A couple in Hanoi have left their good jobs at a state-owned institution to follow an organic farming project.
Nguyen Duc Chinh and his wife Nguyen Thi Duyen have left their good jobs at a state-owned institution to follow an organic farming project.
Nguyen Duc Chinh, 40, and his wife Nguyen Thi Duyen, 39, both graduated from the Hanoi University of Agriculture in 2001. They had struggled to find a suitable workplace before winning a place at a major agricultural research institution in Hanoi.
The couple then completed their master's degrees in Australia. Duyen was assigned to join in an organic farming project in 2015 and she borrowed an abandoned 1,000 square-metre plot of land to carry out the project. Her love for organic farming has developed since.
In 2016, Chinh won a scholarship for his doctorate in Japan and he took his family with him. Here the couple knew about the book The One-Straw Revolution about natural farming by Masanobu Fukuoka. They also saw and practised natural farming and their love for organic farming grew stronger.
The couple returned to Vietnam in 2019 with a determination to introduce natural farming in the country. They spent a lot of time finding suitable land by the Day River in Hanoi's Phuc Tho District and started growing vegetables and fruits following natural farming techniques in early 2020.
Facing numerous difficulties in the first days, Duyen resigned at her institute late that year and Chinh also sent his resignation in early 2021 to spend all their time on their own project. Some other colleagues also resigned to join their project.
The couple spent all their savings on the farm but they faced losses the whole first year.
The couple said they spent lots of time catching insects at the farms. They also bought eggs, and soybeans to make organic biological fertilizers.
Chinh catches insects
"With limited money, we can only employ four workers," Duyen said. "We also work like real farmers. But we’re happy that our vegetables and fruits taste much better and are of course safer than those sold at many local markets."
Duyen shared that although Vietnam is known as an agricultural country, many farmers overuse insecticides and herbicides. They want to promote natural farming to have safe agricultural products for local people.
"It's great that now many people have praised our work and supported us," she said. "We are having more customers and our friends and relatives who earlier said we were crazy now also support our project."