Buffalo power at Laguna Golf Lang Co helps feed local Vietnamese communities during COVID-19

August 27, 2020

Laguna Golf Lang Co’s family of water buffalo have helped the club reap a record rice harvest which will go towards feeding members of the local community in Central Vietnam.

The club gathered 28 tonnes of rice from the seven-hectares of fields right in the middle of the Sir Nick Faldo Signature layout - a record harvest-time haul.

The buffalo 'bio-mowers' have been vital in helping to maintain the elevated status of the layout, which winds its way through tropical jungle, ocean sand dunes and ancient rice paddies and was ranked as the best in Vietnam at the 2019 Vietnam Golf Awards.

They help to manage the seven-hectares of rice fields located right in the middle of the course by eating excess weeds, crops while tilling the soil in the area that would otherwise require machinery and additional manpower to maintain.

The rice-fields, though, are not just for show. Harvested twice a year, they have previously yielded up to 20 tons of rice that are used to support the organic farm at Laguna Lang Co and donated to families and seniors in the area who are in need of extra support.

This winter’s record haul, however, surpassed previous harvests by some way. Additionally, the bumper crop could not have come at a timely juncture, with Vietnam’s economy taking a hit on tourism as the international borders remain closed to combat the spread of the global pandemic.

Golf at Laguna Lang Co. Director, Adam Calver advises “the communities that have limited economic means have been hit the hardest by the economic downturn that has resulted from the global pandemic.

“The fact that we are able to donate even more rice to locals who need it most this year was a really positive outcome for our edible golf course.”

The utilisation of water buffalo as greenkeepers is part of a wider push by Laguna Golf Lang Co to be the most sustainable course in Vietnam. It has completely eradicated the use of single-use plastics in almost all aspects of its operations, scrapping items made of plastic such as on course garbage bags, locker room accessories, plastic cups and straws and replacing them with ones made from materials such as bamboo, paper, steel or natural grass.

Laguna Lang Co Resort has just finalised the installation of its own water bottling plant to allow the resort to completely eliminate plastic water bottles and utilise reusable glass bottles.

The club is also one of only three golf courses in the world to achieve EarthCheck Gold certification, a status it earned at the end of 2019.

Calver adds “continually mowing the fields to maintain vast rice terraces can consume a large amount of labour and fuel. The water buffalo act as bio-mowers and help us protect the natural feel of the landscape; they give a true sense of place.

“Since we introduced the buffalo we have seen a number of birds such as egrets, moving in as they feast on the insects as the buffalo till the soil. We are currently building a new home for our family of ducks which will be used next year as part of our ‘Integrated Rice-Duck Farming Program’.”

Image top: The water buffalo tending the rice fields add a classically Vietnamese feel to the club; image centre Baby Lulu (right) is the latest addition to the now five-strong family of water buffalo at Laguna Golf Lang Co; image above: The expanded family helped harvest a record harvest haul of 28 tonnes of rice this winter

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