Get rich from clean lychee garden for export

Mr. Hoang Van Son (right) talks with commune leaders about the good lychee crop.

We went with Mr. Son to the hill to check on farmers harvesting lychees to package and deliver to export purchasing companies. Mr. Son excitedly pointed to the lychee garden that was ripening red and said: “My family has more than 1 hectare of lychee that is in the harvest season. This year’s lychee crop is good and the price is good. It is estimated that this lychee garden will yield about 16 tons.”

This is the second year that Mr. Son's family continues to sign agreements with businesses to supply early lychees for export to Europe at a stable price at the garden of 30,000 VND/kg, 20% higher than previous years, for a period of 5 years (2024-2028). According to Mr. Son, the early lychee season has a market price of 40,000-50,000 VND, an increase compared to the lychee selling price in the contract. However, because we have determined a long-term cooperation, I do not sell at a discount, but provide quality lychees according to the commitment with the export purchasing companies.

Born into a farming family, after finishing high school, Mr. Son chose to stay in his hometown, sticking with lychee, a traditional crop of Phuc Hoa commune. Realizing the increasing market demand for clean, safe agricultural products, especially in demanding markets such as Japan, the United States and Europe, since 2017, he has boldly converted the entire area of 1 hectare of lychee of his family to cultivation according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards.

According to the leader of the People's Committee of Phuc Hoa commune, recently, with the encouragement of the government, Mr. Son's family switched to growing lychee according to VietGAP standards, ensuring quality, and was contracted by companies purchasing lychee for export from the beginning of the season. Accordingly, instead of cultivating based on experience as before, the district's technical staff has instructed on the use of pesticides in the list, spraying in the right dosage, at the right time, ensuring the quarantine period... However, to change awareness to the planting and harvesting process is not simple. "At first, some households growing lychee in the village said I was reckless, because taking care of clean lychee trees must strictly follow the steps from soil preparation, pruning, organic fertilizer application to biological pest control... That process will take more effort and cost, while it is not known whether the market will accept it...", Mr. Son recalled.

With determination and a spirit of learning, Mr. Son attended training courses, researched online, proactively contacted agricultural extension officers to access new techniques, and linked up with businesses with experience in exporting agricultural products. Along with that, he strictly applied production processes, so his family's lychee garden has been granted a growing area code for export for many years. Although this year the weather has been complicated, lychee output in some places has decreased, but thanks to proper care, his family's lychees still have a good harvest, of which more than 60% meet export standards to Europe. With a selling price of 30,000-50,000 VND/kg for exported lychees, each lychee crop, Mr. Son's family earns more than one billion VND after deducting expenses. Not stopping there, he also proactively linked up with other farming households in the village, building a clean lychee production cooperation with a total area of more than 15 hectares.

Sharing his experience of getting rich from lychee trees, Mr. Son said: The most important thing is to change the production mindset, not chasing quantity but focusing on investing in the cultivation process, especially focusing on quality, ensuring food safety... Only then can the product stand firm, and reach far, exporting to demanding markets.

From a small-scale production household, Mr. Hoang Van Son has now become a typical example in the local agricultural development movement. Comrade Ngo Van Tiep, Chairman of the People's Committee of Phuc Hoa Commune, commented that Mr. Son is one of the typical examples of the commune in the movement to get rich from agriculture. His model has helped many households change their thinking and working methods, gradually forming safe lychee growing areas, serving products for export.

In the context of increasingly deep economic integration, examples like Mr. Hoang Van Son have made an important contribution to enhancing the value of Vietnamese agricultural products, affirming the position of Bac Giang litchi brand in domestic and international markets.

Article and photos: TRAN MINH

Source: https://nhandan.vn/lam-giau-tu-vuon-vai-sach-xuat-khau-post890148.html