Farmer invents 15-function agricultural machine

Ta Dinh Huy, 34, has invented an agricultural machine with 15 functions, now available in all 63 cities and provinces throughout the country and exported to Laos.

Huy, from Chuong My district in the suburb of Hanoi, is a high school graduate and has never had special training, is the owner of a motorbike repair workshop which he has operated since graduation after high school.

Though the job has brought stable income, Huy dreamed of inventing a machine which can help ease the workload of farmers on the rice fields. In 2005, Huy began working on an all-purpose agricultural machine.

“I am always asked if I took any training course on manufacturing and if I received any support from any professors. My answer is always ‘no’ to all those questions,” he said.

Huy studied industrial engineering when he was at general school, so he has some basic knowledge about machine operation principles and can read technical drawings.

To prepare for his invention, he searched for information on the internet, learned about machine models and watched farmers working in the fields.

However, Huy had many failed trials before finally succeeding. His first multi-functional machine took shape after many months. It could till the soil, spray pesticide and pump water.

Huy understood that the first version of the machine was still primitive and bulky with a bad appearance, while productivity was far below expectations. The machine could only work on flat fields.

In 2010, Huy made a daring decision: he gave up the job of repairing motorbikes and spent all of his time traveling to many localities to learn about the field terrain, to be able to make a machine that can work in all terrain conditions.

Four years later, Huy succeeded in manufacturing an 8-in-1 agricultural machine, which can plough, rake, turn over the soil, make furrows, sow, weed, spray pesticide and irrigate.

The machine impressed farmers as it could work with five times a buffalo’s power and 10 times a human’s power. Huy began receiving orders from local farmers.

However, Huy continued working on the machine in an effort to improve its functions.

A new version of the machine has four other functions – transplanting rice seedlings, turning over biological fertilizer, digging mud in coffee fields and carrying heavy items.

Recently, Huy said he has added three more functions, raising the total number of functions to 15.

Huy said that the machine is fuel-saving and easily repaired. To date, he has had orders for thousands of products.

Ba Ha / vietnamnet