Innovation in thinking
Growing fruit trees for many years, Pham Ngoc Hien and his wife (Vinh Thanh commune, Lap Vo district, Dong Thap province) still faced financial difficulties and had a hard time controlling pests on the trees. The debt was piling up, and they did not have enough money to pay for their children's education. They decided to go to the Dong Thap province Employment Service Center to register for seasonal work abroad.
According to Mr. Hien, that was a turning point in his life, because it helped his family escape poverty, and most of all, it changed the mindset and concept of gardening in Vietnam.
"My wife and I went to Korea to work as seasonal workers for 5 times and saved up nearly 1 billion VND, paid off our debts and accumulated capital. It is worth mentioning that when we went to Korea to do farming, the farmer used clean farming methods, using organic fertilizers instead of chemical fertilizers. We take care of our agricultural products as well as our "baby", keeping the fruit beautiful and shiny will help us sell it at a high price" - Mr. Hien said.
Applying the method, the farmer couple returned to Lap Vo district and immediately started renovating the tangerine garden, pruning properly, especially fertilizing with microorganisms.
"After about 1-2 years of renewal, I saw that the tangerines bore beautiful, shiny fruit and the trees were durable and still had good vitality after each harvest. Facing the trend of consuming clean products, I decided to innovate my farming methods," said Mr. Hien.
Currently, Mr. Hien's tangerine garden is bearing fruit to serve the 2025 Tet holiday. With the beautiful quality of tangerines, he predicts that this year's tangerines will be purchased by traders at 35,000 VND, bringing in a good income.
Because he still has an extension to work seasonally abroad, Mr. Hien and his wife plan to continue working in Korea for 8 months in 2025, then return to their hometown to expand their investment in growing fruit trees.
Open door to go abroad
Mr. Nguyen Phu Hieu - Director of Dong Thap Agricultural Service Center said that Mr. Hien is just one of many cases of farmers in Dong Thap who have changed their perspective on growing and caring for fruit trees after having the opportunity to work seasonally abroad.
According to Mr. Hieu, up to now, Dong Thap province has established twin relations with two localities in Korea and the number of seasonal workers recruited has been increasing every year, creating rich and diverse jobs for workers over 35 years old.
Mr. Phan Van Thang - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Dong Thap province - shared: Dong Thap identified sending workers to work abroad for a limited period of time under contracts as an important solution in the process of implementing the target program of job creation and sustainable poverty reduction.
Currently, the province is facing new requirements and tasks, with many opportunities, advantages, difficulties and challenges intertwined. The cause of international integration and national development is moving to a new stage, with higher requirements, increasingly going into depth, more difficult and complicated than before. Therefore, the work of sending workers to work abroad for a limited period of time must be organized and implemented more closely and synchronously.
From the practice of sending seasonal workers to Korea in the past time in Dong Thap, it shows that most of them do not require high foreign language and technical skills compared to other markets. Working time is 5 - 6 months/term, but the income is quite good.
In 2024, receive and introduce 248 workers over 35 years old to work in Cheorwon and Yeoncheon districts (Korea). After deducting expenses, the average income is 1.8 - 2.2 million won/month, equivalent to 32 - 40 million VND...
"Based on that reality, Dong Thap chose a seasonal labor solution for workers over 35 years old and officially started in 2025. It strives to receive about 1,850 workers. In addition, Dong Thap continues to expand cooperation in many other markets," said Mr. Thang.
