Farmers grow squash for seeds

Mr. Tran Van Thang is letting the gourd "sleep" under the rambutan tree.

Mr. Tran Van Thang's family in Village 3, Duc Pho Commune, Da Huoai District has specialized in growing squash for seeds for many years. He said that Sao squash is a large variety of squash with few seeds and thick flesh, and is widely grown to supply green vegetables to the market. However, he himself does not grow Sao squash for sale, but specializes in growing squash for seeds.

While placing the big gourds under the rambutan tree to let the gourds “sleep”, Mr. Tran Van Thang said that this is the “first generation” of gourd trees, pollinated from the parent gourd trees. He said: “My family specializes in growing Sao gourd varieties, with very strict techniques to achieve the best quality, pure seeds, ensuring quality so that the company has seeds to supply to commercial vegetable growers. Growing gourd varieties requires a special care regime, completely different from growing commercial vegetables”. According to Mr. Thang, he grows Sao gourd varieties under a contract with a business, the gourd seeds are provided by the company to farmers for propagation. The parent gourd trees are planted and marked very strictly, attention must be paid from the time the seeds are received. The first line of seeds is given to farmers to plant on disease-free soil. For example, his family often rents rice land from farmers, and in the winter-spring crop in October, they start planting gourd seeds. The gourd seeds require very clean soil, and vegetables cannot be grown. Therefore, every year the family changes the soil once to ensure the soil is very clean.

Mr. Thang said that after sowing, the squash seeds are numbered for careful management. The parent squash plants are very weak and need to be carefully tied with ropes, otherwise they will fall, break branches, and break tops. The squash seedlings require a very special fertilizer regime, with a very abundant amount of organic fertilizer. “The parent squash plants are actually very disease-free due to clean soil, but their nutritional and water needs are very high. After two months of planting, from the time the squash begins to flower, the family must proactively pollinate. This is the most important step in growing squash seedlings, ensuring pure seeds, without crossbreeding,” Mr. Thang provided information. According to Mr. Thang, when pollinating squash, pollen from the parent plant needs to be taken to the flowers of the parent plant. After pollination, farmers must use plastic clips to tightly clamp the mouth of the mustard flower to prevent other insects from continuing to pollinate, causing crossbreeding of the seeds. “The pollination process is the most important process, ensuring the purity of the seeds. If not careful, the yield and quantity of seeds will be crossbred, not meeting the requirements of the business,” Mr. Thang assessed.

After pollination, the care regimen for the gourd seedlings will be adequate watering as well as abundant fertilizer. Mr. Thang shared that during the rapid growth stages of the gourd, each day the fruit can increase from 0.2 - 0.3 kg. If not provided with adequate fertilizer, the gourd will not grow and the seeds will not be of good quality. From planting to harvest is 5 months, much longer than growing commercial gourds. By the time it can be harvested, each gourd seedling will reach an average of 4.5 - 5 kg/fruit. The seeds of the properly ripe gourd must be dark black, evenly colored, with no immature or flat seeds. If picked too green, the seeds will have a poor germination rate.

"After harvesting the fruit, Mr. Thang must put the gourds in cool areas such as the porch, under the shade of trees to let the gourds "sleep" for 15-20 days, then bring them home to continue the steps such as taking the seeds, rubbing off the slime, drying in weak sunlight so that the gourd seeds dry naturally. "Growing gourd seeds is very difficult, not everyone can achieve it because the company sets many strict standards. For example, the purity of the seeds must be over 98%, the germination rate is over 90%, all indicators have machines as well as precise measuring tools that farmers must comply with. However, having grown squash seeds under a contract with the company for many years, my family has still been able to meet the company's requirements," said Mr. Thang. It is known that squash seeds are only grown once a year, from October to March of the following year. Because he is familiar with and strictly follows the planting process, he has achieved a yield of approximately 1 ton of seeds per hectare of land. Currently, the price of seeds paid by the company is 450,000 VND/kg. After deducting costs, fertilizers, and labor, Mr. Thang has a fairly stable income for five months of growing squash seeds.

Mr. Le Doan Loi - Vice Chairman of Duc Pho Commune People's Committee, Da Huoai District said that Mr. Tran Van Thang's household grows Sao squash seeds in association with enterprises as a policy of the commune government. Through Duc Pho Commune, enterprises sign contracts with farmers to grow seeds sustainably, bringing long-term benefits to both sides, which is a stable direction for agriculture in remote areas. Not only farmer Tran Van Thang, through the Commune People's Committee as a bridge, many Duc Pho households are also actively cooperating with enterprises to grow vegetable seeds, bringing income as well as diversifying crops on rice fields.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/kinh-te/202504/nong-dan-trong-bau-sao-lay-hat-0ec3993/