Sweet fruit on Cai Kinh land

Cai Kinh commune people harvest custard apples.

More than 20 years ago, custard apple trees were planted by several households in Cai Kinh commune on limestone mountains with an area of about 30 hectares. After a period of planting, it was shown that custard apple trees grew and developed well, suitable for local climate and soil conditions, so people proactively expanded the area. In addition, the Party Committee and the commune government also organized training courses on custard apple tree planting and care techniques, thanks to which people have knowledge and experience to apply in production practices.

Not only that, in 2016, Cai Kinh commune began applying custard apple production according to VietGAP standards to improve the quality of custard apples as well as meet the increasing demand of consumers. Accordingly, people are guided by specialized agencies on the custard apple care process from fertilizing, spraying biological pesticides to pruning and harvesting to ensure compliance with standards.

Mr. Nong Van Loi, Dong Ngau village, Cai Kinh commune is one of the typical households in the commune in developing custard apple trees. Mr. Loi shared: My family started growing custard apple trees more than 20 years ago, at that time the family only planted a small quantity. Seeing that custard apple trees brought economic efficiency, my family expanded the area over the years, now the family has over 2,500 custard apple trees. Thanks to participating in training courses on transferring science and technology, and instructions on producing custard apples according to VietGAP standards, my family's custard apple garden has developed well, with beautiful fruit. On average, each year the family harvests over 10 tons of fruit, bringing in an income of over 500 million VND per year.

Not only Mr. Loi's family, realizing the economic efficiency of custard apple trees, people in the commune have converted garden land and alluvial land to grow custard apple trees, and proactively produced custard apples according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. Up to now, the whole commune has 828 hectares of custard apples, of which 500 hectares are produced according to VietGAP and GlobalGAP standards. The annual custard apple output reaches over 62,000 tons. The economic efficiency of custard apple trees has helped many households escape poverty and become rich, many households have an average income of 200 million VND/year, especially some households have an income of over 1 billion VND/year.

Mr. Hoang Van Dan, Head of the Economic Department of Cai Kinh Commune, said: To support people in sustainable development, the People's Committee of the commune has promoted and guided people to establish cooperatives with the aim of providing technical support, linking consumption, orienting production according to VietGAP standards and promoting trade. Thanks to that, up to now, the whole commune has 3 cooperatives growing custard apples. At the same time, guiding people to build OCOP custard apple products (one commune one product program), accordingly, in addition to ensuring production according to standards, the commune promotes and guides people to use product traceability stamps for custard apples, and designs custard apple containers with the Cai Kinh Na brand printed on them. Currently, the commune has 3 custard apple products certified with 3-4 stars OCOP, contributing to affirming the brand of local specialties.

In addition to developing custard apple trees, in the past 3 years, local people have also planted custard apple varieties with high economic value such as Thai custard apple and durian custard apple with an area of 40 hectares. Mr. Le Quoc Hung, Head of the Farmers' Cooperative Group for growing and caring for Thai custard apple and durian custard apple, shared: The cooperative was established in 2024 with 38 members. Currently, the cooperative's area of Thai custard apple and durian custard apple is about 25 hectares. These are custard apple varieties with high economic efficiency, so many households in the commune are expanding their area. Currently, the cooperative has built a product linkage chain, the output of Thai custard apple and durian custard apple of the cooperative reaches over 100 tons/year.

To promote and enhance the value of the product, every year, the People's Committee of the commune actively participates in trade promotion programs, displaying custard apple products at fairs inside and outside the province. In addition, people also proactively promote the product on social networking sites and e-commerce platforms. With guaranteed quality, the market for Cai Kinh custard apple is not only in the province but also expanding to many provinces and cities across the country such as: Hanoi , Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh ...

Custard apple is not only a prominent specialty of Lang Son province, but also a symbol of the spirit of overcoming difficulties and renewing production thinking of farmers here. With the right direction, linking production and effective product consumption, custard apple trees have been helping people change their lives. By the end of 2024, the poverty rate of the commune will be 2.23%, the average income per capita of the commune will reach 55 million VND/person/year. Thereby, contributing significantly to the socio-economic development and new rural construction of the commune.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/cai-kinh-qua-ngot-giup-nong-dan-doi-doi-5056702.html