Supporting farmers: The effectiveness of growing native spiny cucumbers.

(Baonghean) - For nearly a month now, every early morning, households in Minh Thanh commune have been busy harvesting cucumbers. Mr. Nguyen Tho Thinh, from Hamlet 8, Minh Thanh commune, said: “My family has been growing cucumbers for many years, and this year we planted an additional 4 sao (approximately 0.4 hectares). We started harvesting on the 10th day of the first lunar month, picking every day, and have harvested over 2 tons of cucumbers. We've harvested about 50% already. The price of cucumbers has decreased, from 10,000 VND/kg at the beginning of the season to 6,000-8,000 VND/kg, but growing cucumbers is still the most profitable.”

In the spring of 2015, Minh Thanh commune, a mountainous area, boldly converted over 20 hectares of low-yield rice fields on upland land to cultivate native cucumbers. Thanks to the effective application of scientific and technical advancements and years of intensive farming experience, after more than a month since planting, the cucumbers are now being harvested on a large scale. Each plot of land yields 1.5 to 2 tons of cucumbers during the harvesting process. If the price remains stable at 5,000 VND/kg, each plot can generate 6 to 10 million VND per crop, 3-5 times higher than growing rice and other crops. The estimated total income from cucumber cultivation this spring is over 3.6 billion VND. Mr. Phan Phuc Hao, Chairman of the People's Committee of the commune, added: Besides traditional crops like oranges and apples, recently, spiny cucumbers have been added to the crop. The commune's policy is to focus on improving agricultural extension work, training and transferring advanced scientific and technological knowledge to farmers to increase productivity per unit area."

Anh Tuan - Phan Hien