The guava garden of Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich (born in 1989) in the border commune of Ea Sup ( Dak Lak province) is full of fruit. Ms. Bich said that the garden currently has 1,300 ruby guava trees, 300 green-skinned grapefruit trees and hundreds of other fruit trees. The guava is grown organically by her, although the yield is low, the selling price is higher because it is sweet, fragrant and has few seeds.
According to Ms. Bich, intercropping guava and grapefruit will significantly reduce the risk of pests and diseases, because essential oils from grapefruit leaves and fruits help reduce mealybugs, and guava leaves contain essences that prevent leaf-eating insects.
The guava garden has now produced a stable harvest. This year's output is about 70 tons. The product is mainly consumed in the southern provinces and many provinces across the country, earning 500 million VND/ha. This model creates jobs for 10 local workers. Ms. Bich also cooperated with 5 households to establish the Ea Sup Guava Growing Cooperative with an area of 10ha to support techniques, experience and product consumption.
Ms. Bich shared that in 2011, after graduating from university, she worked as an accountant and sold some agricultural products. In 2019, she discovered that she had cervical cancer. With the determination of a young girl, Ms. Bich is still optimistic about life. She wanted to find a quiet, unpolluted place to treat her illness. When she arrived at Cu M'lan commune (formerly Ea Sup district), Ms. Bich decided to buy 2 hectares of land here.
She cut down all the cashew trees in her garden, left the soil to dry for 6 months, added manure to let the grass grow, then cleared and plowed the land to plant ruby guava and green-skinned grapefruit. Cultivating organically, she collected dried corn husks that people discarded to compost the tree roots to keep moisture and create humus and minerals for the soil. She mainly used biological products such as chicken manure, composted cow manure, banana juice, and soybeans. For plants with pests, she used biological drugs, wine brewed with ginger, garlic, and chili to prevent and treat diseases.
The climate in this area is harsh, the soil is dry, infertile, and acidic, so the trees have difficulty adapting. When it comes to harvest, dozens of tons of guava are soft, tasteless, no one buys them, and they fall all over the ground, making her heartbroken.
Ms. Bich still persisted with her method. She researched and learned to determine the cause. She adjusted the care and watering to suit the weather conditions and soil characteristics here. The garden gradually stabilized and grew well. During this time, she also paid attention to improving her health. Following the doctor's advice, along with the treatment regimen, she took young guava leaves to drink to support disease resistance, and more than a year later, her body destroyed all cancer cells. "It was my passion for agriculture and my affinity with ruby guava trees that helped me overcome the disease and myself," Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich shared.
Ms. Bich researches and utilizes young leaves and guava buds to make tea. To develop a healthy tea, she has collaborated with the Ea Sup Poverty Reduction Cooperative to produce products under the Briêt tea brand. The products are widely consumed in the province and major cities. In addition, she also utilizes soft ripe fruits to make guava wine and guava juice, which are being tested online on social networking platforms and clean agricultural product stores and have received positive reviews.
Ms. Bich said that growing ruby guava brings double benefits from the leaves and fruit. In the coming time, besides growing guava for fruit, she will cooperate with local people to expand the area, grow raw materials for tea production to provide products that are good for consumers' health. Thereby, creating more jobs for local people, contributing to the economic development of this land, increasing the value of local agricultural products.
Source: https://tienphong.vn/co-gai-bat-dat-ngheo-no-hoa-tao-viec-lam-cho-nhieu-nguoi-dan-dia-phuong-post1761550.tpo
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