Bringing Dien grapefruit and Vinh oranges to the border area

One day in late March, going up the border of Tuong Duong, we visited the farm of Mr. Tran Cong Chinh and Ms. Vu Thi Tot in Cua Rao 2 village, Xa Luong commune, about 5 km from National Highway 7A. We were quite surprised when in the middle of the deserted valley were hills full of lush green fruit trees. "Previously, this area was full of reeds and bamboo, no one thought that oranges and grapefruits could be grown. Thanks to the pioneering of Mr. Chinh and Ms. Tot, many families are now learning and following suit" - Mr. Nguyen Duy Son - Vice Chairman of Xa Luong Commune People's Committee, our guide exclaimed.

The farm of Mr. Chinh and Ms. Tot's family is lush green in the middle of the border area. Photo: Tien Dong

Returning to the time he decided to come here to farm, Mr. Chinh shared that in 2017, when he visited his in-laws' family in Thanh Hoa province, he realized the modelGrowing Dien grapefruitIt was very developed there. After returning, he discussed with his wife to convert the fields, which had only grown one crop of corn and grazed cows, into growing fruit trees.

With the family's capital and additional loans from the bank, the family has renovated the stream running through the fields into 4 small ponds to both raise fish and store water to irrigate crops during the dry season. Because the fields were initially steep, to suit the grapefruit and orange trees, Mr. Chinh also worked hard to lower the slope, creating steps to suit the planting of trees. Once the land was available, he imported about 1,000 Dien grapefruit trees and 1,000 Vinh orange trees of the Van Du V1 variety to plant. After more than 2 years of basic construction, in the 3rd year, the grapefruit and orange trees began to bear fruit, and now in the 5th year they are producing stable fruit.

Caring for the fruit garden. Photo: Tien Dong

After the first crop of trees grew well in the new land, Mr. Chinh imported many different varieties of fruit trees such as Taiwanese guava, apple, banana... to intercrop on the farm area of ​​about 4 hectares. The area of ​​Dien grapefruit and Vinh orange has also been expanded much more than before. For Dien grapefruit, after each season, he leaves the number of fruits to increase, if in the first season he only leaves about 16 fruits/tree, then in the third harvest season he leaves from 30-50 fruits depending on the tree. With the selling price of each beautiful, sweet Dien grapefruit of about 20,000 VND, each year, a grapefruit tree will generate an income of about 600,000 - 800,000 VND, minus the cost of care and fertilizer, the profit is about 300,000 - 400,000 VND.

For orange trees, due to this year's demandUse oranges to prevent Covid-19The price of oranges has increased, so the price of oranges is good, averaging 20,000 VND/kg. Although the orange tree has not yet produced the highest yield, it still yields more than 5 tons of beautiful fruit each year. With the current stable price, it also brings in a profit of 100 million VND per year. In addition, with other fruit trees such as bananas, apples, Taiwanese guava and fish ponds, snail farming... the farm model combined with fish pond of Mr. Chinh and Ms. Tot's family has brought in a profit of 300 - 400 million VND/year, after deducting costs and care.

To prevent fruit flies and other pests, Mr. Chinh hung traps on trees. Photo: Tien Dong

Sharing his experience after 5 years of building a farm model to bring Dien grapefruit and Vinh orange trees to the border area, Mr. Chinh confided that growing fruit trees is not too hard but takes a lot of time, and one must really be attached to the farm to be able to do it. Due to the characteristics of the high mountainous area with large slopes, although the family has renovated many times, when fertilizing and in the rainy season, the land is very susceptible to erosion and washout, reducing soil quality. Therefore, in addition to maintaining moisture with a root irrigation system, each year Mr. Chinh's family also has to apply organic fertilizer 3-4 times to ensure nutrients for the plants.

Not to mention citrus fruit trees such as oranges and grapefruits are often stung by yellow jackets, causing sap to form on the fruit, along with other destructive insects that affect the yield and quality of the fruit. To ensure the quality of disease-free fruit and limit the use of chemicals, Mr. Chinh has invested in a system of insect traps. On each orange and grapefruit tree, he hangs 4-5 traps, thanks to which the types of bees, insects, and bugs that destroy the crops have been greatly limited.

In addition to growing Dien grapefruit and Vinh oranges, Mr. Chinh and Ms. Tot's family also experimented with raising soft-shell turtles and apple snails, with initial results showing high efficiency. Photo: Tien Dong

Although the family farm model has initially shown its effectiveness, the biggest difficulty for farms in border areas is still capital. Because, compared to the plains, investing in farms in mountainous areas is very expensive, often about 1.5 - 2 times higher. Moreover, currently the price of fertilizer is high, while the selling price of products is still low, combined with high transportation costs, making it difficult for farmers to get stable profits. Therefore, many people are still not interested in investing in building models and only maintain the traditional slash-and-burn farming system.

With its “different” approach, the farm model of Mr. Tran Cong Chinh’s family has become a new direction for people in the West in developing fruit trees on sloping land, contributing to changing the crop structure and improving mixed gardens.