Nguyễn Thái Sơn checks his tangerine garden. — VNA/VNS Photo Chu Quốc Hùng

LÂM ĐỒNG — In the past five years, a young man who dared to quit his stable job as a State employee to work as a gardener applying a new model on arid land in Đạ Tẻh District, has inspired the Lâm Đồng farming community.

His 40-hectare orchard has been very successful, and he was voted to receive the title Outstanding Vietnamese Farmer this year.

He is also recognised as a typical example nationwide in the campaign of studying and following late President Hồ Chí Minh's ideology, ethics and style this year.

Đạ Tẻh District is one of the major fruit growing areas of Lâm Đồng Central Highlands province with thousands of hectares.

The organic fruit trees owned by 32-year-old Nguyễn Thái Sơn, 32, are in Village 3B of Triệu Hải Commune.

The young man is famous locally as an energetic, enthusiastic person with a passion for organic fruits and agriculture.

In Sơn's orchard, the model that most fascinates people is the seven-hectare tangerine area planted in 2017, which has so far yielded hundreds of tonnes each season.

With a market price of VNĐ30,000 (US$1.23) per kilo, Sơn has an income of about VNĐ2 billion ($82,000) per year.

In addition to 3ha of grapefruit, he is cultivating 30ha of Thai durian.

With this area, Sơn's total revenue last year reached VNĐ5 billion ($205,000).

Sơn said that he previously worked at the Đạ Tẻh Medical Centre.

Doing his own research, he found that the climate and soil in Đạ Tẻh were suitable for growing citrus trees. But local people still planted spontaneously, not following Vietnamese Good Agricultural Practices (VietGAP) and Good Agricultural Practices (GlobalGAP) standards.

"After many nights of thinking, I left my job at the district health centre to attend a high-tech fruit growing course and visited a number of models in different localities,” Sơn said.

After six months of studying how to grow and care for citrus fruit trees using biotechnology and without using pesticides, in 2017, with his own capital and additional loans from banks and relatives, Sơn bought the first three hectares of land, then five, and eventually 20ha.

At that time, land in Đạ Tẻh District was quite cheap due to the failure of cashew crops, and many local people sold their cashew land.

“I gradually realised my passion," Sơn said.

Three years later, Sơn had his first sweet fruits.

Now his gardens are a vast green splash on the rocky land.

Hà Vĩnh Du, secretary of Triệu Hải Commune Youth Union, said, "Currently, the start-up campaign among local youth is developing very strongly. Most of them choose agriculture.”

However, due to difficulties in capital and land, new models are usually small scale, about 2ha per model.

“Particularly, Sơn's organic tangerine garden is a breakthrough and shows the local youth’s desire, will and determination to get rich. The model will be included in the commune’s OCOP (one commune one product) programme in the near future," Du said.

Sơn always uses production processes in compliance with VietGAP standards, from seed and fertiliser selection to product quality inspection.

Not only good at enriching himself, daring to think and act independently, Sơn also supports his hometown and local people.

With his practical experience, Sơn regularly guides local farmers on farming techniques, science and technology.

In the past six years, he has supported the district with VNĐ150 million ($6,000) to build roads, village halls and renovate environmental landscapes.

He donated nearly VNĐ200 million ($8,100) for local poor farmers to develop their own production and escape poverty sustainably.

With his achievements, in 2019 Sơn was awarded the Lương Định Của Award for outstanding farmers by the HCM Central Youth Union.

In 2020, he was awarded a certificate for advanced youth following Uncle Hồ (former President Hồ Chí Minh)'s instructions by the HCM Central Youth Union.

At the Proud Vietnamese Farmers Programme organised by the Central Farmers' Union, Sơn was one of two farmers from Lâm Đồng Province voted into the list of 100 excellent Vietnamese farmers this year. — VNS