Increase income thanks to Farmer Support Fund

Ms. Luong Thi Thuy Huong's family in Phuc Ha residential group, Da Mai ward has 2 ponds, one of which is 360 ^m2 wide and the other is 1,000 ^m2 wide. Previously, she raised fish. Later, realizing that raising snails was more valuable, the family converted the small pond to raising snails. The plan was that after a year of harvesting from the fish and snail ponds, her family would continue to expand snail farming to a larger pond. However, unfortunately, her husband became seriously ill, so all savings were spent on medical treatment. Ms. Huong said: "While I didn't know where to get the money to invest in raising snails in the neighboring pond, in 2022, my family received a loan of 50 million VND from the Farmers' Support Fund from the Ward Farmers' Association. Thanks to the preferential capital, my family has the conditions to expand production and improve the economy ."

Ms. Luong Thi Thuy Huong (left) introduces snail farming techniques that bring high economic efficiency.

According to Ms. Huong, when raising snails, it is necessary to do a good job of cleaning the pond; choosing the right food, rotating between different types of food from grass to squash, luffa, jackfruit fiber, etc. On the surface of the pond, water fern is planted to keep the environment cool, providing shelter for the snails. "Snails can be sold after only 3 months of releasing the seeds. With the current price ranging from 70 - 80 thousand VND/kg, my family is expected to earn about 150 million VND in profit in the near future," Ms. Huong shared.

Along with Ms. Huong's family, in 2022, Phuc Ha residential group had 2 households that received loans from the Farmers' Support Fund under the program to implement the Commercial Snail Breeding Project, with a total amount of 136 million VND, loan term of 3 years. Snails are raised with vegetables and grass in nature, quality is guaranteed, consumption is very favorable. Up to now, the entire Phuc Ha residential group has 15 households raising snails, with an average total income of 2.3 billion VND/year.

In recent years, many households in Da Mai ward have also had access to preferential capital from the Farmers' Support Fund. In October 2023, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bac's family in Mai Do residential group was able to borrow more than 60 million VND for a term of 2 years. From this capital, her family invested in raising monosex tilapia, raising geese and ducks for meat on a farm of more than 3,000 ^m2 . Ms. Bac said: "Because raising livestock, especially raising fish, takes a long time to sell products, so when I borrowed capital from the Farmers' Support Fund, the interest rate is low and I don't have to pay the principal immediately, so my family is very secure." From the farm model, on average, Ms. Bac's family earns a profit of 140-160 million VND per year. Since the beginning of 2025, they have sold 600 ducks for meat, earning tens of millions of VND. “Unfortunately, in 2024, typhoon Yagi hit, so my family’s fish pond was affected. The Ward Farmers’ Association has just announced a loan extension for another year to help my family invest in production,” said Ms. Bac.

In fact, from the capital source of the Farmers' Support Fund allocated by the Farmers' Association at higher levels, in recent years, the Farmers' Association of Da Mai Ward has lent capital to many members to develop production. From there, many typical examples of good production and business have been formed, creating concentrated commodity production areas. Typical examples include the aquaculture specialized areas in the residential groups: Mai Do, Dong Bui, Hai Khe; the flower and ornamental plant growing areas in the residential groups: Phu Gia, Phuc Thuong; the snail farming areas in the residential groups: Phuc Ha, Vinh An, Phuong Dau... Ms. Ngo Thi Hanh, Vice President of the Ward Farmers' Association said: "When considering loan support, we focus on households that have effective production models but lack capital to expand production. In addition, we pay attention to training and transferring science and technology so that households can use capital for the right purposes".

Currently, the Farmers’ Association of Da Mai Ward is effectively maintaining 10 projects borrowing capital from the Farmers’ Support Fund, with a total outstanding loan of more than 3 billion VND, for 42 members; there are no cases of overdue debt. Thereby helping households have conditions to develop production and increase income.

Article and photos: Do Thanh Nam

Source: https://baobacninhtv.vn/tang-thu-nhap-nho-quy-ho-tro-nong-dan-postid423581.bbg