Dien grapefruit grown on 'sour soil' brings in nearly 1 billion VND/ha of income

(Baonghean.vn) - Researching and finding that the soil and climate in Thanh Chuong (Nghe An) are suitable for citrus trees, Mr. Ho Sy Phuong in Hamlet 5, Thanh Lien Commune boldly planted 500 Dien grapefruit trees. This year, despite the prolonged heat, Dien grapefruit still produces many sweet fruits.

Notably, from his successful model, Thanh Chuong district planned to expand 200 hectares of Dien grapefruit with policies to encourage farmers to grow this variety.

Although the heat has been prolonged this year, Mr. Ho Sy Phuong's Dien grapefruit is still full of sweet fruit.

After graduating from high school, Mr. Ho Sy Phuong attended a vocational course on flower and ornamental gardening. After graduating, he participated in making seedlings at the Seedling and Plant Center of the Vietnam Agricultural Genetics Institute. With the accumulated experience, he returned to his hometown and bid for 1 hectare of land in the commune to grow Dien grapefruit.

This grapefruit variety is a specialty of Lang Dien in Tu Liem district, now Cau Giay district - Hanoi, but because the village has become a city and there is no more land, the people who are passionate about this specialty tree have moved to the suburbs. The Dien grapefruit trees that he brought to Thanh Chuong to plant were selected from seed farms in Hoai Duc district (former Ha Tay). The characteristics of Dien grapefruit are that it has a set of green leaves, grows well, and is not picky about soil. The fruit is not very big, but when ripe, it has a beautiful yellow color and is very sweet.

Dien grapefruit grown in Thanh Chuong retains its delicious flavor.

In 2008, he planted 500 Dien grapefruit trees. Thanks to good techniques, after only 3 years the trees began to bear fruit. From 2013 to now, all the trees have fruited and gradually provided a stable income. This year, despite the drought, the grapefruit still grew well, with an average of about 50 fruits per tree. It is estimated that he can harvest 25,000 fruits. With the current price of 30,000 VND/fruit, his grapefruit garden can earn about 800 million VND. According to Mr. Phuong's calculations, in the coming years, his family's grapefruit garden can earn over 1 billion VND/year.

From the effectiveness of Dien grapefruit trees, Ho Sy Phuong and his family bid for another 2 hectares of land in the Giang River area, about 500 meters from the old garden, to grow grapefruit. Many people in Thanh Lien commune and some communes in the area such as Thanh Tien and Thanh Hoa also learned from him to successfully grow Dien grapefruit.

After Thanh Chuong district planned 200 hectares of Dien grapefruit with incentive mechanisms, Mr. Phuong was very excited to guide and transfer techniques to people in the surrounding area.

With the initial success of Mr. Phuong, the leaders of Thanh Chuong district organized a tour, evaluated the model and made a project to replicate and form a specialized area for Dien grapefruit. Accordingly, the district initially directed 4 communes including Thanh Lien, Thanh Tien, Thanh Phong and Thanh Ngoc to create a land fund for people to grow 200 hectares.

Thanh Chuong District People's Council also passed a Resolution agreeing: "In addition to the support level according to Decision 09/2016/QD-UBND dated January 18, 2016 of the Provincial People's Committee, the district will support at the level of 20,000 VND/seedling and the cost of new land preparation of 5 million VND/ha for households growing Dien grapefruit in the planning area with a minimum concentrated planting area of ​​1,000 m2 or more".

Tran Dinh Ha

Thanh Chuong Radio