Con Cuong district is planting 5,200 American melon plants for the second crop.

(Baonghean.vn) - Following the success of the first melon crop, the Chi Khe Commune Agricultural Cooperative (Con Cuong District) is now planting 5,200 American melon plants for the second crop of 2017 according to VietGap standards.

In its first melon crop, the Chi Khe Commune Agricultural Cooperative planted 5,000 melon plants, yielding 7 tons of fruit. Photo: Minh Hanh

After harvesting the first crop of melons (5,000 plants yielding 7 tons of melons, generating a profit of over 200 million VND), the Chi Khe Commune Agricultural and Seedling Cooperative proceeded to prepare the land and plant 5,200 new American melon seedlings.

To date, the cooperative has planted 2,200 seedlings that are 15 days old, with 4-5 leaves already grown, and is continuing to sow seeds for another 3,000 seedlings, which are expected to be transplanted into pots 10 days after sowing.

The total cost for seedlings is 26 million VND. It is estimated that the entire melon crop will be ready for harvest after 3 months.

The cooperative is currently continuing to sow seeds and cultivate 3,000 seedlings. Photo: Minh Hạnh

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Trung, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Chi Khe Commune Agricultural Cooperative in Con Cuong District, said: "After harvesting the first melon crop quite successfully, we immediately started the second crop. The melons already planted are developing very well, and in about 5 days we will plant the remaining melons."

Learning from our previous experience, this time we are focusing on intensive farming techniques to achieve higher yields and efficiency. We plan to harvest this crop just in time for Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year).

Workers are actively tending to the newly planted trees. Photo: Bá Hậu

This is the first high-tech agricultural model implemented in the mountainous district of Con Cuong, under the district's VietGAP-compliant commercial vegetable farming project for the period 2016-2020.

Ba Hau - Minh Hanh