Passion fruit tree "found its place" in Tri Le land
Village and commune model
Passion fruit trees are no longer strange to the people of Tri Le commune (Que Phong), but this is the first time people have experimented with growing high-yield passion fruit trees for export processing.
From the initial idea of District Party Secretary Tran Quoc Thanh, the District Rural and Mountainous Area Development Board (PTNTMN) focused on directing the implementation. After taking soil samples for analysis, based on the characteristics of the sub-regional terrain and climate, Tri Le is suitable for passion fruit trees. The Board established a project "Planting passion fruit trees in Tri Le commune" under the production development support program to implement Resolution 30a/CP of the Government on an area of 2 hectares under the green alliance project program. Thanks to support for seedlings, fertilizers, materials (concrete poles, steel wires), techniques..., 21 households in 4 villages of Tri Le highland commune including Ta Pan, Yen Son, Minh Chau 1 and San village were very enthusiastic about planting this tree.
Officers of the Rural Development Board of Que Phong district inspect the passion fruit garden.
Ms. Ha Thi Kim, Yen Son village happily said: "The passion fruit in our garden is growing very quickly. We planted 2,000 m2, at first we were confused about the technique but thanks to the guidance of the officers of the Settlement Committee, we have mastered it...". Yen Son village has 13 households registered to grow passion fruit this time.
To gain experience in comparing productivity and quality of each village and assessing the production capacity of the people, the District Rural Development Board selected typical families in 4 villages of 3 ethnic groups in the area to pilot planting on an area of 2 hectares; the remaining households are concentrated in Thai villages: Yen Son village and San village.
Mr. Nguyen Ba Hien, Deputy Head of the Department of Rural Development in Que Phong, said: The reason we chose to spread out evenly over 4 villages including 3 ethnic groups in the area is so that the villages and households can compete to learn the right planting techniques, from there to have a direction to continue investing in expanding the raw material area in the future.
"4 houses" linkage model
Although the passion fruit tree on Tri Le - Que Phong land is under construction, this is actually a planned and methodical investment from the stage of soil analysis, variety selection, popularization of planting techniques, care and even harvesting. The district's Mountainous Areas Development Board has coordinated with Nghe An Food Joint Stock Company (Nafoods) to select imported varieties (Lac Tien variety), the company's agricultural department is responsible for popularizing and instructing on trellis making techniques, planting, care and harvesting techniques. The district supports people with all varieties, fertilizers, concrete stakes, steel wires, and growers contribute labor.
Nghe An Food Joint Stock Company signed a contract to purchase all products for farmers at a ceiling price of no less than 2,500 VND/kg. The passion fruit (Passiflora) grown by Tri Le farmers comes from China and Taiwan. If grown according to the correct technical process, the yield can reach 80 tons/ha/crop.
Passion fruit trees have a growth cycle of about 4-5 years and the root-saving characteristic can last up to 10 years. Except for the first year when the yield has not reached its peak, in the following years if the yield is the same, one hectare of passion fruit can be sold forAt least as committed by Nafoods, the economic value will reach over 150 million VND. Thus, passion fruit is not only a tree that helps eliminate hunger and reduce poverty but also a tree that helps people get rich.
However, for passion fruit trees to grow, in addition to implementing support policies under Program 30a on supporting seeds, fertilizers, concrete columns, steel wires... for at least 3 years (1/2 cycle of a batch of passion fruit trees), businesses purchasing products need to have a subsidy policy for farmers in the first 2 years (when the output is not much), so that farmers can feel secure and really create motivation to be excited about planting and caring for them.
In addition, at this stage when the trees begin to grow strongly, flower and bear fruit, the technical department of the factory and the district and commune agricultural extension officers need to focus on providing guidance on pruning techniques, and on shaping branches on the trellis. In the immediate future, we must focus on providing technical guidance for the 2 hectares of the green alliance project program, achieving outstanding productivity, ensuring procurement to create trust and hope for a sustainable raw material area in the future.
Huu Nghia
