With the desire to create clean products, reduce farming costs and provide safe food sources, many businesses and cooperatives in Da Nang have invented nature-based farming models so as to both protect the environment and provide products that are good for human health.

Mr. Huynh Van Muoi (wearing a jacket, standing in the middle) actively participates in fairs to learn from other businesses' experiences and promote his products. Photo: D.H.L

Boldly driving digital transformation

To satisfy the growing demand for safe food consumption of people, Mr. Huynh Van Muoi, Director of the Kim Thanh General Production and Trading Service Cooperative, has long been aspiring to build a closed mushroom production model according to VietGAP standards.

With many years of experience in producing mushrooms using traditional methods, in 2021, Mr. Muoi boldly spent VND 1.3 billion on converting a damp and old level 4 house in Hoa Vang District’s Hoa Phong Commune into a 3-storey building on an area of ​​400m² to produce, process and package finished mushrooms.

Aside from increasing quality and output, the first thing Mr. Muoi cares about the most is the input materials with the aim to bring mushroom products with the best quality to customers.

Mr. Muoi shared that sawdust is increasingly scarce due to people changing the crop structure, so the price of raw materials is quite high. Meanwhile, local sawdust does not meet the requirements. Therefore, he has to source the growing medium material from Gia Lai Province. Compared to mushroom production facilities in Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces, which are more convenient in transportation when there is a source of raw materials in Dak Lak Province, he has to research and mix some other materials to reduce the cost and increase his cooperative's competitiveness in the market.

However, to ensure the growing medium meets the standards, the sawdust selected must be of non-bitter, non-latex trees and must be composted to sterilise the growing medium. Then the mushroom spawn is packed in.

Not only in the growing medium treatment process, he also strictly implements the cleaning of the farm, and ensures the airy environment. He does not use pesticides from the time of production until the product is released. Fresh mushroom products are preserved in a refrigerator, whilst dried products are preserved in a dryer.

In addition to the inspection according to VietGAP standards on farms, medicines, workers, etc., consumers such as supermarkets and restaurants frequently come to his farm once every 6 months to evaluate the product before signing the contract.

Up to now, his facility has produced an average of 150kg/day of finished products such as wood ear mushrooms, straw mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, lingzhi mushrooms, abalone mushrooms, etc.

Mr. Muoi said that all fresh and dried products have been consumed at supermarkets, resorts, hotels, and restaurants in the city. Applying high-tech production techniques helps him regulate output to satisfy market demand, thereby proactively producing and avoiding the situation of good harvest and low prices, especially on the 1^st and 15^th days of lunar months. In addition, the cooperative also supplies products to a number of provinces and cities nationwide such as Hue, Hoi An, Tam Ky, Quang Ngai, and Vinh.

In addition to the mushroom production facility in Hoa Phong Commune, the Kim Thanh General Production and Trading Service Cooperative has a 25,000m² production facility specialising in growing fruit trees and bamboo shoots, and making tofu, in Hoa Ninh Commune; a 400m² facility specialising in growing lingzhi mushrooms and making medicinal herbs in Cam Le District’s Hoa Phat Ward; and the 200m² facility specialising in agricultural products in Thanh Khe District’s Hoa Khe Ward.

“Currently, the Cooperative has a total of 38 members, including 2 enterprises. We hope that the city will support land rental to expand the production facilities and call on enterprises and cooperatives to invest in technology to create stronger resources, especially investing in modern closed production line technology from processing to packaging to meet the increasing demand of consumers”, Mr. Muoi emphasised.

With the same desire to improve the quality of agricultural products as Mr. Muoi, Mr. Nguyen Tan Phuong, Director of the CNC Afarm Agricultural JSC, has boldly invested in an over 3ha farm specialising in producing leafy vegetables, organic melons and cordyceps according to high-tech agricultural processes in Hoa Phu Commune, Hoa Vang District, since 2018.

Sharing about the production process, Mr. Phuong said “When I first started my business, I produced hydroponically. However, due to harsh climate conditions, the cost of the product was too high. To reduce the production cost but still ensure product quality, I researched and switched to organic production, combining the method of balancing fish farming and vegetable growing”.

He added that the company used earthworms to feed the fish, then produced earthworm manure from the fish manure to fertilise the soil. With an automatic irrigation and fertilisation system, the production model of the CNC Afarm Agricultural JSC has produced vegetables and melons meeting VietGAP standards. The company's products have won trust and received orders from many supermarkets and households in the city.

Creating ecosystem for discovery and experience

In parallel with creating clean products, green agricultural production models also create an ecosystem by connecting to develop community tourism, contributing to the development of sustainable agriculture.

The CNC Afarm Agricultural JSC has a Hestia Farm experience area, annually welcoming 20-30% of the total number of pupils in the city to visit and experience.

Mr. Nguyen Tan Phuong said that apart from visiting and listening to presentations on vegetable growing technology, pupils also experience sowing seeds and planting trees, and visit farms raising goats, sheep, pigeons, chickens, ducks and geese.

In addition, they can participate in group activities, and experience making rice paper and pottery products at craft villages.

In the summer, the company also welcomes pupils from English centres, life skills centres and private schools, along with university students, to learn about clean farming experiences such as learning about biotechnology, soil microbiology treatment, and cultivation.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu, 35, residing in Hoa Thuan Dong Ward, Hai Chau District, whose child participated in experience activities at the Hestia Farm, said that after the school took her to visit the vegetable garden, her child was able to distinguish common vegetables. The experience also helps her child gain more knowledge about farming and be more aware of using safe food.

In addition to expanding the scale of production, Mr. Huynh Van Muoi hopes that his mushroom production and processing facility will become a core facility, facilitating farmers to come and grasp the clean agricultural production technology, thereby contributing to boosting the development of the local economy.

"Along with Tuy Loan rice paper craft village and Tuy Loan organic vegetable growing village, our mushroom production facility will be located in a close-knit community and interact with each other to create a new ecosystem that contributes to the development of agriculture combined with local tourism. After visiting the mushroom production facility, visitors can experience cooking mushrooms themselves and eating them directly here to feel the delicious taste of our products" Mr. Huynh Van Muoi said.

Reporting by DOAN HAO LUONG - Translating by M.DUNG