Early-ripening strawberries in Mai Son

Mai Son commune has a relatively flat terrain and a mild, cool climate, which are favorable conditions for growing various fruit trees and vegetables, with strawberries being widely cultivated and developed, especially in the Co Noi area.

Currently, Mai Son commune has 530 hectares of strawberries, with an annual production of over 10,000 tons of fruit; concentrated mainly in the villages of Lech, Tan Thao, Binh Minh, Thong Nhat, sub-areas 19/5, 3/2, Binh Yen, etc., of which more than 40% of the strawberry area is planted by the people in staggered seasons, ripening early.

People in Mai Son commune are harvesting early-ripening mulberries.

The strawberries here are beautiful in appearance, intensely sweet, and fragrant, making them popular with consumers. Early-ripening strawberries typically appear sporadically from mid-December to the end of January each year, followed by the main strawberry season from early February to the end of April. Although planted early, this year's strawberries have been large, beautiful in appearance, fragrant, and sweet thanks to favorable weather and good care. According to experienced strawberry growers here, to have early-ripening strawberries, in addition to climatic and soil factors, proper care such as weeding, fertilizing, and spraying pesticides at the right times is crucial to ensure yield and quality.

The people of Tan Thao village, Mai Son commune, pack strawberries to sell to traders.

Compared to main-season strawberries, early-ripening strawberries are easier to sell and fetch higher prices. Currently, in Mai Son commune, the selling price of early-ripening strawberries is 250,000 VND/kg for VIP grade; 205,000 VND/kg for large; 170,000 VND/kg for medium; 140,000 VND/kg for small; and 120,000 VND/kg for tiny. Early-ripening strawberries don't face many sales concerns; traders buy them as soon as they are harvested. To promote sustainable strawberry development, Mai Son commune now has 8 strawberry farming cooperatives. These cooperatives grow strawberries according to VietGAP standards, and their products are sold in domestic supermarkets, exported to several European countries, and included in Vietnam Airlines ' meals.

At the Co Noi intersection, following National Highway 37 for about 5km, you'll reach the strawberry growing area of Tan Thao village. Strawberry rows covered with plastic sheeting cover the hillsides. Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, Director of the Xuan Que Strawberry Cooperative, took us on a tour of the members' strawberry gardens. Peeking out from beneath the green foliage were strawberries of various sizes and shades of sweet red.

Members of the Xuan Que Cooperative in Mai Son commune are packing mulberry leaves to sell to traders.

The family of Mr. Nguyen Van Linh, a member of the Xuan Que Strawberry Cooperative, has 2.4 hectares of strawberry plants. To ensure good plant growth, his family invested nearly 100 million VND in installing an automatic irrigation system and plastic mulch. With many years of production experience, Mr. Linh's family started preparing the land and planting strawberries early in September. As a result, by mid-December, their strawberry garden had already yielded its first harvest.

Mr. Linh said: "Early strawberry cultivation requires careful attention from soil preparation and seed selection to irrigation. At this time, strawberries ripen sporadically, so the yield is not high, but the selling price is good, sometimes reaching 300,000 VND/kg at the beginning of the season. Currently, we harvest about 50 kg of strawberries daily, mainly selling to organic fruit stores and regular customers who place orders in advance. Strawberries sell out as soon as they ripen, and the price is 2-3 times higher than during the peak season."

Early-ripening strawberries from Mai Son have an attractive appearance.

Currently, the Xuan Que Strawberry Cooperative in Tan Thao village has 17 members cultivating 50 hectares of strawberries, with 23 hectares planted in staggered seasons and early ripening. The entire area is cultivated according to VietGAP standards, with an average yield of 1,250 tons per year. Currently, the cooperative harvests approximately 700 kg of early-ripening strawberries daily, selling them to traders in provinces and cities nationwide. The cooperative has a freezing facility in the production area and a freezing warehouse in Long Bien district, Hanoi , for convenient transportation and distribution. Frozen strawberries are used in the production and processing of wine, syrup, and dried fruit, primarily serving the Ho Chi Minh City market and for export to Russia and Thailand.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thu, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Mai Son commune, said: Mai Son has expanded into a strawberry growing and production area adhering to safety standards and selling its produce in supermarkets and clean fruit store chains nationwide. Notably, for the past two years, it has been included in Vietnam Airlines' meals to promote the product to domestic and international customers. Mai Son commune directs its villages to develop specialized strawberry growing areas linked to production and consumption, promoting the application of high technology in production, especially cultivation processes according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards, establishing growing area codes, creating safe products, and focusing on efficient production.

With a development orientation focused on strawberry cultivation linked to production and consumption, promoting the application of high technology in production, and creating safe products, strawberries in Mai Son are increasingly proving their economic effectiveness as a sustainable and efficient production method.

Source: https://baosonla.vn/nong-nghiep/dau-tay-chin-som-o-mai-son-sYDR9B7vR.html