The attraction of 'Farmer's Garden'

Officials and members of the Farmers' Association of Hoa Ninh commune plant trees to help members. Photo: LAM PHUONG

Garden gift for members

In early 2025, responding to the movement "Tet tree planting - Forever grateful to Uncle Ho", the People's Committee of Hoa Ninh commune coordinated with the Commune Farmers' Association to build an "Economic Garden - Farmer's Garden" at Mr. Pham Van Bao's household (Dong Son village). During the launching ceremony, officials and farmer members supported Mr. Bao's family to plant 300 green-skinned grapefruit trees. After more than 5 months of receiving and caring for the grapefruit garden, Mr. Bao was excited because the grapefruit trees were suitable for the soil and grew well. With the garden, he boldly invested in an automatic irrigation system and a fence around the garden with a total cost of more than 200 million VND. Besides the grapefruit garden, he intercropped fruit trees such as guava, orange, tangerine, star apple, and longan to take advantage of the vacant land and limit the growth of weeds. “The garden is about 1 hectare wide. Previously, my family grew potatoes and cassava, but the economic efficiency was not high. After the Commune Farmers' Association mobilized me to build a garden economy, I cleared and improved the land to build a farmer's garden,” Mr. Bao shared. Previously, the Hoa Vang District Farmers' Association and the Hoa Ninh Commune Farmers' Association donated 100 grapefruit seedlings to member Ngo Dung (Trung Nghia village). Up to now, the grapefruit garden has developed favorably, promising many seasons of grapefruit laden with branches.

Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Hoa Ninh Commune, Nguyen Van Thanh, said that implementing Resolution No. 72/NQ-HDND dated December 17, 2021 of the City People's Council on regulations on a number of specific mechanisms and policies to support investment in building advanced new rural areas in Hoa Vang district in the period of 2022-2025, each year, the Commune People's Committee coordinates with the Farmers' Association to support 1,000 seedlings for members to develop the model "Economic Garden - Farmer's Garden". Up to now, more than 90 members have participated in the model, of which 10 gardens have been harvested, bringing high economic efficiency. In addition to supporting seedlings, the Commune Farmers' Association also mobilized resources from the City's Center for Fisheries, Agriculture and Forestry Extension to support fertilizers, grapefruit bags, and automatic irrigation systems for dozens of gardening households. In July 2024, the Commune Farmers' Association gathered members to establish a professional association for planting and caring for Hoa Ninh green-skinned grapefruit trees. Thereby creating conditions and opportunities for grapefruit farmers to exchange and share experiences to improve the efficiency and productivity of the garden.

Reap the rewards

Visiting the grapefruit garden of Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Lanh (1952, Trung Nghia village), we were surprised by the scale of the garden. The garden is 1 hectare wide with 300 green-skin grapefruit trees growing well and bearing young fruit. Mr. Lanh said that he used to grow acacia but the economic efficiency was not high. Since the locality launched the garden renovation movement, implementing the model "Economic Garden - Farmer's Garden", his family switched to growing grapefruit. At first, Mr. Lanh planted 60 green-skin grapefruit trees on a trial basis. Thanks to the suitable soil and weather, the trees grew well.

Next, he was supported by the Commune Farmers' Association with 200 more grapefruit seedlings to expand the garden area. In addition to grapefruit trees, Mr. Lanh intercropped 250 guava trees, 500 areca trees, and dozens of banana trees to take advantage of the planting land and increase income. With the goal of organic farming, Mr. Lanh mainly uses manure and bio-fertilizer to fertilize the plants; covers young fruits to limit pests and diseases. Thanks to safe farming, Mr. Lanh's garden products always sell at high prices and are positively received by the market. "The garden has 250 guava trees, each harvest is from 50-70kg, selling price is 30,000 - 35,000 VND/kg. On average, each grapefruit tree produces about 150kg/year, selling price is 40,000 VND/kg. The profit from the fruit garden is 8-10 times higher than growing acacia auriculiformis," Mr. Lanh calculated.

Mr. Phan Van Huu (61 years old, Trung Nghia village) also succeeded in switching from growing pepper to green-skinned grapefruit. After 10 years of growing pepper with more losses than profits, in 2018, Mr. Huu decided to renovate his garden and switch to growing green-skinned grapefruit. Thanks to carefully studying the characteristics of grapefruit trees, applying canopy shaping techniques, and selecting fruits, Mr. Huu's grapefruit garden has developed smoothly and produced fruit regularly.

In particular, all processes from planting, caring to harvesting, he complies with VietGAP standards, limits the use of fertilizers, chemical pesticides and prioritizes the use of biological products and decomposed manure for fertilization. Thanks to that, the quality of grapefruit is increasingly improved, trusted by consumers. With 250 green-skin grapefruit trees, every 3-4 months, Mr. Huu sells a batch at an average price of 45,000 VND/kg. On the occasion of the 15th, 1st, holidays, and Tet, market demand increases, the price of grapefruit also increases to 70,000 - 100,000 VND/kg. Thanks to that, Mr. Huu earns a profit from the grapefruit garden of more than 200 million VND/year.

According to the Farmers' Association of Hoa Ninh Commune, the entire commune currently has a 40-hectare green-skin pomelo growing area with more than 90 participating households. In 2021, Hoa Ninh green-skin pomelo was granted a 4-star Ocop certificate by the City People's Committee and a collective trademark registration certificate by the Department of Intellectual Property. Thereby, increasing the value of pomelos, helping farmers earn more income, contributing to the development of the rural economy.

LAM PHUONG

Source: https://baodanang.vn/xa-hoi/202505/suc-hut-tu-vuon-cay-nong-dan-4006421/