Growing organic strawberries on trellis

10:59, October 6, 2023

Seeing the trend of agricultural land increasingly shrinking due to urbanization in the locality, Ms. Tran Thi Tuyet Oanh (Group 4, Ea Tam Ward, Buon Ma Thuot City) has been creative and bold in building a model of growing organic strawberries on net pillars with biotechnology, which has initially brought high economic efficiency.

Starting from the process of producing vegetable pots for family use, Ms. Oanh gradually switched to using larger plastic paint buckets to produce vegetables combined with using organic fertilizers made from decomposed plant residues thanks to black soldier flies with biological products (Trichoderma or EM...), and then multiplied that idea into the current organic strawberry growing model.

Ms. Oanh (right) introduces the Japanese strawberry net pole.

On an area of 500 ^m2 , Ms. Oanh has more than 200 strawberry nets with varieties from Japan, Taiwan, France, and the US, of which 50 strawberry pillars of Japanese variety have been harvested from October 2022 to February 2023. She is piloting the remaining varieties to evaluate their adaptability and economic efficiency for expansion in the coming time.

The strawberry net pole has a diameter of 1 m (including the outer net covering), inside there is a substrate for the strawberry roots to cling to, each pole initially grows 15 - 18 plants, then the seedlings (shoots) from the mother plant are planted around the pole to increase productivity. The strawberry plants are supplied with water by a water-saving irrigation system combined with organic fertilizer through water, automatically controlled according to the water needs of the plants. In addition to fertilizing through the water system, the strawberry plants also directly absorb organic fertilizer inside the substrate pole, by the method of "asking" black soldier bees to decompose plant residue (leftover vegetable peels, pineapple shoots, etc.) through Trichoderma enzyme treatment for the strawberry plants to absorb, so the plants are always green and lush. Ms. Oanh also produces organic fertilizer through water from fish protein combined with a processing process to create a source of quality organic fertilizer, providing adequate nutrition for strawberry plants, so the cost of strawberry products is reduced but the quality of the products is very good.

The outside of the strawberry pole is covered with a mesh screen to minimize pests attacking the strawberry plants. On the other hand, the strawberry plants that Ms. Oanh bought from a tissue culture facility in Da Lat are healthy and very resistant to disease. In addition to the Japanese strawberry variety that has been harvested, the Taiwanese strawberry variety is also starting to flower. This variety has larger, thicker and harder leaves than the Japanese variety, and produces single, individual fruits, not in clusters like the Japanese strawberry variety. The Taiwanese strawberries are hard and easy to transport over long distances, but the sweetness is not as good as the Japanese variety.

Supplementing the growing medium for strawberry pillars

Ms. Oanh added that if Japanese strawberry plants are grown from tissue culture, they can be harvested after 3-4 months, but if grown from seedlings separated from the mother plant (called strawberry shoots), the plants will grow faster, be strong, and bear fruit after only 1-2 months. The time from the beginning of harvest to the end of harvest lasts up to 4 months, each pillar yields 5-6 kg/crop, in some cases up to 8 kg/pillar, with a selling price of 300,000 VND/kg, much higher economic efficiency than some other crops. Currently, the strawberry output of Ms. Oanh's garden is not enough to meet the ordering needs of quality fruit and vegetable stores in and outside the province.

The model of producing strawberries in net pillars is a modern growing method that is very convenient for families with small gardens, taking advantage of the balcony or terrace space for planting, easy to care for, has a harvest and decorates the house beautifully and coolly, avoiding the impact of weather factors. Ms. Oanh is willing to provide technical support to meet the needs of replicating the model for households who want to develop strawberry growing at home.

Rosewood

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