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The inventors are four farmers in the south, Huynh Thien Liem, Nguyen Van Dung, Huynh Van Trang and Thai Van Hoang in Thap Muoi District of Dong Thap province.

Le Hoang Long, director of the Center for Tourism and Environment Education under the Tram Chim National Park, said the center would order six boats for use.

Long noted that with so many advantages, it will be a great idea to use the boats in ecotourism. 

“They prove to be especially suitable to areas where many birds and storks live,” he said.

Tu Liem, one of four farmers-engineers, said he decided make the boat after he noted that the machines running on rivers in Tram Chim Park caused terrible noise which drove birds away. 

He thought of making a boat with solar energy.

Liem later found three reliable co-workers. Liem was in charge of electric matters, while Ky took care of the engine and Hoang designed a propeller, while Trang needed to be sure the machine could run well.

After experiments and failures, the men successfully created a boat which could run at the speed of 15 kilometers per hour and contain seven men. Later, with improvements, the boat could run at the speed of 25-30 kilometers and contain 9 men. 

If the sun sets, the boat will still be able to run for eight more hours. In the latest version of the boat, the propellers have been attached with a protection unit to prevent the propeller from being hindered by garbage.

8-in-1 plows

In the past, it took farmers at least four days to fulfill the works of plowing, harrowing, raising planting beds and weeding one hectare of rice fields. 

But nowadays, with the invention of Ta Dinh Huy in Chuong My district in Hanoi, it takes one morning only.

Huy’s plowing machine is compact with simple structure, used on many kinds of terrain. Meanwhile, the machine’s cost is low because Huy took full advantage of scrap steel.

One machine can be built at a cost of VND7-13 million, equal to 50 percent of the prices of the machines of the same kind available in the market.

Farmer makes car

Le Van Tuan, 35, in Trang Bang district of Tay Ninh province has created an environmentally friendly car for himself.

The car looks exactly the same as a five seater car. However, the distance from the chassis to the ground is really long, like that of 4WD car.