Hydroponic Melon – Towards Green Agriculture

Ms. Van Thi Cam Le - Director of Hoang Xuan Farm (second from left) and Farm staff discuss hydroponic melon growing techniques.

Ms. Van Thi Cam Le - Director of Hoang Xuan Farm shared: "Through discussion and visits to some hydroponic melon growing units in other countries, I realized that the model has potential for development in Tay Ninh. This is also a good model, aiming at green, clean and sustainable agricultural production".

Since 2022, Hoang Xuan Farm has started producing hydroponic melons, aiming to replace coconut fiber substrates. The unit applies hydroponic growing methods on 4 basic varieties including: Dutch melons with yellow skin and green flesh, platinum melons with white skin and white flesh, Thai melons with green skin and orange flesh, and long melons with yellow skin and orange flesh. All 4 varieties have good yields, not inferior to those grown with coconut fiber.

The growing medium taken out after each production season is also one of the causes of environmental pollution that the Farm cannot handle completely, due to the large quantity. Therefore, the advantage of hydroponics for melon is to minimize the coconut fiber growing medium.

In addition, all fertilizers and pesticides for melons are controlled in content, so when inspected, the fertilizer and pesticide content of the melons are all qualified. This ensures the quality of the melons, safe for consumers' health.

Melons are grown hydroponically in greenhouses at Hoang Xuan Farm.

Initially, the unit planted a pilot crop on a small area with about 300 trees. Through that, the unit realized that some varieties were successful, some did not yield well and had to be tested many times, until they produced good results, reduced production costs, large fruits, high brix... then the unit boldly invested in expansion. After the initial testing period with many failures, up to now, the results have been "sweet fruit". Hoang Xuan Farm has built a standard technical process and invested in producing nearly 2 hectares of hydroponic melons.

Ms. Le shared: “In the early days of implementing hydroponic cultivation on a large scale, the Farm encountered many difficulties in management because the agricultural engineers at the Farm were not familiar with it, so they had to learn and gain experience at the same time. In addition, the temperature in the greenhouse was very hot. After a long period of research, I realized that I had to change the watering and nutrition methods to suit the melon plants.”

At Hoang Xuan Farm, the process of growing hydroponic melons in a greenhouse is that the melons are grown in tubes, with the roots suspended in a nutrient solution tank. The hydroponic nutrient solution must contain all the necessary elements. In addition, the unit also integrates data conversion technology to control the growth and development of plants via smartphones with internet connection.

Melon plants are grown in hydroponic troughs, the roots are suspended in a tank containing nutrient solution.

“When investing in hydroponics, the payback period is after 2 years. During this time, the unit researches the process and techniques, making the melons bring higher value while reducing many production costs,” said Ms. Le.

It can be seen that the model of growing melons using hydroponics opens up a new direction in high-tech agricultural production. This is also an opportunity for farmers to learn from experience and access advanced technology to create clean products that are safe for consumers' health.

Nhi Tran - Truc Ly

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