Changing the mindset of growing fruit trees

Intercropping pumpkins in the grapefruit garden has helped Mr. Nguyen Van Ton's family (in La Dong hamlet, Trang Xa commune, Vo Nhai) maintain their annual income.

Nearly 10 years ago, Mr. Nguyen Van Ton, in La Dong hamlet, Trang Xa commune, brought 150 Dien grapefruit trees to plant in his family's garden. After 3 years of active care, the grapefruit garden has produced the first fruits with good quality. In 2019, with each grapefruit tree, Mr. Ton earned 2 million VND in profit and this was also the year the grapefruit trees gave the highest income.

In the following years, the Dien grapefruit growing movement in Trang Xa commune developed, leading to surplus output, low selling prices and many difficulties in output. In 2021, 2022 and 2023, Mr. Ton's family as well as the people in the commune could only sell at an average price of 2,000 VND/fruit.

Faced with this situation, Mr. Ton's family decided not to destroy the grapefruit garden but instead planted pumpkins and 150 jackfruit trees to sell as construction trees. After 3 years of planting, Mr. Ton recently sold his first batch of jackfruit for 500,000 VND/tree. Along with that, he earns about 20 million VND annually from selling pumpkins.

Mr. Ton said: The grapefruit trees have been planted for many years, with large, strong roots. If they are cut down, it would be a waste. That is why I decided to interplant other types of trees in the empty space in the grapefruit garden. This method helps the family maintain income...

Mr. Luong Viet Duc in Cau Nho hamlet boldly applied the technique of grafting four-season lemons to his family's Dien grapefruit garden. Thanks to his creativity and determination, his model initially brought positive results.

Currently, in addition to 1,000 grapefruit trees grafted with four-season lemons, Mr. Luong Viet Duc (in Cau Nho hamlet, Trang Xa commune, Vo Nhai) also planted 1,000 four-season lemon trees to get grafting eyes and fruit.

Mr. Duc shared: Realizing that this model brings high economic efficiency to many households in Ham Yen district, Tuyen Quang province, in 2023, I hired someone to graft 20,000 four-season lemon buds onto 1,000 grapefruit trees, at a price of 6,000 VND/bud. Of which, 300 trees belong to my family, the rest are from my association with people in the area.

According to the plan, at the end of 2024, Mr. Duc's family will harvest the first batch of lemons, but due to the impact of storm No. 3, the trees will not begin to yield fruit until 2025.

Since the beginning of this year, each tree has yielded 10-20kg of fruit, with a selling price of over VND20,000/kg. According to Mr. Duc, from now until the end of the year, if the weather conditions are favorable, each tree can yield about 300kg of fruit. If the price remains stable as it is now, after deducting all expenses, each tree will yield an income of about VND6 million.

The model of intercropping other fruit trees into Dien grapefruit gardens or grafting citrus trees onto Dien grapefruit trees is increasingly being applied by people in Trang Xa commune.

Mr. Nong Van Toan, Vice Chairman of Trang Xa Commune People's Committee, shared: Dien grapefruit trees used to be a great hope for the locality, but due to many reasons, grapefruit growers encountered many difficulties. However, in difficult times, there is a way out, people have proactively learned and applied new models on their own grapefruit gardens. Thanks to that, they have contributed to keeping the grapefruit gardens green. Up to now, the total grapefruit area in the commune is 285 hectares, a slight decrease compared to the peak in 2018-2019. In 2024, an average hectare of grapefruit will bring an income of 100-150 million VND.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/kinh-te/202505/thay-doi-tu-duytrong-cay-an-qua-a6f05d3/