Nguyễn Ngôn, a repairman in southern Bình Định Province, operates the stem chopping machine he invented. — Photo nld.com.vn

HÀ NỘI — Nguyễn Ngôn has one goal in his career and that’s to create multi-functional, long-lasting and low-cost machinery to help farmers.

The 55-year-old from Hoài Xuân Ward in southern Bình Định Province may not have any training in mechanical engineering, but that’s not stopped him from inventing dozens of machines to help improve production for local farmers.

Now Ngôn has been awarded the first prize for one of his inventions at Bình Định Province’s Farmers’ Innovation Contest.

Ngôn takes existing machinery being used and makes them better, a trait he has had since his teenage years when he earned money by fixing broken bicycles.

"When I was young, the country was still facing many difficulties and people mainly used bicycles to travel around,” he told Người Lao Động (Labourers) newspaper.

“In the countryside, bicycles were not only a means of transport but also a great asset of many families. Therefore, repairing bicycles was a good way to make a living.”

He soon expanded into repairing motorbikes, and even built his own parts to save money and time.

But this still wasn’t enough and he began to work on other types of engines and learned how to weld.

"Seeing many people in the countryside work hard but with low productivity, I came up with the idea of creating machines to help them ease their problems,” he said.

Among his creations, he has invented a corn kernel separator, meat grinder, stem chopping machine for animal husbandry, and rice fan machine.

Many people have come to ask him to make machines to order.

“They just talk about what they need, and I will do my research to make it,” he said.

Non-stop innovation

It was his stem chopper for livestock, which helped him gain the first prize at the innovation contest organised by the provincial Department of Science and Technology.

He first came up with the idea a decade ago when he and his wife raised pigs. Each day, his wife would painstakingly chop up fruit and vegetables to make food for the animals which was extremely time-consuming.

So Ngôn built a machine that would do the job much faster.

Over the years he identified shortcomings with this machine and developed ways to overcome them.

One problem was the machine rusted quickly, because of the acidity in the fruit and vegetables, so he replaced the metal with plastic.

He said: “After listening to customers’ feedback, I tried to improve the machine. I used plastic containers and change the material of parts and redesign them so that it can be disassembled, repaired or replaced easily. Customers are very satisfied with my innovation.

“I have sold hundreds of products.”

Nguyễn Văn Thành, a farmer in Hoài Ân District said the job of chopping vegetable for pigs took him a lot of time and effort every day.

“The machine costs only VNĐ2.5 million ($109.3) but works very effectively,” Thành said.

“It is powered by electricity with a capacity of only 1.5 HP, so it is cheap to run.”

In 2012, Ngôn won third prize when he invented the corn kernel separator and was awarded a certificate of merit from the Farmers' Association of Bình Định Province. Recently, the provincial association ordered Ngôn to make a rice fan, which is used to separate the flat rice seeds and dust in the rice.

Nguyễn Phước Công, chairman of the association, said Ngôn’s meat grinder was among many favourite machines used by local farmers.

“Many people complained that the machine they bought got burned or damaged easily after a short time of usage,” he said.

“But Ngôn’s meat grinder was very durable, efficient, and affordable.”

Nguyễn Chí Công, vice chairman of Hoài Nhơn Town’s People's Committee said Ngôn’s machinery products have greatly contributed to helping farmers ease burdens and improve the efficiency and quality of production.

Currently, the town is planning to create conditions for him to carry out trademark and copyright registration procedures for the machines he has manufactured, he added. — VNS