After more than 5 years of sticking with the luffa growing model, Mr. Nguyen Van Tien in Minh Thanh ward, Chon Thanh town (Binh Phuoc) has invested in planting 3 hectares of buffalo luffa according to the inter-crop method. Every day, Mr. Tien collects 400-500kg of fresh melon to supply to the market. However, the price of melon fluctuates, sometimes falling as low as 2.000 VND/kg.
To solve the problem of output for luffa, Mr. Tien has learned and researched many solutions, including letting the luffa grow old, waiting for the fruit to dry and then harvesting the luffa fiber.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tien in Minh Thanh ward, Chon Thanh town (Binh Phuoc) harvests fresh melon.
Mr. Tien invested about 130 million VND per hectare to build a trellis and install a watering system using solar energy to grow buffalo luffa. After deducting costs, each crop Mr. Tien earns from 25-30 million VND/hectare of luffa.
Gourd will be harvested after 2 months of planting and the autumn period lasts about 3,5 months. To have luffa harvested all year round, Mr. Tien divided the land area for crop planting and planted 3 crops/year. On average, from 1 hectare of land planted with luffa, he collects 20 tons of fresh fruit and 500kg of luffa.
Mr. Tien shared: When the price is high (more than 6.000 VND/kg) and stable, I sell fresh luffa, and when the price is low, I let dried luffa sell fibers. Dried loofah must be left to mature naturally, and the loofah fiber must be thick, white and smooth before it can be supplied to the purchasing company to make finished products for export to Korea. Raw dried luffa costs 25.000 VND/kg, and peeled and seeded luffa costs 200.000 VND/kg. Currently, I have just linked up the supply of dried melon to partners in Gia Lai province.
Luffa is dried to get fibers that have a natural maturity. The maturity level must be 80% or more to reach the level, and the fibers must be hard.
In Vietnam, loofah is purchased to produce household products and exported to Japan, Korea, the US and some countries in Europe. These are demanding markets, strict in testing chemical residues. Therefore, people must comply with clean and green production methods.
Currently, Mr. Tien is producing in the direction of association, providing raw materials to partners to make products such as: bath cotton; dishwashing pads and bowls; shoe lining... export.
Flexible and creative in developing economic models, after deducting costs, Mr. Tien earns a profit of about 300 million VND/year. To solve the output problem for melon, he sells both fresh and dried fruit. But according to Mr. Tien, if you only grow luffa to sell fiber, it will not be profitable. You have to combine selling fresh fruit to make up for investment, hiring workers and selling luffa fiber to make a profit, and at the same time deal with the amount of fresh luffa with no output. , low selling price.
