Prospering thanks to crop diversification.

A lush green garden, laden with fruit… is the result of the diligent care of Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Phuong (Truong Xuan A hamlet, Thanh Binh commune, Cho Gao district, Tien Giang province). As a result, her family's income from gardening has become increasingly stable. With her hardworking and proactive nature, in 2010, recognizing the high economic efficiency of red-fleshed dragon fruit and its suitability to the local soil, she discussed with her husband the possibility of borrowing capital to convert 3.5 acres of rice land to dragon fruit cultivation.

Ms. Phuong takes care of the dragon fruit garden and the coconut garden.

Initially, converting rice fields to fruit orchards faced many difficulties. At first, Ms. Phuong lacked expertise in dragon fruit cultivation techniques, resulting in low yields. Undeterred by these challenges, Ms. Phuong actively participated in local training courses on scientific and technical transfer, sought information from newspapers and television, and learned from successful models to apply to her family's dragon fruit orchard. As a result, her orchard thrived and yielded high productivity.

Ms. Phuong shared: “To achieve the results we have today, my family and I had to carefully select the seedlings, meticulously prepare the soil, concrete pillars, and fertilizers. During the cultivation process, we proactively prevented and controlled pests and diseases, and applied new scientific and technical methods.”

Ms. Phuong takes care of the dragon fruit garden and the coconut garden.

Initially, I also encountered many difficulties when implementing the model. However, thanks to actively learning from successful red-fleshed dragon fruit cultivation models in neighboring communes and through mass media, I gained some understanding of how to care for red-fleshed dragon fruit plants.

Since then, the dragon fruit yield in my orchard has increased significantly. Red-fleshed dragon fruit yields a continuous harvest, and on average, I earn about 50 million VND per harvest from selling dragon fruit. Overall, I earn about 250 million VND a year.”

Through years of saving, Ms. Phuong's family bought nearly 3 acres of land. Following the principle of using short-term gains to support long-term growth, in addition to the area planted with dragon fruit, Ms. Phuong planted coconut trees interspersed with guava trees on the remaining land around her house and the newly purchased land. Ms. Phuong said that the red-fleshed dragon fruit, coconut trees, and guava trees have provided her family with a very stable income. The family has been able to build a spacious house and send their children to school.

Besides focusing on enriching her own family, Ms. Phuong actively encourages other women to work together to build effective economic models, contributing to poverty alleviation and legitimate wealth creation right in their homeland.

MORNING

Source: https://baoapbac.vn/kinh-te/202503/kham-kha-nho-chuyen-doi-cay-trong-1038051/