To ensure bountiful harvests, for many years, orchard owners in Tay Ninh province have been learning and applying manual pollination techniques for custard apple trees. This is because, under natural conditions, the self-pollination ability of custard apple flowers is very low, as the stamens and pistils on the same flower do not mature simultaneously. Furthermore, the flower's structure often droops downwards, and the petals do not open wide, making pollination by insects or wind difficult. Without pollination, or with insufficient pollination, the fruit set rate is low, the fruit is small, not round, and of poor quality.
Ms. Dang Thi Hoa pollinates the custard apple tree.
The technique for pollinating custard apple flowers is quite simple, the tools are easy to find, but it requires meticulous attention to detail at each step. Before pollination, gardeners must pick long-blooming flowers with stamens that have just turned opaque white to collect pollen. These flowers are usually picked from trees that have already been pollinated but have leftover flowers, or they have to buy additional flowers from other gardens. Next, they remove the petals, put all the remaining parts into a tightly sealed paper bag, and leave it overnight in the refrigerator.
Early the next morning, the farmers sifted the pollen twice, collecting it in plastic straws. These straws were then placed in nylon bags and chilled in ice-filled containers before being taken to the garden for pollination, to prevent any impact on the quality of the pollen.
The flowers selected for pollination are those that have just bloomed and whose petals have fully separated. Farmers simply use a stick to gently push the pollen into the pollen tube, allowing the pollen to adhere to the flower's stigma. Then, they mark the pollinated flowers by pinching off the tip of one petal.
To achieve high efficiency, pollination is only done when the sun is not too strong, usually in the morning. For large orchards, growers have to hire workers to shine lights from 1 AM to keep up with the plants' schedule. On rainy or windy days, pollination must wait until the rain stops completely, as the rain prevents pollen from adhering to the stigmas.
Visiting a custard apple orchard at the Minh Trung Agricultural Service Cooperative (Tan Phu commune), we met Mrs. Dang Thi Hoa and her husband meticulously pollinating each flower. Mrs. Hoa said that she and her husband have been doing this work for many years and are paid over 200,000 VND per person per day. Every day, she goes to the orchard at 5 a.m. and pollinates more than 100 trees in the morning.
According to this 60-year-old woman's experience, 3 kg of fresh flowers will yield 20 pollen tubes. Each tube pollinates about 10 plants. The pollinated flowers will form young fruit about 5-7 days later. "Generally, this job is easy, not too strenuous, anyone young or old, male or female can do it, but the difficulty lies in the many steps involved, so patience and carefulness are needed," Mrs. Hoa shared.
Thanks to this method, custard apple orchards now have a fruit setting rate of over 90%, much higher than when the trees are left to self-pollinate (around 65%). Furthermore, custard apples that undergo concentrated pollination have a more attractive appearance, yielding higher economic value and contributing to strengthening the Ba Den custard apple brand.
After the fruit selection stage, each tree is left with only 40-50 fruits. Depending on weather conditions, custard apples begin to be harvested about 3 months after pollination. A farmer can harvest 2-3 crops a year. Each tree yields about 20kg. The most beautiful fruits sell for 70-80 thousand VND/kg.
Anh Thu
Source: https://baolongan.vn/nghe-thu-phan-cho-mang-cau-a201933.html
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