With more than 20 years of experience in raising deer for velvet, war invalid Ngo Diet, in Nhu Le village, Hai Le commune, Quang Tri town, actively encourages and enthusiastically shares experiences and techniques in raising deer for members of the commune's Deer Raising Cooperative as well as villagers, together developing the deer raising profession, enriching his family and hometown.
War invalid Ngo Diet pioneered the development of deer farming for velvet in Hai Le commune, Quang Tri town - Photo: NTH
Returning home from the Cambodian battlefield with a 29% disability rate at the age of 21, war invalid Ngo Diet always struggled to find ways to develop the economy and promote the qualities of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" on the new front line of hunger eradication and poverty reduction.
The life of rural people in the 1980s was mainly rice farming, gardening, working hard all day but only having enough to eat, without any savings. Not resigned to poverty, Mr. Ngo Diet boldly invested in developing buffalo breeding, taking advantage of the hilly area with many grasslands and abundant food sources available locally.
At its peak in 2000, Mr. Ngo Diet's family's herd of buffaloes grew to nearly 20. Raising large numbers of buffaloes created a good income for the family, but it required a lot of effort. What to do to develop the family economy in accordance with the health conditions of war invalids became a big question for Mr. Ngo Diet.
Through reading books and newspapers, he realized that raising deer for velvet is a new direction, bringing high economic efficiency in many places, the food source for deer is easy to find, available locally, so he decided to sell his family's buffalo herd to switch to developing the deer farming profession. In addition to cultivating 7 sao of rice fields to ensure food for the family, Mr. Diet also switched to growing cassava and corn on the 4.5 sao of land for growing crops to serve the deer farming. Up to now, his family has been involved in raising deer for velvet for more than 20 years.
“Compared to other livestock, deer farming is not affected by diseases, and the main food is leaves and fruits that are available in nature and easy to find. The profit from deer farming is higher and the effort is also less. My family has raised many types of livestock, but we have found that raising deer has less risk of disease and taking care of deer is less difficult,” said Mr. Ngo Diet.
Sika deer are wild animals that have been domesticated and developed into deer farming mainly for antlers. After about 3 years of raising, male deer will produce antlers weighing 0.6 - 0.8 kg each. Depending on the condition of each deer, the antlers can be cut 1-2 times a year. With a market price of 15-20 million VND/kg of antlers, each adult male deer produces antlers of 1.2 - 1.6 kg each year, which are sold for about 20 million VND.
Mr. Ngo Diet's family regularly maintains a herd of 6-8 male deer, selling deer antlers each year, after deducting expenses, earning over 100 million VND. One year, he also raised female deer for breeding, each year the female deer gave birth to a baby deer, after a year selling the breeding deer for about 20 million VND/deer.
In particular, since 2000 when he started learning about deer farming, Mr. Diet's family's deer herd has never been infected with any disease, only old, weak or sick deer that die need to be replaced. If the deer are cared for and fed properly, and the barn is kept clean and airy, the deer herd will grow well.
According to Mr. Ngo Diet, raising deer does not require much care; the main food source for deer is leaves, grass and agricultural by-products, so the cost is not high, the economic efficiency is great, and it is an attractive direction for households who want to change their production and breeding models.
From the pioneering deer farming model of Mr. Ngo Diet, up to now, in Hai Le commune, a deer farming cooperative has been established with a total of 12 households; in which, in Nhu Le village alone, at the peak, there were 8 households raising deer, now there are only 4 households. However, due to the high initial investment cost for buying breeds, the deer farming movement has not developed strongly.
Not only pioneering the conversion of the high-economic efficiency sika deer farming model for himself, Mr. Ngo Diet also actively participated in association activities and emulation movements and campaigns in the locality. Mr. Ngo Diet was elected by the people as the Head of the Farmers' Association of Nhu Le village for 15 years, and the Head of the Veterans' Association of Nhu Le village for 5 years.
In particular, since Mr. Ngo Diet became the Head of the Veterans Association of Nhu Le village, he has mobilized 21 more veteran members, bringing the total number of veteran members in the village to 73. With his enthusiasm in participating in association activities, sharing experiences in economic development and helping disadvantaged members to improve their lives, Mr. Ngo Diet has been trusted and loved by the local people.
Khanh Ngoc
Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/nguoi-tien-phong-phat-trien-nghe-nuoi-huou-lay-nhung-o-xa-hai-le-187570.htm
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