8X Nghe An guy starts a business with salt-tolerant vegetables

Domestication of wild vegetables on saline soil

Doi field in Mai Hung ward (Hoang Mai town) is dry and salty, so it was previously abandoned, with grass growing up to a person's head, but now it is covered with the green color of jujube. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Water spinachis a wild vegetable that grows along brackish rivers, shrimp ponds, salt fields, harvested in January - March of the lunar calendar, mainly in Quynh Luu and Hoang Mai town. Because it grows wild, the yield of this vegetable is low, coastal people mainly pick it to process dishes for their families, in years when the vegetable harvest is good, if they can't eat it all, they sell it.

However, the harvest time is short, the vegetables are scattered, so the yield is not high, the economic value is low. In particular, currently, the edges of shrimp ponds, salt ponds, river banks... have been renovated, leveled and tend to be concreted, so the remaining area of ​​​​amaranth vegetables is not much. Meanwhile, amaranth vegetables have become a "specialty" that many people love, the selling price on the market is quite high from 15,000 VND - 20,000 VND/kg.

Not wanting a hometown specialty to be exhausted, Tran Van Quan (born in 1984 in Quynh Di, Hoang Mai town) has cherished the plan to domesticate the jujube plant and bring it to intensive cultivation on saline land.

From wild vegetables, with his own "secrets", Mr. Tran Van Quan has successfully domesticated them, bringing in an income of 1 billion VND/year. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Doi field is more than 1 hectare wide.Mai Hung Ward (Hoang Mai Town)For a long time, the land was deserted, with grass growing higher than the knees, because before that, people had tried planting beans and peanuts, but the plants were stunted, died young, and had low productivity. After experimenting and measuring the pH level in the soil, Quan found it quite suitable for growing jujube. He "took a risk" and contracted this 1 hectare to carry out his idea.

As a wild vegetable, it has strong growth but when it is introduced for breeding and trial planting, it is quite difficult. It takes until the 4th planting for the plant to adapt and develop.

“After receiving the contract, I used all my accumulated capital, borrowed from friends and relatives, and invested nearly 1 billion VND in this wasteland to level and improve the land, build a drainage system, and install automatic irrigation nozzles. It is not easy to grow wild vegetables intensively. On the one hand, we must follow the natural characteristics of the plants, and on the other hand, we must know how to add organic substances such as fermented chicken manure, fermented fish sauce residue, and salt water to help the vegetables grow well, develop well, and be harvested year-round,” said Mr. Tran Van Quan.

Loquat leaves have become a specialty, and are ordered in large quantities by restaurants, hotels, and domestic tourist areas. The output for this vegetable is therefore quite stable. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Thanks to those "secrets", he successfully domesticated this type of jujube. Starting from the 9th lunar month, the seedlings are planted, and after 3 months, the jujube is ready for harvest. Instead of only being harvested in the spring, when the weather is hot and dry, like wild jujube, after domestication, the jujube is grown intensively and can be harvested all year round (about 10-11 months). Every 3-5 days, a crop is harvested, each crop is 3-5 quintals/sao. Planted in a alternating cropping pattern, so every day there is a harvest to sell vegetables to the market.

Rau lot is now not only a rustic dish but has become a specialty in restaurants, hotels, and famous tourist areas. Therefore, the consumption market is quite open. Currently, in addition to the domestic market, rau lot is sold to the northern provinces, coastal tourist areas in Phu Quoc (Kien Giang), Ca Mau... The price of rau lot at the present time fluctuates from 15-25,000 VND/kg. After deducting expenses, each year it brings in about 1 billion VND in revenue, creating regular jobs for 3-5 local workers.

Open direction from saline agricultural model

Daily harvesting and year-round harvesting not only create a stable source of income but also create jobs for many local workers. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Upcoming,Nghe An Vegetable Cooperativeowned by Tran Van Quan will rent more abandoned saline land, expand the area for growing water mimosa and salt-tolerant plants such as sea purslane, ground purslane, sea asparagus, etc. in coastal areas; at the same time, cooperate with people in these areas to transfer techniques, plant and consume products with the goal of "greening" saline land, creating livelihoods, and improving the environment for people.

While the climate is increasingly harsh, intensive cultivation of jujube trees on saline land, using salt water and by-products of aquaculture and seafood processing for fertilization and irrigation is considered a solution to adapt to climate change, opening up a new direction in economic development in localities when currently, the agricultural production area affected by saline intrusion is increasing, concentrated in the districts: Nghi Loc, Dien Chau, Quynh Luu, Hoang Mai Town... It is forecasted that in the coming years, the situation of saline intrusion will increase in both area and salinity.

Being proactive in varieties, the plant is salt- and drought-resistant, so the jujube vegetable is highly appreciated in choosing a crop that adapts to climate change. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Therefore, along with implementing measures to limit saltwater intrusion, changing the crop structure is considered an effective and sustainable solution for agricultural production areas affected by saltwater intrusion in many localities. In particular, the experimental planting model of jujube has brought about clear results. Currently, jujube products are being sold raw on the market, used to prepare dishes such as jujube salad, jujube stir-fried with garlic, etc.

Hopefully in the near future, when the composition of the rau loit plant is analyzed and its quality is tested, it will be processed into rau loit powder, rau loit tea, rau loit cake, etc., creating typical products of coastal areas, contributing to the implementation of the model.Sustainable saline agriculture adapting to climate change.

Tran Van Quan's upcoming plan is to expand the area of ​​​​water spinach to 5 hectares in saline areas in Hoang Mai and Quynh Luu. At the same time, supply seeds to other localities in the country. Photo: Thanh Phuc

The domestication, propagation and development of the halophyte plant in coastal and saline soils into a commercial vegetable product, bringing high economic efficiency, has opened up a new production direction for the locality. Halophytes generally contain high levels of minerals and micronutrients, which are beneficial to human health, and are also plants that can adapt to the effects of climate change. Therefore, recent decades have witnessed rapid growth in the market of several halophytes in Europe, where the market is estimated to be worth around 24 million euros annually.

Therefore, the development of jujube in particular and salt-tolerant vegetables in general helps us achieve dual goals: local economic development and adaptation to climate change, especially in localities affected by salinization of cultivated land.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung - Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Science and Technology