Van Huu sweet apples in Tet season

As Tet approaches, the sweet apple gardens in Van Huu residential group (Hoa Thuong town, Dong Hy) are bustling with customers coming to buy fruit. From the beginning of December, some early ripening trees are sold for 25,000 VND/kg of fruit; after the full moon, the apples begin to ripen and because it is right on the Tet shopping season, the selling price increases to 30-40,000 VND/kg, customers must order in advance to buy.

The sweet apple garden of Mrs. Pham Thi Mai's family (on the right, in Van Huu residential group, Hoa Thuong town, Dong Hy) brings in over 60 million VND in annual income.

Advised by the Farmers' Association to plant on garden land and single-crop rice fields in Van Huu residential area from 2022, after 3 years, Taiwanese green apples have become a fruit tree with high economic value. At each harvest, the Van Huu sweet apple area is favored by consumers near and far and has become a specialty of the suburbs of Thai Nguyen city.

Mr. Nguyen Van Quang's family is one of the pioneers who abandoned growing cassava to grow Taiwanese green apples. Up to now, 30 apple trees planted on 500m2 of land have yielded 2 harvests at the end of the year. Each year, his family sells over 1.5 tons of fruit and earns over 40 million VND.

Mr. Quang said: Growing apples does not require much effort, especially when there is an automatic irrigation system, there is almost no need for manual labor, but only time spent on care and monitoring for pests. Therefore, although my wife and I are nearly 70 years old, we are still proactive in intensive farming, harvesting, connecting to online consumption markets and selling directly in the garden.

For Mrs. Pham Thi Mai's family, although she is the only one taking care of nearly 1,000 square meters of Taiwanese green apple garden, she sells over 2 tons of fruit to the market each year and earns over 60 million VND.

Ms. Mai shared: In 2023, the residential area established an Apple Growing Cooperative. Everyone was very excited to update their knowledge and intensive farming skills, share care experiences and establish a fruit consumption linkage system through e-commerce channels, so economic efficiency was improved.

No chemical pesticides are used in the care, and the fertilization is done with soybeans that have been composted for 4-5 months. Pest control methods have also changed from direct extermination and repelling to luring and attracting fruit flies and pests, then treating them early, 2-3 months before harvest.

Thanks to the correct care process, Mrs. Mai's apple orchard has high productivity, good quality and the selling price is always 40-45 thousand VND/kg. Each apple ready to be harvested in the garden has a diameter of 4-5cm and 10-12 apples/kg.

According to Ms. Mai, for the first crop at the end of 2022, the family had to hire workers to harvest, but when the product became known to many people, traders came to the garden to harvest, so it didn't take much effort.

As the Head of the Apple Growing Cooperative, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nho said: In early 2022, when the apple growing group was launched, there were only 3 participating families, but later it expanded to 10 households with a total area of ​​over 1 hectare, mainly grown on garden land. After 3 years of harvesting, the value of apple trees has now reached over 500 million VND/ha/year.

According to the experience of Taiwanese apple growers in the Cooperative, this type of tree has high economic value, stable productivity, easy to grow, low investment capital, and is not picky about soil. During the care process, farmers need to keep the tree moist enough, fertilize it fully, and spray pesticides according to regulations to prevent diseases and mold. The time from planting to harvest only takes 1 year; the yield is about 8-10 tons/ha, on average, for 1 sao of apple trees, farmers earn about 20 million VND.

So, another Tet, Van Huu green apples of Hoa Thuong town have a bumper crop and are gradually becoming a specialty tree. Thereby helping farmers improve their lives and become rich on their garden and hill land.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202501/tao-ngot-van-huu-vao-vu-tet-a34153c/