Lam Se in his straw and farm tool warehouse (Photo: Ngoc Anh)

Lam Se now lives in a spacious house in district 5, Soc Trang city. He also owns a 2,000-square-meter warehouse containing straw and farm tools. Se said he and his wife had to work very hard to make ends meet.  

“My family’s main sources of income are farming, a combine harvester rental service, and selling straw. We now have 8 hectares of paddy fields. Each year I earn about 12,400 USD if I grow 3 rice crops. With our 2 combine harvesters, my family earns another 8,000 USD per year. The rest comes from selling straw,” said Se.

Lam Se got married in 1987. Life was difficult then. Besides farming, Se made ends meet by driving a motorbike taxi and saved money to grow his business. He researched different business models and found a model suited to his situation.

The biggest change in Se’s family income occurred in 2017.

While working in the fields, he met a trader from neighboring Tra Vinh province who came to Soc Trang to buy straw. The trader said he wanted to buy great quantities of straw to use as raw material for growing mushrooms, fodder for livestock, and as fertilizer.

Se immediately went to Tra Vinh to learn experience and started a straw business in his home town. He obtained a bank loan of 12,400 USD at a preferential interest rate and bought a straw rolling machine, the first of its kind in Soc Trang province. Se encouraged local people not to burn straw but to sell it to him.

“Now, my family has 6 straw-rolling machines and produces 3,000 straw rolls per day. I earn a good profit from this business. Many traders from other southern provinces buy straw from me to grow mushrooms, as fodder for livestock, and as fertilizer,” said Se.

Lam Se’s agricultural services employ 20 people who earn about 410 USD per month.

“I’ve worked for Lam Se for 4 years. My job is collecting straw and putting it into the straw rolling machine, which is run by someone else. Lam Se is a dynamic, industrious but kind man,” said an employee named Son Loi.

One of Lam Se’s farm tools (Photo: Ngoc Anh)

Lam Se plans to invest in a car rental service. In addition to being a successful businessman, he also participates in social work and enthusiastically shares his business experience with local people.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Se gave villagers 20-30 kilos of rice per household and paid for the funerals of members of financially struggling families.

“Lam Se is respected by the local people. He is very kind and always helps others, especially the poor and elderly. He is a role model in agricultural business. He can do many different jobs,” said a villager named Phuong Trung.

For many years, Lam Se has been recognized as an outstanding farmer in the province and was awarded the Certificate of Merit by the Prime Minister for being an outstanding farmer in the national movement of good farmers in production, business, and solidarity, helping each other to get rich and reducing poverty sustainably.