade, and herbal remedies into branded, market-ready goods - and, more profoundly, transformed how local communities value and present their own cultural identity.
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