Growing Dien grapefruit organically: Young trees, healthy people

HANOI: Besides helping the 20-year-old pomelo orchard thrive and yield increasingly higher productivity, organic farming also contributes to the health of both the orchard owner and the soil.

HANOI: Besides helping the 20-year-old pomelo orchard thrive and yield increasingly higher productivity, organic farming also contributes to the health of both the orchard owner and the soil.

The pomelo orchard of Mr. In and Ms. Phuong's family in Ba Phuong is thriving thanks to organic farming practices. Photo: Tung Dinh.

Young trees, healthy people

Four years ago, seeing their more than 15-year-old pomelo orchard withering and bearing fewer fruits, Mr. In and Ms. Phuong in Nam Phuong Tien commune (Chuong My district, Hanoi ) were heartbroken. Unwilling to accept their situation, they searched online for ways to save their orchard, and "organic farming" became the key to resolving their family's concerns.

Besides the noticeable improvement in the health of hundreds of grapefruit trees in their orchard, Mr. In and Ms. Phuong, owners of Ba Phuong grapefruit orchard, have also seen an improvement in their own health. "Our house is surrounded by hundreds of grapefruit trees. Before, every time we fertilized or sprayed pesticides, we were very tired, but now it's completely different," Ms. Phuong shared.

Having started growing pomelos in 2004, the price of Dien pomelos peaked at one point but gradually declined due to a sharp increase in supply, coupled with the excessive use of chemical products that weakened the trees. Furthermore, the soil quality in the orchards deteriorated, leading to a decrease in fruit quality and a further drop in price. While many orchard owners neglected their pomelo trees when prices fell, Ms. Phuong's family persevered.

In 2020, they decided to change, switching to organic farming and pest control using microbial products with the help of staff from the Institute of Plant Protection.

This 20-year-old Dien pomelo orchard still bears abundant, beautiful fruit thanks to proper cultivation techniques. Photo: Tung Dinh.

To date, after 4 years of changing farming methods, Ba Phuong's Dien pomelo orchard is lush and healthy, with each tree capable of yielding 100-200 fruits per season, depending on weather conditions.

"Looking at the grapefruit orchard now, many people would think the trees are only a little over 10 years old, but in reality, they're almost 20. With organic farming like this, the trees stay young and I stay healthy," Ms. Phuong said enthusiastically.

Not only are the trees healthier, but the soil's health has also improved significantly. The previously barren garden soil is now loose and porous, with moisture maintained year-round. Beneath the grapefruit trees is a layer of lush green vegetation, which helps retain moisture and protect the soil's microbial ecosystem.

One of the most obvious examples is the resurgence of earthworms in the garden, reaching levels far higher than four years ago. However, this has also led to the Ba Phuong garden facing the problem of "earthworm poachers" from those who illegally harvest the worms.

Lime powder, rice straw ash, and chicken manure are used as fertilizer for pomelo trees. Photo: Tung Dinh.

Feed the plants beans, fish, and snails.

Ba Phuong's orchard currently has over 4 hectares of Dien pomelo trees, equivalent to about 600 trees, and 100% of them are cultivated organically. In addition to using organic fertilizers, biological products, and microorganisms, some inorganic fertilizers such as NPK or potassium are still maintained to supplement nutrients for the trees.

In this process, NPK fertilizer is applied during the flowering stage to increase fruit set, while potassium is added when the fruit is about the size of a rice bowl to increase its sweetness.

The remaining main "foods" for pomelo trees are corn, soybeans, fish, snails, rice straw ash, chicken manure, etc., which are applied directly (ash, chicken manure) or composted with microbial preparations (such as corn, soybeans, fish, snails...).

"Every year, my family composts about 1 ton of soybeans, 1 ton of fish, and uses about 100-200 bags of rice straw ash and chicken manure to fertilize the plants," the gardener shared. Accordingly, the compost is diluted and applied evenly to the plants every 10-15 days, especially focusing on the period after harvest to help the plants recover quickly. It should be noted that applying too much concentrated fertilizer can have a counterproductive effect, causing root rot.

Organic fertilizer composting bins using biological preparations provided by the Institute of Plant Protection to the Ba Phuong pomelo orchard. Photo: Tung Dinh.

After switching to this farming method, Ba Phuong's pomelo trees not only bear more fruit but also have a more attractive appearance, are less susceptible to pests and diseases, and require less use of pesticides. Meanwhile, in the surrounding area, many pomelo orchards have become old, have low yields, are infested with pests and diseases, and many families have had to cut them down.

This year, the weather was unfavorable during the grapefruit flowering season, but it is estimated that the 4 hectares of grapefruit trees belonging to Mr. In and Ms. Phuong's family will yield about 60,000 fruits, equivalent to 100 fruits per tree. This yield is considered only 50-60% compared to good harvest years.

During the recent Typhoon No. 3, many of the grapefruit trees in their orchard were flooded. Although they had promptly dug trenches to drain the water, about 20 trees still died.

With an expected yield of 60 tons of fruit, the orchard's loyal customers have placed orders to prepare for the upcoming holiday season. The selling price for pomelos weighing 700g or more is 20,000 VND per fruit, while smaller, less attractive ones are sold at lower prices in markets. Having grown Dien pomelos for 20 years, the family says they've never had any unsold fruit. Especially after switching to organic farming, although the initial investment is higher, the quality and yield of the pomelos are excellent, offsetting the initial costs.

Biological bait traps are hung in the pomelo orchard to deter pests. Photo: Tung Dinh.

Currently, to combat pests, especially fruit flies, Ba Phuong gardeners are using biological traps provided by the Institute of Plant Protection.

Besides their adhesive properties, these bait traps can also attract male flies and render them sterile, preventing their reproduction. However, Ms. Phuong believes that for long-term effectiveness, the extermination and trapping efforts need to be carried out synchronously and on a large scale, avoiding a situation where trapping in one area only leads to flies flying to another.

Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/trong-buoi-dien-theo-huong-huu-co-cay-tre-nguoi-khoe-d405002.html