High income from growing green pomelos.

Recognizing that the green-skinned pomelo tree is well-suited to the local soil, produces fruit year-round, and has stable selling prices and market demand, Mr. Tran Dinh Binh in Thuong Phuoc village, Trieu Thuong commune, Trieu Phong district, Quang Tri province, converted more than 0.6 hectares of unproductive orchard land to green-skinned pomelo cultivation, bringing high income to his family.

Mr. Tran Dinh Binh (third from the left) introduces his family's green-skinned pomelo variety to customers - Photo: LA

Leading us on a tour of his thriving green pomelo orchard, Mr. Binh explained that this land was previously a mixed garden, mainly planted with crops, yielding low economic returns. In 2019, after researching and learning about fruit tree and citrus cultivation models in neighboring localities, he decided to convert over 0.6 hectares of unproductive land to green pomelo cultivation. To obtain high-quality, disease-free seedlings, he traveled all the way to Binh Phuoc province to purchase 200 green pomelo saplings to plant.

Mr. Binh shared that growing green pomelos is not as easy as many people think. Green pomelo trees require significant investment and labor costs. Before planting, he dug wide holes and built high mounds to help the tree's root system breathe, planting them at appropriate distances for optimal growth. According to Mr. Binh's experience, for green pomelo trees to thrive and produce large, sweet, and juicy fruit, it is necessary to use fertilizers appropriately, follow proper technical procedures, and regularly care for the orchard.

Additionally, during cultivation, attention should be paid to diseases such as sooty mold, sap exudation, and root rot, so that they can be treated promptly. Use biological traps and specialized fruit bags to cover the fruit to prevent fruit drop due to fruit fly damage. To ensure a high fruit set rate, careful care is needed from the time the plant first flowers.

In addition, attention should be paid to pruning, shaping, and thinning the fruit to ensure the tree produces just the right number of fruits, leaving only those of uniform size. This results in very uniform and round pomelos. With proper care, after about 2.5 - 3 years of planting, the green-skinned pomelo tree will begin to bear fruit and start producing a stable harvest from the 4th year onwards.

As soon as the pomelos are harvested, traders buy them all upfront, even paying deposits in advance. “Currently, my pomelo orchard yields an average of about 2 kg per fruit, with larger fruits reaching 2.5 - 2.7 kg each. With an average selling price of 25,000 VND/kg, after deducting expenses, I earn over 200 million VND per year. This is a high income for a farming family,” Mr. Binh said.

According to Hoang Ngoc Quang, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Trieu Thuong commune, compared to other fruit trees, green-skinned pomelo requires more labor to cultivate, but in return, the market for green-skinned pomelo is always stable, less affected by weather or competition from other localities. The selling price of green-skinned pomelo is quite stable, reaching over 50,000 VND/kg at peak times.

Thanks to the success of this green pomelo orchard, many farmers in Trieu Thuong commune have proactively sought to learn from his experience and order grafted saplings from Mr. Binh's orchard. This is a suitable direction for local people in organizing and restructuring production, especially in transforming the crop structure towards sustainability.

Le An

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/thu-nhap-cao-tu-trong-buoi-da-xanh-187919.htm