Crying with off-season durian

Mr. Tung's durian garden (Cai Be district, Tien Giang province) is one of the few durian gardens that successfully handled the off-season in this area - Photo: MAU TRUONG

In many areas in Tien Giang province, durian gardens are in the stage of preparation for harvest but there are very few fruits, or even no fruits. According to Mr. Le Van Thom - Chairman of the People's Committee of My Loi A commune, Cai Be district, in the total area of ​​about 1,200 hectares of durian in the commune, up to 70% of the gardens have treated off-season durian but the rate of gardens is about 30 - 40%.

“The rest were partially or completely lost,” said Mr. Thom, adding that the reason was the rainy weather, alternating with hot sunny days, which caused the fruit set rate to be low and many fruits to fall off. According to many gardeners, the cost for one hectare (1,000m2) of growing 20 durian trees, from planting to fruiting, is about 220 million VND. In the off-season, the cost of care is even higher.

Mr. Nguyen Van D. (My Loi A commune, Cai Be district), owner of a 12-hectare durian garden with all Ri 6 varieties, said he had lost everything in this year's off-season. "About 400 million VND invested in the garden this season, including fertilizer and pesticides, has "disappeared", not to mention the care work", Mr. D. lamented.

Cai Lay district is famous for its experience in handling off-season durian, but this year many gardeners have failed. Ms. Tran Thi Hoa (Tan Phong commune, Cai Lay district) said that many gardens handled off-season durian but did not flower; some gardens flowered but when the pistil was blooming, it rained and the flowers fell off.

“My family dealt with the off-season in two gardens, but only the Thai durian garden bloomed. The Ri 6 garden, which was nearly 5 hectares in size, did not bloom. The money invested in 5 hectares of durian was considered a total loss,” said Ms. Hoa.

Mr. Phan Van Thanh, deputy head of the Department of Agriculture and Development of Cai Be district, said that about 40% of the more than 9,300 hectares of durian in the district were processed for the off-season, but only about 30% of the off-season durian area was successful due to many days of heavy rain, storms and fungal infections.

To be effective, the tree must recover.

Because the price of off-season durian is often high, even double the normal price, many gardeners have invested money regardless of the risks. Meanwhile, according to MSc. Nguyen Van Son (Southern Fruit Institute), to effectively handle off-season flowering on durian trees, the trees must be restored well after the previous harvest. In addition, only healthy trees with two or more shoots should be selected for flowering.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khoc-rong-voi-sau-rieng-nghich-vu-20241115081701085.htm