Previously, when Tan Phuoc district, Tien Giang province was newly established, pineapple trees only appeared sporadically in the communes of My Phuoc, Thanh My, Hung Thanh... but up to now, most communes and towns in the district have pineapple trees. Pineapple is not only a key crop, contributing to the development of the local economy, but also a tree to eliminate difficulties and reduce poverty for the people of Tan Phuoc - a place once known as "the navel of alum, the navel of floods".
Coming to Tan Phuoc district today is like getting lost in the "kingdom" of pineapple plants. Everywhere there are pineapples, from the vast, endless pineapple fields as far as the eye can see, to the roads connecting communes and hamlets, farmers also take advantage of growing pineapples.
Many Tan Phuoc residents believe that without pineapple trees, it would be impossible to keep farmers who reclaimed land and stayed long-term in the low-lying Dong Thap Muoi area, which is known as the "center" of alum and floods. Pineapple trees are the "savior" for people to escape hardship and poverty, contributing to reducing the poverty rate of the district to 1.93% by the end of 2022 and striving to reduce the poverty rate to 1.8% by the end of 2023.
Indeed, looking at the statistics on pineapple production and development, we can clearly see the value of pineapple to farmers in Tan Phuoc district. In 1995, after the establishment of Tan Phuoc district, the pineapple area was only 6,570 hectares. Due to the ability to grow and develop well on acid sulfate soil, people continued to reclaim and restore land to produce pineapple. Since then, the area has increased every year, to date, the whole district has 15,400 hectares, an increase of 8,830 hectares.
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| Since the establishment of Tan Phuoc district, pineapple trees have helped many households in the district escape poverty and become rich. Photo: TV |
In addition to land reclamation and expansion of production area, the transfer and application of scientific and technical advances in cultivation by the specialized sector, combined with the accumulated experience of farmers, has increased the productivity of pineapple from 10 tons/ha in 1995 to 20 tons/ha today. If harvested at the right time, the price is high. After deducting costs, farmers can still make a profit of 100 million VND/ha, so everyone is excited.
In Tan Phuoc district, pineapple is still the main source of income for many farmers. Many farmers have escaped poverty, many households have become quite rich and become good farmers and traders at all levels from pineapple.
Among them, we must mention families who have become rich from pineapple trees such as Mr. Tran Van Cuong (Hung Thanh commune), with more than 15 hectares of pineapple cultivation; Mr. Do Van Dinh currently owns more than 7 hectares of pineapple, earning nearly 1 billion VND per year from pineapple trees; Mr. Cao Van Sang also thanks to pineapple trees to overcome difficulties and reduce poverty, currently has more than 8 hectares of pineapple land; Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tung, with more than 4 hectares of specialized pineapple land...
And the story of escaping poverty and getting rich from pineapple would not be complete without mentioning the countryside of Tan Thanh - one of the most difficult communes in Tan Phuoc district, now most of the people are well-off, rich, with spacious houses. The whole commune has more than 1,700 hectares of agricultural land, of which pineapple accounts for nearly 2/3. On average, one hectare of pineapple yields nearly 20 tons, the price of pineapple has been basically stable in recent years, people earn a profit of 40 to 50 million VND/ha.
According to the Department of Agriculture of Tan Phuoc district, by August 2023, farmers in Tan Phuoc district had harvested over 7,800 hectares, with an average yield of 20 tons/ha and an output of over 156,000 tons of commercial pineapple. In 2023, farmers in the specialized pineapple growing area of Tan Phuoc district continued to be excited because of the bumper crop, high prices of pineapple, good income, and stable life.
Since the beginning of the year, pineapple prices have been hovering around 7,500 VND to 9,500 VND per kilogram, depending on the time, nearly double the previous year. At this price, each hectare gives farmers a net profit of hundreds of millions of VND. Thanks to the high income from pineapple, farmers in Tan Phuoc district have overcome difficulties and escaped poverty.
In order to promote the potential and strengths of pineapple in Tan Phuoc district, the locality focuses on shaping specialized production areas and transferring science and technology to increase productivity, output and quality of agricultural products.
With the technique of fruit processing as desired, which has been summarized, transferred and widely applied by the agricultural sector, it has created a revolution in the field of intensive cultivation of specialty crops. Thanks to that, Tan Phuoc pineapple can be harvested almost all year round. From there, the risk of good harvest and loss of price due to imbalance in supply and demand of agricultural products market is reduced.
In addition, some units are researching new pineapple varieties to improve production efficiency; at the same time, building pineapple production models and packaging houses that meet VietGAP standards. In addition, many people have opened pineapple warehouses to act as purchasing centers and as a gathering point for pineapples to be transported to provinces and cities in the country and for export.
The district currently has a network of 8 cooperatives that link together to purchase and consume pineapples for farmers. At the same time, there are 19 pineapple purchasing warehouses supplying the domestic consumption market or export processing enterprises, ensuring output for pineapples when it is time to harvest, so farmers are very secure in production, contributing to the sustainable development of specialized areas.
In particular, currently, the preliminary processing and processing to diversify pineapple products to serve market demand has helped increase the value and brand of Tan Phuoc pineapple. From fresh pineapple, local people process many products such as: candy, colored water, soft drinks... and serve the market.
The profession of making pineapple candy and processing products from pineapple has developed strongly in My Phuoc town and specialized communes, both creating jobs for idle agricultural workers, improving people's income, and creating added value from the main pineapple fruit in Tan Phuoc district.
After nearly 30 years of establishing Tan Phuoc district (1994 - 2023), local authorities and people from many places coming to Tan Phuoc district have joined hands to build and develop this "alum and flood navel" land into a fertile land, one of the major agricultural commodity production areas serving the domestic market and important exports of Tien Giang province with crops of economic value such as pineapple, dragon fruit, high-yield rice...
To achieve the goal of promoting land reclamation and production in the Dong Thap Muoi region and stabilizing the lives of people in the new land, Tan Phuoc district has defined a specialized pineapple growing area of over 17,000 hectares, with an annual output of over 340,000 tons of fruit, the largest in the Tien River region.
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