The effectiveness of converting inefficient rice land to ornamental peach tree cultivation in Van Son commune.

Implementing crop restructuring, Van Son commune (Trieu Son district) has recently converted hundreds of hectares of low-yield rice land to ornamental peach tree cultivation, bringing in hundreds of millions of VND per hectare in income, many times higher than before.

The effectiveness of converting inefficient rice land to ornamental peach tree cultivation in Van Son commune. Mr. Le Duc Toan in Van Son commune prunes and shapes his peach orchard.

While busily pruning and shaping ornamental peach trees, Mr. Le Duc Toan from Hamlet 2, Van Son Commune - the owner of a 0.7-hectare peach orchard - said: “Because I spent about 10 years growing ornamental peach trees in Xuan Du Commune (Nhu Thanh District), I learned the secrets of growing peach trees that bring very high income. Therefore, in 2019, I returned to my hometown and decided to convert 4 sao (approximately 0.4 hectares) of my family's rice land, which had low yields due to water shortages during the spring planting season, to growing ornamental peach trees. In addition to my family's 4 sao of rice land, I also rented 15 sao (approximately 0.1 hectares) of land from neighboring households. On this area, I improved the land and brought in precious peach varieties from various regions such as the double-flowered peach of Quang Chinh (Quang Xuong), Hanoi , Hai Phong, and Moc Chau... Among them, the Quang Chinh peach is the most beautiful, with 400 trees out of a total of 600 peach trees. Although it has only been planted for 4 years, Thanks to our experience in growing and caring for ornamental peach trees, our family's peach orchard thrives, producing abundant flowers that bloom just in time for Tet (Vietnamese New Year). Furthermore, our skillful shaping and bonsai techniques result in each tree fetching an average price of several million dong. The money from selling hundreds of peach trees each year not only helps our family repay the 100 million dong loan we took out from the bank for the peach tree cultivation, but also leaves us with over 200 million dong annually.”

In Hamlet 3 of the same commune, due to difficulties with irrigation water, Mr. Nguyen Van Khoa's family converted 5 sao (approximately 0.5 hectares) of rice land to growing ornamental peach trees in 2017. Mr. Khoa said: "Previously, these 5 sao of land yielded only 1.2 tons of rice per year. With the purchase price from traders at 7 million VND per ton, after deducting investment costs, the 5 sao of rice only yielded a profit of 2 million VND per crop. However, since switching to growing ornamental peach trees, the family's 300 peach trees are sold in portions, averaging nearly 100 trees per year, bringing in a profit of over 100 million VND annually." According to Mr. Khoa, growing peach trees is not something everyone can do; it depends entirely on the weather and requires special care techniques.

"To have a beautiful peach blossom garden that blooms just in time for Tet (Lunar New Year), the peach trees must be cared for very carefully. Each branch must have evenly spaced 'peach buds' and seven nodes on each branch for the best appearance. Peach trees are very sensitive to weather, so growers need to be cautious and quite meticulous, understanding the techniques and weather conditions to calculate the leaf-pruning schedule so that the flowers bloom at the right time. Caring for peach trees is a job that requires meticulousness, dedication, and a true understanding of the characteristics of the peach tree to have a beautiful peach blossom garden at the end of the year," Mr. Khoa shared.

It is known that the peach blossoms from Van Son commune are a beautiful variety highly favored by enthusiasts. This type of tree has been spontaneously planted in home gardens by some households since the 1990s, both for ornamental purposes and for sale to people in neighboring communes during Tet (Lunar New Year). Recognizing the economic value of peach blossom cultivation, since 2010, the Van Son commune government has encouraged people to renovate their mixed gardens and plant peach blossom trees. Simultaneously, they have coordinated with relevant units to transfer scientific and technical knowledge on planting and caring for peach blossoms; and established peach blossom cultivation cooperatives in the villages to allow households to share experiences and find markets for their products. As a result, peach blossoms have found their place and affirmed their income-generating value. To develop sustainable production and increase income per unit of cultivated land, the commune has planned inefficient rice-growing areas and encouraged people to convert them to ornamental peach blossom cultivation. From 2017 to the present, Van Son commune has converted 110 hectares of low-yield rice land to ornamental peach tree cultivation, with 400 households participating, mainly concentrated in hamlets 1, 2, 3, and 4.

According to Le Ba Thanh, Chairman of the People's Committee of Van Son commune: After the conversion, the income per hectare of peach cultivation reaches 500-600 million VND/hectare/year, dozens of times higher than rice cultivation.

Text and photos: Minh Ly

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