Crossing Co Chien river by Dinh Khao ferry or An Binh ferry to Minh island (Long Ho, Vinh Long), people and tourists can visit the candy vineyard of Mr. Ngo Quoc Huy (46 years old), located in Hoa Loi hamlet, Hoa Ninh commune, Long Ho district.
Via Dinh Khao ferry or An Binh ferry (Vinh Long city), visitors will reach Minh island
To reach this candy vineyard, visitors can travel by motorbike or tourist boat. The people here are friendly and hospitable, ready to show people the way to the place. After about 15 minutes of traveling by motorbike and asking for directions, PV Youth found Mr. Huy's candy vineyard.
Mr. Huy's candy vineyard is located in the middle of an orchard on Minh Island
Welcoming guests with a very bright smile and inviting to enjoy candied grapes as soon as they entered the door, Mr. Huy said: "This garden just opened on June 1.6, everyone just come to visit, take photos, check-in completely free of charge. People can pick their own ripe grapes to try, if they pick them, they will be weighed and charged for 180.000 VND/kg.”
Mr. Huy (3rd from the right) guides visitors to the candy vineyard and takes souvenir photos
Mr. Huy holds a master's degree in economics, used to be a lecturer at the Faculty of Literature and Foreign Languages at Cuu Long University, then moved to work as a manager in several banks and is currently a consultant in the oil and gas sector. After Mr. Huy's father died, he returned to farming and restructured the 6.000m garden2 father to keep good memories…
The vineyard does not use pesticides, so visitors can pick and eat directly from the tree
“In the past, this garden planted many kinds of fruit trees but it was not productive because the topsoil was only 7-8 inches, not enough depth for perennial fruit trees to grow. After that, I chose a candy grape variety in Ninh Thuan for trial planting. After a year of care, the tree gives fruit nearly satisfactory. The grapes here do not use pesticides at all, only natural enemies are used to protect and cover the fruit, so the grapes are completely clean, "said Mr. Huy.
According to Mr. Huy, the soil in this land is very suitable for candied grapes and is completely grown according to organic standards, without using pesticides, ensuring the grapes are absolutely safe and have a sweeter taste than the native candy grapes.
Because grapes do not use pesticides, they must be wrapped to avoid pests
“Currently, there are about 2.000m2 Grapes are bearing fruit one year after planting. I am planting another 4.000m2 remaining. Due to both research and implementation, the initial investment in the vineyard is quite high, about 200 million VND/1.000m .2. However, my direction is not to grow grapes but to produce products from grapes. At the end of this year, I will go abroad to learn how to cook to make it for my garden. I want to replicate the model for local people to restructure new types of trees to replace old, low-productivity orchards and combine with tourism…”, Mr. Huy expected.
Realizing that the candy vine is suitable for the soil and grows well, Mr. Huy has planted an additional 4.000m2 of his family's garden.
Present at the candy vineyard, Mr. Truong Hong Phuc (40 years old, living in Ward 3, Vinh Long City, Vinh Long) said that on the weekend he and some friends visited the vineyard by cruise ship, quite surprised because before that Minh Isle was only famous for fruit trees such as rambutan, durian, longan ... but did not think there was such a large vineyard. "I know the vineyard through friends' introduction, it's much more beautiful than I imagined, the fruit is sweet, I will come back again when this vineyard is full of more fruit," said Mr. Phuc.
Many visitors enjoy checking in and taking pictures with the candy vineyard
Passionate about taking pictures with bunches of grapes full of fruit, Ms. Nguyen Kim Chi (32 years old, living in Ward 4, Vinh Long City) said that she has never seen grapes on a tree in real life, let alone touched and picked it up right on the tree. "At that time, I only saw the vineyard online, but not in real life", excited Kim Chi
Talk to PV YouthMr. Truong Thanh Ngoc, Vice Chairman of Hoa Ninh Commune People's Committee (H.Long Ho), said that this is a new local model. In the coming time, the Commune People's Committee will report to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development to survey, find out the applicability of this model and consider replicating inefficient orchards and local tourist areas.
