More than five decades ago, Pham Van Khoat uprooted his family and made the arduous journey from the North to the Long Binh Ward in the southern city of Bien Hoa. Armed with little more than elbow grease, the now-71-year-old helped turn Long Binh into one of the top pork-producing regions in Viet Nam.
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Pig pointers: Pham Van Khoat (middle) shares his ideas on how to raise pigs with former Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet (second from left) during the latter’s visit to Dong Nai. |
More than five decades ago, Pham Van Khoat uprooted his family and made the arduous journey from the North to the Long Binh Ward in the southern city of
Khoat was born in 1935 in the
The family’s early years in the city were just short of disastrous. Khoat tried several different businesses, but all failed. He didn’t find his calling until 1963, when a heart attack forced him to avoid back-breaking manual labour. After talking with his wife, he decided to try another avenue: raising pigs.
The hard-working couple cobbled together a small flock, including five sows, during their first two years in the pork business. But fate proved to be cruel; a disease swept through their farm and killed all the animals.
Garden dwellers: Pham Van Khoat’s 1,000sq.m garden was designed to resemble a scene from poet Nguyen Du’s Tale of Kieu.
Burning with a desire to escape poverty, Khoat was not dissuaded. He tried new technologies to improve the nutritional value of his fodder. It took five more years, but he was rewarded with a farm brimming with 100 healthy and plump pigs.
The king of pig farmers
Khoat however did not keep success for himself. He formed an association called Thanh Binh to spread the word about developments in farming methods. The group had 12 members and nearly 1,000 pigs at the beginning.
"The demand for pork is very high, so I was not afraid of losing market share," he said. "Furthermore, we Vietnamese have a tradition of helping each other. I will be much happier if I can help others to escape from poverty."
The Thanh Binh group continued to grow; in 1990 it was renamed the Dong Nai Feeding Association and boasted 100 farms and 10,000 animals.
In an effort to help local villagers mired in poverty, the group also launched a so-called "pig bank", where farmers were loaned a pregnant sow. The interest rate was three piglets and the breeder became the borrower after one year. The plan helped many farmers, like war veteran Vo Ngoc Ninh. He migrated, empty-handed, to Long Binh from northern
Ninh now owns a farm with 200 breeding pigs and more than 3,000 animals.
He even bought a Toyota Zace to supplement his business.
"What Khoat did helped us so much during our hard times. I cannot imagine how my life would be without his and his wife’s generous help."
The Viet Nam Agricultural Science Institute awarded Khoat the title "Excellent Pig Feeder" in 1992 to recognise his contribution to the province’s pork industry. A documentary based on his efforts won an award for Dong Nai Television in 1993.
In 1996, Khoat decided to move into the pig fodder business. With the poor quality of industrially-produced mash, he foresaw huge demand for healthy animal foodstuffs. Filled with raw materials from around his province, the food did not take long to become famous with pig farmers around the country.
While an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2006 caused meat prices to plunge, business in
Farmers attribute their animals’ health to feeding techniques and fodder recipes developed by Khoat. Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong, who has 1,500 porkers, including 150 breeders, said: "I am now very confident we will survive the crisis because feeding expenses can be lowered to counter-balance the drop in market prices."
At 71, Khoat has left his 10-ha farm and 10,000 pigs to his son, a graduate of the
With poet Nguyen Du’s famous Kieu’s Tale in mind, Khoat spends his time in his 1,000-square metre garden, growing ornamental plants as the poet describes in his masterwork.
(Source: VNS)
