Dong Trieu Town: Actively preparing for custard apple harvest

In just about half a month, farmers in Dong Trieu town will officially enter the main custard apple harvest season. This year, the weather is favorable, the custard apple trees grow and develop well, giving high yield, beautiful appearance, promising a successful custard apple crop.

Mr. Nguyen Van Khoa (Tan Thanh village, Viet Dan commune) takes care of custard apples waiting for harvest day.

Along with other custard apple growers in Dong Trieu town, these days, Mr. Nguyen Van Khoa's family (Tan Thanh village, Viet Dan commune) is focusing on taking care of and checking the ripeness of the fruit to prepare for harvest. With an area of 0.5 hectares produced according to VietGAP process, the garden currently has 400 custard apple trees, 7-14 years old. In the 2023 crop, Mr. Khoa harvested more than 6 tons of fruit, with an average selling price of 30,000 VND/kg, after deducting expenses, the family made a profit of more than 200 million VND. This year's custard apple crop, due to favorable weather and more evenly distributed rainfall than in previous years, the trees grew very well, averaging 3-4 fruits/kg, with beautiful fruit appearance. It is expected that by the end of July, the custard apple garden will be harvested with the same yield as last year, but the selling price will increase slightly because this year some fruits such as lychee, longan, mango... have failed to harvest.

Dong Trieu is the locality with the largest fruit growing area in the province, with more than 2,400 hectares, of which 912.9 hectares are planted with custard apples (accounting for nearly 40%). With delicious taste, large fruit, beautiful appearance, and high economic value, custard apples are the main crop that helps improve the lives and income of thousands of households in the area. Currently, custard apples in Dong Trieu are grown in 14/21 communes and wards and are divided into 2 growing areas. The main area is concentrated in the communes of Binh Duong, Viet Dan, Tan Viet, and An Sinh. Area 2 includes the communes of Trang An, Binh Khe, and Trang Luong.

In recent years, Dong Trieu town has paid attention to investing in custard apple trees to improve their quality. The town is implementing a project to restore locally grown custard apple varieties with the goal of ensuring a yield of over 15 tons/ha and replacing 30% of the low-efficiency custard apple growing area that is in a state of degradation with restored varieties.

In addition, Dong Trieu Town also promotes the implementation of the Project on developing key fruit trees in the period of 2022-2023, with a vision to 2030 of the locality. Up to now, 450 hectares of custard apples have been certified to meet VietGAP standards, mainly custard apples, contributing to improving the quality and value of the products.

Custard apple trees have brought in hundreds of millions of dong in income each year for farmers in Dong Trieu.

According to Dong Trieu Town's estimates, due to favorable weather, custard apple output in 2024 will reach about 10,955 tons, with a yield of 11 tons/ha, equivalent to 2023. The harvest time is expected to start from the end of July to August with the selling price increasing by about 15-20% compared to 2023 (average about 55,000-60,000 VND/kg).

To avoid harvesting at the same time, custard apple growers have applied fruit pruning techniques to regulate growth and main-season yield of custard apple trees to continue growing off-season custard apples, harvesting in October and November, or even later, to spread out the crop and increase the economic value of custard apples, because the price of off-season custard apples is nearly double that of the main season.

After harvest, custard apples are labeled with QR codes and packaged according to specifications, helping consumers easily trace the origin of the product. This process not only creates clean, high-quality products, but also helps custard apple growers expand their consumption markets and increase product prices.

It is expected that in early August, Dong Trieu Town will organize a conference to promote custard apple consumption, in order to proactively implement solutions to promote custard apple consumption at the main harvest time of farmers in the area. Through this, it will create opportunities for cooperatives, custard apple producers, and key business units to meet, learn about the needs, purchasing methods, payment and conditions in signing product consumption contracts.

Along with direct consumption connections, the town also strengthens and improves e-marketing activities, applying digital technology in promoting and consuming custard apple products. In 2024, Dong Trieu town expects custard apple revenue to reach over 300 billion VND.

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