GENXANH – THE AMBITION TO MAKE CLEAN AGRICULTURE OF A PHD COUPLE
Starting from a group of agricultural engineers who are passionate about growing vegetables, GenXanh is committed to providing the community with safe and quality products. After several initial difficulties, the farm is now a supplying point of organic vegetables to various retail customers, restaurants and mini supermarkets in Hanoi.
Mr. Chinh (born in 1982) has a PhD in biology in Japan and Mrs. Duyen (born in 1983) holds a master’s degree in agriculture in Australia. After years of cherishing the desire to build a scaled farm of organic vegetables, in 2019, starting from a wasteland, Mr. Chinh and Mrs. Duyen and 2 of their colleagues, who are also agricultural engineers, reclaimed and started greening the land with various vegetables. At first, the work encountered many difficulties such as unfavorable weather, epidemics, causing several obstacles to their lives.
Mrs. Duyen said that when she decided to do agriculture, she had to do it for prestige and quality, especially for organic vegetables, which can be done on a large scale yet still bring high yield.
She admits that if organic vegetables are produced on a small scale, the yield will be low and the cost will be high. When starting the work, she realized that there were still hundreds of things to worry about, from hiring workers, buying machinery, renovating the land… which all had to be in the right standard, on the right schedule. “For others, the amount of investment capital to this project may not be huge, but for us, it is a fortune. Land lease contracts with local people must be paid in advance, then we had to buy a lawnmower, build a house, implement power supply and water system… By that time, after office hours, we in turn went to the farm to work with the workers. Not until April 2021, we started growing seasonal vegetables”, shared Mrs. Duyen.
Mr. Chinh added, currently, vegetables are not enough to sell to customers. On average, each month, they sell 4-5 tons of vegetables of more than 100 different types, such as cabbage, kohlrabi, carrots, red beets, other types of spinach, lettuce….
In addition, the farm also sells seedlings that meet the criteria of “clean vegetables at home” to households.
Although the income is only enough to cover living costs, for them, it is also a happiness, as it helps them pursuit their passions, desires and do what they had studied abroad, applying to the domestic agricultural economy. And moreover, the couple and their son may live and enjoy the fresh air of the countryside.
Mrs. Duyen also said that farmers’ thinking in the past was always tied to nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Some people are passionate about organic farming but persuading others to trust and accept organic vegetables is not easy. They want to change this mindset in their own project, always open the farm door for customers to visit, learn about the origin of vegetables so that others can trust and use. Gen Xanh always makes sure to provide clean vegetables produced according to Organic standards, ensuring “5 No”:
+ No chemical pesticides;
+ No chemical fertilizers;
+ No herbicides;
+ No stimulants, growth regulators;
+ No GMO seeds.
Not only bringing income for themselves, helping people have access to clean vegetables, Mr. Chinh and Mrs. Duyen also create regular jobs for nearly a dozen of workers with stable income. Gen Xanh is also a place to inspire and impart experiences on organic agriculture, through the agriculturist network of Australian alumni in Vietnam.
Mr. Chinh’s development orientation of organic vegetable growing in the coming time has also been specifically planned. “Currently, Gen Xanh’s organic vegetable production is not sufficient to supply to customers. This year, we are trying to expand the vegetable growing area by 3-4ha. We are also considering linking with organic vegetable farmers. Accordingly, we shall provide input materials, technical guidance, quality supervision and product consumption assurance, combined with building a larger consumption chain. Currently, Gen Xanh is working with a number of partners to bring spices such as organic perilla for export to Japan and Europe”.
