Farmers own ancient wax coconut trees

Some ancient wax coconut trees still "stand" in Mr. Thach Nien's garden (right).

Talking about the 100-year-old wax coconut trees in her family's garden, Mrs. Thach Thi Ngoc Dung (76 years old) in Hamlet 2, Cau Ke town said: her family has more than 0.4 hectares of garden land, around the garden there are still 04 ancient wax coconut trees. When I was a child, I saw these coconut trees and heard my father (Mr. Thach Chia, born in 1915, died in 2008) tell me that these coconut trees were planted by monks at Cho Pagoda.

According to Ms. Thach Thi Ngoc Dung, harvesting old wax coconut trees like that is very difficult, because they are too tall (nearly 20m), so coconut buyers do not pick them; partly because the number of wax coconuts on old coconut trees has also decreased. Therefore, many families are forced to cut them down and replace them with new wax coconut trees.

Wax coconut, also known as solid coconut, has its own unique flavor when referring to Cau Ke wax coconut (Tra Vinh province), favored by domestic and foreign consumers. Today, wax coconut has brought a sustainable source of income, helping people to rise up and reduce poverty, especially in the Khmer ethnic minority area.

Mr. Thach Nien (63 years old) in O Mich hamlet, Chau Dien commune, Cau Ke district is one of the few gardeners in the commune who still takes care of ancient wax coconut trees, about 100 years old. He shared: currently his family still has 17 wax coconut trees that are 100 years old remaining in the coconut garden of more than 0.47 hectares, many coconut trees still retain bullet fragments stuck in them due to the war. According to his mother (Mrs. Thach Thi Phuong, born in 1928, died in 2018), the above coconuts have been in the garden since she was a child; so according to estimates, these coconut trees are more than 100 years old.

Ms. Thach Thi Ngoc Dung (middle) talks with local authorities about her family's 100-year-old wax coconut trees.

According to Mr. Thach Nien, in the past, wax coconuts were not known to many people; the reason was that more than 40-45 years ago, every time it was time to pick dry coconuts, the wax coconuts had reached the stage of becoming oily and could not be used; everyone threw them away and said they were "python-eaten" coconuts. About 40-45 years ago, they themselves knew and felt that they were wax coconuts and started buying and selling them. From these wax coconuts, the family continued to select and plant more; up to now, there are about 40 wax coconuts, the latter are about 30 years old.

Currently, Cau Ke district has about 1,140 hectares of wax coconut; of which, the plantation is concentrated in Hoa Tan commune with 480 hectares; Chau Dien 239 hectares and Hoa An 139 hectares... the age of wax coconut gardens is concentrated today, mainly under 20 years old.

According to comrade Vo Thanh Xuan, Chairman of Hoa Tan Commune People's Committee: currently, there are about 35 wax coconut trees that are 70 years old or older in the commune; concentrated in Chong No 1 and Chong No 2 hamlets; mainly in garden areas on sand dunes and slopes.

It can be said that the wax coconut trees of ancient type up to 100 years old are currently very few; gardeners of Cau Ke district have been and are looking for solutions to create a source of original seedlings to be restored, maintained and developed, in order to preserve and conserve the precious wax coconut gene source.

Article and photos: HUU HUE

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