In recent years, realizing the large consumption demand, many households and cooperatives in Yen Chau district have experimented with growing papaya trees for flowers, promoting the processing of papaya flower products, which are popular in the market, initially increasing people's income.
More than 2 years ago, Ms. Tran Thi Hong's family, Ward 1, Yen Chau town started a business by purchasing fresh papaya flowers grown naturally from local people to dry and sell. After a while, seeing that dried papaya flowers were becoming more and more popular and in high demand, Ms. Hong collaborated with some households to test-plant 1 hectare of male papaya trees as raw materials, then expanded the planting area to 7 hectares of papaya trees for flowers. It is expected that in the near future, it will be expanded to 10 hectares; strive to soon establish a cooperative, then sign contracts with purchasing units to deploy for people to plant male papaya trees and guarantee output.
Ms. Tran Thi Hong said: Unlike fruit products, male papaya flowers have thin, uneven petals, making them difficult to process. If the processing temperature and drying time are not adjusted appropriately, the finished product can easily taste bitter and be difficult to use.
After many months of perseverance, learning, and experimenting with processing, Ms. Hong's family successfully produced papaya flower tea with a mild aroma, light sweetness, and refreshing taste. To improve the quality of the product, the family collaborated with some papaya flower growers to research and manufacture a freeze dryer instead of heat drying. Therefore, the product retains its natural flavor, color, and high nutritional content.
Currently, every 10-12kg of fresh papaya flowers can be processed into 1kg of dried flowers; Ms. Hong's family sells an average of 200kg of dried flowers/month, at a price of 270,000 VND/kg; many people trust and seek to buy them.
Many enterprises and cooperatives in Yen Chau district have also invested in production and linked to purchase papaya flowers for the people. Typically, the 26/3 Youth Cooperative has built a brand, developed growing areas, and deeply processed products from papaya trees into goods. Since November 2021, members of the cooperative have grown and propagated male papaya trees, planting 3 hectares in Sap Vat, Tu Nang, and Phieng Khoai communes.
Cooperative 26/3 also invested in a cold dryer system and strictly managed and controlled the production process from harvesting, drying and packaging, ensuring food hygiene and safety. Therefore, male papaya flower products have consistent quality and retain the highest medicinal content. Every week, Cooperative 26/3 sends staff to the garden to check the growth and development process to achieve the highest yield and quality when harvested; instructing people on planting and care techniques, and self-expanding the raw material area.
Mr. Nguyen Van Toan, Deputy Director of the 26/3 Youth Cooperative, said: After 3 months of planting, the papaya tree has produced flowers. To ensure quality, papaya flowers are only harvested in the morning, then cleaned and classified, the stems are cut and put into the cold dryer for 20 hours. Up to now, the Cooperative has produced and processed products, including whole cold-dried papaya flowers; papaya flowers soaked in honey; and papaya flower tea. Each month, the Cooperative processes 500 kg of fresh papaya flowers, the products are sold directly at specialty stores of the province and district, tourist areas; through e-commerce platforms and social networks. In 2022, the Cooperative's papaya flower tea will be recognized as a provincial-level OCOP product.
Talking with Mr. Lai Huu Hung, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Yen Chau district, it was known that: Previously, households only planted scattered papaya flowers in their gardens, mainly to serve the needs of their families and often used fresh papaya flowers as food, the economic value was not high. Since being put into deep processing, especially being recognized as an OCOP product, the district's papaya flower products have become more widely known, thereby helping farmers develop their local economy . In the coming time, the district will continue to support cooperatives to learn, connect, expand the market for production and processing of many types of products from papaya flowers, contributing to diversifying crops in the area, increasing income for people.
With the characteristics of papaya being easy to grow and care for, suitable for hilly land, having few pests and diseases, suitable for the production level of many local people, along with stable output, papaya flower is becoming a promising economic crop, contributing to poverty reduction for people.
For a long time, papaya flowers have been considered a valuable folk medicine used to support the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, blood pressure, stomach pain, cough, asthma and cancer prevention. Papaya trees are easy to grow, flowers are harvested year round, but produce many flowers from March to November. To process the finished product, male papaya flowers must be selected.
Thanh Huyen
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