High income from growing green-skinned grapefruit

Realizing that green-skinned pomelo trees are suitable for the local soil, produce fruit all year round, and have stable prices and output, Mr. Tran Dinh Binh in Thuong Phuoc village, Trieu Thuong commune, Trieu Phong district, Quang Tri province has converted more than 0.6 hectares of ineffective garden land to grow green-skinned pomelos, bringing high income to his family.

Mr. Tran Dinh Binh (3rd from left) introduces his family's green-skinned grapefruit variety to customers - Photo: LA

Taking us on a tour of the thriving green-skinned pomelo garden, Mr. Binh said that this land was previously a mixed garden, mainly growing crops with low economic efficiency. In 2019, after a period of research and learning about fruit and citrus growing models in neighboring localities, he decided to convert more than 0.6 hectares of ineffective garden land to grow green-skinned pomelos. To have a source of quality and disease-free seeds, he traveled all the way to Binh Phuoc province to buy 200 green-skinned pomelo trees to plant.

Mr. Binh shared that growing green-skinned grapefruit is not as easy as many people think. Green-skinned grapefruit trees require large investment capital and labor costs. Before planting grapefruit, he dug a large hole and built a high mound to help the tree's roots breathe, planting at a reasonable distance for the tree to grow. According to Mr. Binh's experience, to grow green-skinned grapefruit trees well, producing large, sweet and juicy fruits, it is necessary to use fertilizers properly, follow technical procedures and take care of the garden regularly.

In addition, during the care process, it is necessary to pay attention to diseases such as sooty mold, oozing, root rot... to handle them promptly. Use biological traps, use specialized fruit bags to cover the fruit to avoid fruit loss due to fruit flies. To ensure a high fruit set rate, it is necessary to take good care of the tree from the moment it flowers.

In addition, pay attention to pruning, shaping the canopy, and pruning the fruit to help the tree have a sufficient number of fruits, leaving only fruits of equal size, so that the grapefruits are very large and round. With proper care, after about 2.5 - 3 years of planting, the green-skinned grapefruit tree will yield a first harvest and will start to produce a stable harvest from the 4th year onwards.

Traders buy all the grapefruits harvested, even depositing money in advance. “Currently, my grapefruit garden yields an average weight of about 2 kg/fruit, with large fruits weighing up to 2.5 - 2.7 kg/fruit. With an average selling price of 25,000 VND/kg, after deducting expenses, the annual income is over 200 million VND. This is a high income for a farming household,” said Mr. Binh.

Chairman of the Trieu Thuong Commune Farmers' Association Hoang Ngoc Quang said that, compared to other fruit trees, green-skinned pomelos are more difficult to care for, but in return, the market for green-skinned pomelos is always stable, less affected by weather or competition with other localities. The selling price of green-skinned pomelos is quite stable, at peak times it can reach over 50,000 VND/kg.

From the effectiveness of this green-skinned grapefruit garden, many farmers in Trieu Thuong commune have proactively sought to learn from his experience and ordered seedlings by grafting branches from Mr. Binh's grapefruit garden. This is a suitable direction for local people in organizing and rearranging production, especially converting crop structure towards sustainability.

Le An

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