Tra Vinh province officially opens festival for tree species planted 100 years ago, affirming economic value

According to Chairman of Tra Vinh Provincial People's Committee Le Van Han, Tra Vinh has many types of fruit and specialties, the most special of which is wax coconut.

Chairman of Tra Vinh Provincial People's Committee Le Van Han delivered the opening speech of the wax coconut festival. Photo: HX

Tra Vinh wax coconut originated 100 years ago. According to recorded and preserved documents, in 1924, monk Thach So brought coconut varieties from abroad to plant in Cau Ke district and the first place where wax coconut trees were planted was Botumsakor Pagoda (Bo Tum Sa Co) - locals often call it the Market Pagoda of Cau Ke town.

Due to its suitability to the climate and soil characteristics of Cau Ke, the coconut tree has produced wax fruit. In terms of appearance, wax coconut is similar to other normal coconuts, however, inside the thick, flexible layer of wax coconut meat occupies almost the entire fruit with a little bit of thick coconut water.

Wax coconut is one of the crops with high economic value. In recent years, wax coconut has become a crop that is focused on and constantly increasing in area and output.

"Because wax coconut is processed into various delicious, nutritious dishes with a unique flavor that diners will remember forever when enjoying" - Mr. Han said.

With the values ​​that wax coconut brings, in August 2012, Cau Ke wax coconut, Tra Vinh was officially listed as one of the 50 famous fruit specialties of Vietnam (according to the Vietnam Record Book Center).

In particular, on August 5, 2024 , the Vietnam Coconut Association recognized "the wax coconut tree grown in Tra Vinh province as a Vietnamese coconut tree" and the Department of Intellectual Property ( Ministry of Science and Technology ) issued a certificate of geographical indication registration for wax coconut products of Tra Vinh province. This is the best condition for Tra Vinh wax coconut to develop and spread far and wide in the future.

Chairman of Tra Vinh Provincial People's Committee Le Van Han presents flowers to sponsors of the wax coconut festival. Photo: HX

In recent times, Tra Vinh province has focused on developing hundreds of valuable products related to coconut trees. Particularly for wax coconut, there are 3 products achieving 3-star OCOP, 7 products achieving 4-star OCOP, 3 products achieving 5-star potential OCOP ( pure wax coconut candy, pandan wax coconut candy, cocoa wax coconut candy) and 1 product achieving 5-star OCOP (wax coconut fiber) and especially wax coconut is processed into many delicious and healthy dishes .

In the strategy to upgrade the coconut value chain in the 2022 - 2025 period, the province will develop an additional 550 hectares of specialty wax coconut. Besides, Tra Vinh also has the orientation to build the Tra Vinh wax coconut brand with goals such as planning organic growing areas, VietGAP, and developing infrastructure.

Applying advanced breeding technology, especially embryo-cultured and tissue-cultured coconut varieties with high wax content, to improve productivity and product quality. At the same time, expanding the wax coconut growing area to create a rich source of raw materials, capable of supplying many domestic and international markets.

Continue to support and guide organizations and individuals to access central and local policies in production, business, processing, certification, assessment and management of the province's wax coconut area on the basis of applying digital transformation to ensure information transparency in transactions and business.

Encourage businesses to participate in the value chain, support the construction of local purchasing and processing facilities to reduce transportation costs and increase product value...

Leaders of Tra Vinh province visit booths at Tra Vinh Wax Coconut Festival. Photo: HX

According to Mr. Han, this year's Tra Vinh Wax Coconut Festival is a special event, held for the first time in Tra Vinh province to honor and promote the brand and value of wax coconut and affirm the efforts and determination to bring products processed from wax coconut to domestic and international markets. At the same time, it creates conditions for trading goods, connecting supply and demand, contributing to promoting socio-economic development, helping to strengthen exchanges and links to develop diverse tourism products with localities inside and outside the province.

With the goal of building Tra Vinh into one of the key provinces for marine economic development in the Mekong Delta region, a national renewable energy production center, with the motto "taking people and businesses as the center, aiming at people and businesses", the Chairman of the Tra Vinh Provincial People's Committee called for and wished for effective development cooperation with businesses, investors, international organizations and friends near and far.

"Tra Vinh always opens its doors to welcome domestic and foreign investors. Coming to Tra Vinh, investors will be given the most favorable conditions to successfully implement projects and ensure sustainable development in the future" - Chairman of Tra Vinh Provincial People's Committee emphasized.

Tra Vinh Wax Coconut Festival takes place from August 25 to August 31. The venue is Cau Ke town, Cau Ke district, Tra Vinh province - where the wax coconut area is the largest in the province. Cau Ke district is also the place where wax coconuts are grown, with the highest wax content and the most delicious taste.

Within the framework of Tra Vinh Wax Coconut Festival, there will be main activities such as the opening ceremony (evening of August 25), a contest to prepare 100 delicious dishes from wax coconut to set a record (August 27), an exhibition of local specialty fruits (August 25-31), a seminar on the current status and potential of wax coconut 926/8), a tourism discussion with the theme "Cau Ke - potential along the Hau River" (August 30).

In particular, during the opening ceremony of Tra Vinh Wax Coconut Festival, the decision of the Department of Intellectual Property to grant "Certificate of registration of geographical indication for wax coconut products of Tra Vinh province" will be presented to the People's Committee of Tra Vinh province.

In addition, after the opening ceremony of Tra Vinh Coconut Festival, there will be a 15-minute low-altitude fireworks display at the ceremony area. The fireworks display will start at 9:30 p.m.

Tra Vinh Wax Coconut Festival is also organized in coordination with the Vu Lan Thang Hoi Week event of Cau Ke district in 2024. Vu Lan Thang Hoi Week takes place from August 27 to 31 with main activities such as: opening ceremony (evening of August 27), trade fair (August 25-31), culinary space (August 25-31), lion dance festival (August 28-29), Vu Lan Thang Hoi image exhibition (August 27-31), sports activities and folk games (August 30-31), Ong Bon worship activities (August 27-31).

Source: https://danviet.vn/tinh-tra-vinh-chinh-thuc-khai-mac-festival-cho-loai-cay-da-duoc-trong-100-nam-khang-dinh-gia-tri-kinh-te-20240826061929251.htm