The secret of Nghe An farmers to making lemons bear abundant fruit.

These days, on the hillsides of Lai Hai, Khe Huong, Khe Ray, Len Doi, Ho Thanh… people in Thuong Tan Loc, Khanh Son, and Nam Kim (Nam Dan district) are busy harvesting lemons in the main season to sell to traders.

“The price of lemons is relatively high compared to previous years, currently ranging from 12,000 to 15,000 VND/kg. The hot weather makes lemons easy to sell and the price is stable. Some households earn hundreds of millions of VND per season from lemons,” said Tran Hoai Nam, a lemon farmer in Nam Kim.

Lemon trees have been closely associated with the people of Nam Kim for over half a century, becoming a cash crop that provides a stable income for the local people. Currently, the entire commune has about 300 hectares of lemon trees, with approximately 4,000 households growing them. Some households cultivate a whole hectare, while others have at least 1-2 sao (a unit of land measurement).

Mr. Vo Van Cuong, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nam Kim commune, said: "Lemon trees are the main crop in the development of garden-based economy in Nam Kim. The lemon varieties here are mainly native varieties, which are hardy, grow well, and yield high productivity. In addition, farmers also have special care methods to ensure that the lemons bear abundant, juicy, and fragrant fruit."

The method used by the people of Nam Kim is root pruning. According to the long-standing experience of lemon growers in Nam Kim, to achieve a high rate of budding, flowering, and fruiting, about 20 to 25 days before the beginning of autumn (ranging from mid-August to early September, depending on the year), after harvesting all the fruit, they will loosen the soil, weed around the tree canopy, and let the soil dry. They will also prune some of the fine roots to limit the tree's growth. When the leaves fall, they will fertilize, cover with soil, and water thoroughly to help the tree revive. At this time, the tree will sprout new shoots and buds, and then flower.

With nearly 25 years of experience growing lemons and over 300 trees on her hillside garden, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoa (Hamlet 2, Hung Yen Bac Commune, Hung Nguyen District) said: “Whether it's a good harvest or a bad one depends on many factors, such as: seed quality, care procedures, and weather. However, to ensure a bountiful harvest, farmers must master lemon cultivation techniques. Among them, water management techniques are very important.”

According to Ms. Hoa, after harvesting the main crop of lemons, to ensure a bountiful harvest in the next season, the branches must be pruned to improve air circulation for the trees.

Specifically, you must dig a deep circle around the base of the tree, expose the soil, and use a hoe to remove some of the roots. During this time (about 12-15 days), gardeners must completely stop watering and fertilizing the trees. If it rains, you must cover the base with plastic sheeting to prevent water from flowing in.

When this method is applied, the ground will dry out, and the leaves will turn yellow and fall off in large numbers. At this time, it is necessary to water the plant thoroughly and fertilize it with sufficient nutrients so that the lemon tree will sprout new shoots and buds.

"During this stage, the lemon tree's leaves will turn yellow, the edges will curl, they will fall off, and it will show signs of dying, which is popularly known as 'false death'. The 'water restriction' method helps stimulate lemon growth, resulting in abundant flowering and a high fruit set rate," Ms. Hoa shared.

Most of the lemons grown in Nghe An are native varieties, with thin skins and a fragrant aroma, but they are characterized by only bearing fruit once a year (peak harvest from June to August). Due to the peak season, the price of lemons is often low, sometimes leading to oversupply and difficulty in selling them. "Necessity is the mother of invention," and the people have learned and gained experience to manipulate the lemon trees, forcing them to bear fruit out of season.

When the main lemon crop is in full bloom, dig a 20-30cm deep hoe around the tree canopy. Simultaneously, stop watering and fertilizing, manually remove excess fruit, or spray with Ethrel to remove 50% of the main crop fruit, then cover the soil back up. After 7-10 days, the lemon tree will shed 40-50% of its young leaves, shoots, and mature leaves.

Next, dig a 10cm deep trench around the canopy, apply 1-2kg of potassium chloride to each tree (depending on the age of the tree), let the soil dry for 1 month, then water and care for the tree as usual. About 30 days later, the lemon tree will sprout new leaves, flower, and bear fruit in June-July, yielding fruit from December to February of the following year.

Thanks to this method, off-season lemons achieve a fairly high yield (50-60%) compared to lemons in the main season, but the selling price is 2-3 times higher.

“During the main season, each lemon tree can yield 100-150 kg of fruit, while off-season lemons only yield 40-50 kg. However, if main-season lemons are priced at 12,000-15,000 VND/kg, off-season lemons can fetch 40,000 VND, or even 50,000-60,000 VND/kg. Therefore, farmers pay close attention to caring for lemon trees to ensure a good off-season harvest,” said Mr. Ho Dinh Thiem, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Khanh Son commune (Nam Dan district).