Two young Vietnamese have quickly become success stories by applying science and technology to farming.
The Seedling Billionaire
A young man from Quang Ngai Province became a billionaire in the Central Highlands by specializing in off-season fruit varieties.
After graduating from Ho Chi Minh City University of Agriculture and Forestry in 1998, Huynh Ngoc Tu worked at the Southeastern Fruit Research Center in Ba Ria–Vung Tau. There, he became passionate about researching and creating high-yield, off-season fruit varieties through chemical treatments.
On a trip to the Central Highlands, Tu was captivated by the vast coffee, rubber, and fruit plantations on the red basalt soil. He noticed that while local farmers had deep experience with coffee, their fruit-growing techniques lagged behind those in southern Vietnam. Seeing great potential for off-season fruit trees, in 2005 he moved to the Dak Lak Department of Science and Technology to join a project developing the avocado value chain—laying the groundwork for his later success.
Tu tirelessly traveled hundreds of kilometers on weekends to survey avocado orchards and identified 100 off-season avocado trees. He narrowed these down to 46 outstanding specimens and, after three years of monitoring, selected five elite trees: one early-fruiting tree (January–April), three late-fruiting trees (September–December), and one “four-season” tree that bears fruit year-round, each yielding about 500 kg annually. The Dak Lak Department of Agriculture and Rural Development officially recognized these five trees as top mother plants. In 2011, Vietnam’s Intellectual Property Association listed them among the nation’s Top 100 Golden Integration Products.
To build a brand for these off-season varieties, Tu founded Dak Farm Co., Ltd., where he serves as director. By 2010 Dak Farm sold 20,000 grafted off-season avocado seedlings; in 2011 the figure reached 30,000 at 30,000–35,000 VND each. His nursery also supplies twelve other fruit varieties (mostly off-season), six industrial crops, and four reforestation species. In 2011 the nursery earned over 2 billion VND in revenue, half from avocados alone.
Tu believes his business helps farmers shift toward intensive fruit cultivation and higher incomes. “So far Dak Farm has 70 ha of avocado in partnership with farmers; by 2012 we will add another 300 ha,” he said.
The Poultry Millionaire
Applying scientific knowledge to animal husbandry, Bui Cong Trung has turned his family’s poultry-breeding operation into a thriving business, earning nearly half a billion VND in annual profit.
Born in 1986 in Dong Ang Hamlet, Kim Long Commune, Tam Duong District (Vinh Phuc Province), Trung is considered one of the young millionaires at the foot of the Tam Dao mountains. He is also a modern, tech-savvy farmer—using the internet to study breeding techniques, manage finances via online banking, and take most customer orders by phone or email.
While still in school, Trung invested his savings in a 300-duck flock. When disease wiped it out, he collected samples for testing, impressing the adults with his determination. He later chose to stay home to run the family farm rather than attend university.
In 2007, his experienced father unexpectedly died of a heart attack, forcing Trung to take charge. He planned to expand the farm, diversified poultry breeds, and marketed aggressively. As the poultry business boomed in 2008, he invested in large-capacity incubators and expanded the farm to over 2,000 m².
Realizing he couldn’t manage everything alone and seeing neighbors still farming on a small scale, Trung persuaded nearly 20 households to join as “satellite farms.” He supplies breeding stock, feed, and guarantees purchase of their output, sharing profits or paying labor fees. Today, in addition to his two main farms, this network delivers tens of thousands of poultry chicks each month to farmers across northern Vietnam.