Visiting Bao Ha during the persimmon ripening season.

Bao Ha commune currently has about 300 hectares of seedless persimmon trees. Every year, during the persimmon ripening season, orchard owners are busy harvesting the fruit to sell to traders.

Every year, in the seventh lunar month, Mr. Do Khac Hung, 70 years old, from Tan An 1 village, Bao Ha commune, eagerly awaits the ripening of persimmons in his garden so he can harvest them and sell them to traders who have placed orders in advance.

This year, as persimmons ripened, Mr. Hung's family was delighted to welcome locals and tourists attending the Bao Ha Temple Festival to visit, experience picking persimmons, and enjoy ripe persimmons right in their orchard. The ancient persimmon orchard became an attractive destination, leaving many fond memories for those who came to experience it.

Ms. Tran Thi Hoai Thu was amazed by the ancient rose bushes, some decades old, laden with fruit. Although a resident of Bao Ha commune, Ms. Thu said she rarely sees such a beautiful garden of ancient roses anywhere else.

Ms. Thu said: "For many years, during the persimmon season, we often buy persimmons to send as gifts to friends in other provinces. When they taste the crisp persimmons from Bao Ha, everyone praises how delicious they are. Bao Ha's seedless persimmons have been famous for a long time; they are crisp and sweet, making them a very suitable gift for tourists."

Mr. Do Khac Hung, the owner of the ancient rose garden, is very pleased that this year's rose season has attracted many locals and tourists. Mr. Hung said that his family's ancient rose garden has trees planted in 1972, now over 50 years old, and later trees are about 25 years old. Visually, the old rose trees have trunks and bases so large that it takes almost a person to embrace them, with tall, lush foliage and branches heavily laden with fruit.

Mr. Do Khac Hung shared: "My family's ancient persimmon orchard covers more than 1 hectare. In good years, we harvest 7-8 tons of persimmons. The average price of pickled persimmons is 10-12 thousand VND/kg, and at the end of the season it's around 15-20 thousand VND. Bao Ha persimmons ripen in the autumn, from the 7th lunar month onwards. When fully ripe, the fruit turns red, with a plump, attractive appearance. However, the time when persimmons can be harvested is when the skin changes from green to yellow. At that time, people pick the persimmons and soak them in water for about 3 days and 3 nights to remove some of the astringency. At this point, the persimmons are crispy, sweet, and unforgettable after just one bite."

Not only Mr. Hung's family, but hundreds of other households in Bao Ha commune currently grow persimmons. Recognizing this as a fruit tree that provides a stable income for the people, the commune government encourages people to preserve and take good care of the old persimmon orchards and expand the area for planting new persimmons in conjunction with tourism development. At the same time, agricultural extension officers are sent down to guide people on harvesting fruit and caring for persimmon trees to ensure proper techniques.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Huan, an agricultural extension officer in Bao Ha commune, said: "Seedless persimmons reach the highest quality when they turn yellow. Therefore, we instruct people to start harvesting in the seventh lunar month. During the harvesting process, they don't harvest all at once but gradually because persimmons ripen in different batches. After harvesting, agricultural extension officers and agricultural officials will guide people in pruning and shaping the trees, then fertilizing them to promote growth. The fertilizer is mainly organic fertilizer to ensure the soil has enough nutrients for the trees."

Over the past 10 years, seedless persimmon trees in Bao Ha have provided a stable source of income for many households and have been identified by the local authorities as a fruit crop that contributes to the economic development of the people. Seedless persimmons are one of the fruit trees with high nutritional and economic value, and have been selected by the agricultural sector as a product to be included in the provincial "One Commune, One Product" program.

Every year, in the seventh lunar month, Bao Ha commune organizes the Bao Ha Temple Festival, attracting tens of thousands of visitors to tour and worship. This is also an opportunity for the commune to introduce local specialties for visitors to enjoy. The seedless persimmons of Bao Ha are a precious gift from this land, carried by tourists to all over the country. It is known that in 2024 alone, the people of the former Bao Ha commune earned more than 2 billion VND from this fruit.

According to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Cong, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Bao Ha commune, seedless persimmons from Bao Ha have now been recognized as a 3-star OCOP product and have been granted a collective trademark "Bao Ha Seedless Persimmon" by the Intellectual Property Office, affirming its prestige and quality and contributing to bringing the product to consumers. In the coming time, the Bao Ha commune government will continue to promote and encourage the people to preserve, care for, and improve the quality of seedless persimmons in conjunction with the development of local tourism.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/ve-bao-ha-mua-hong-chin-post882153.html