Getting rich from lemon hills in Lam Sinh

Different from the usual peacefulness of a hilly village, the areas: Viet Hung 1, 2, 3 of Tay Coc commune in recent years have become bustling agricultural production areas. In particular, Viet Hung 3 area is often affectionately called by the locals as "Lam Sinh area" - a place that used to be remote and had difficult roads, but is now famous for its four-season lemon gardens stretching across the hillsides, opening up a sustainable economic development direction for hundreds of households.

Tay Coc was established on the basis of merging three communes: Tay Coc, Phu Lam and Ca Dinh. This is an area with long-standing agricultural strengths, notably three main crops: Tea, grapefruit and lemon. Of which, tea trees account for more than 1,146 hectares, yielding over 22 thousand tons per year; grapefruit 720 hectares, of which 165 hectares meet VietGAP standards. However, in recent years, the image of hillsides covered with lemons has made a stronger impression, thanks to its ability to bring stable income and a new standard of living for the people.

Lemon trees appeared in Tay Coc commune since around 2004 and now bring high income to local people.

Mr. Ha Quang Phuc - Head of Viet Hung 3 area said that lemon trees began to appear in the locality from around 2004 - 2005. At that time, some households in the area brought four-season lemon varieties from the Central Institute of Plants to try planting. The trees suited the soil, grew quickly, and bore fruit all year round, so only a few years later, people boldly renovated their mixed gardens to expand the lemon acreage. In the period 2010 - 2015, the movement grew strongly with nearly 20 pioneering households. From 2015 to now, there have been over 100 households out of a total of 128 households in the area attached to this type of tree, making Lam Sinh the largest lemon growing area in the commune.

Thanks to the well-drained hilly terrain and suitable climate, lemon trees here grow well. The whole area currently has about 50-70 hectares of lemon trees, mainly perennial trees in the stable harvest period. People use three propagation methods: cuttings, grafting and grafting lemon trees onto old grapefruit roots. Of which, the third method is more effective: A grapefruit tree with a diameter of 30-40cm after grafting can yield up to 200 kg of fruit per crop.

People mainly grow four-season lemon varieties that bear fruit all year round.

The special thing is that the four-season lemon bears fruit all year round, the main crop is from December to June, the rest is the spreading crop. This advantage helps people have a continuous income. Traders come to the place to buy. Motorbikes collect by the ton, and small trucks can carry several tons per day. The price at the garden is stable at 18-20 thousand VND/kg, rarely fluctuating strongly.

Mr. Phuc calculated: A lemon tree two years old or older can bring in about three million VND/year. For households that grow several hundred trees, the annual revenue can reach hundreds of millions of VND; and for households that invest heavily, earning several billion is not uncommon.

A typical example is Mr. Ta Van Kim's family - one of the households that grows the most lemons in the area - has built the "Kim Chanh" brand, boldly invested in transport vehicles, spraying planes, and moved towards production according to a systematic process. High income helps his family to have the conditions to buy many modern equipment to serve agricultural development.

Thanks to lemon growing, the average income of Lam Sinh area is currently over 100 million VND/person/year – much higher than the average of the commune. At the same time, it creates many jobs for local workers and neighboring communes.

Large growers hire dozens of seasonal workers to weed, fertilize, and harvest. The daily wage is quite high: Male workers are usually paid 350,000 VND/day, female workers 220-280,000 VND/day. This is a stable source of income for many workers inside and outside the area, especially during the main season.

With the strong development of lemon trees, many households have also subcontracted the old forestry area to expand the growing area, some households own up to 7 hectares of lemon. This development has led to changes in life: Many families have built new houses, renovated houses; bought cars, tractors, pumps, lawn mowers; and improved traffic infrastructure in the area.

In addition to lemon trees, Tay Coc commune also has a large tea growing area.

Comrade Tran Tuan Anh - Chairman of Tay Coc Commune People's Committee affirmed: "In addition to tea and grapefruit - crops that already have brands - the commune is building a methodical development direction for lemon trees. The goal is to form a safe production area, with a growing area code, moving towards its own brand."

The commune is coordinating technical training, transferring safe care procedures, encouraging people to keep production diaries and linking consumption. In the future, the locality will continue to support people to develop in a sustainable way, not breaking the planning, attached to quality standards and expanding the consumption market to increase the value of lemon products.

Just over a decade ago, Lam Sinh was a hilly area, its economy dependent on rice and tea cultivation, and roads were difficult to travel. Today, those hillsides have turned into a large lemon growing area, producing thousands of tons of fruit each year, feeding hundreds of households. Lemon trees not only bring income, but also change the way people think about farming: producing goods, applying techniques, and building brands.

This change is not noisy, but persistent. And among the lush green lemon gardens on the high hills, one can clearly see the belief of the Lam Sinh people in the right direction – a direction from the land, from sweat, from the desire to get rich in their own homeland.

Vinh Ha

Source: https://baophutho.vn/lam-giau-tu-nhung-doi-chanh-o-lam-sinh-243230.htm