Yen Phu peach village

(Baonghean) - Previously, the lives of people in Yen Phu village (Minh Thanh commune, Yen Thanh) mainly depended on agricultural production and small trade. Peach growing was introduced to the village about 30 years ago and has developed strongly in recent years. In response to the increasing demand of the market, some households in the village have boldly invested in improving techniques, care, expanding peach growing areas and bringing high efficiency. With suitable soil conditions, long-standing experience and diligence of the people, peach growing here has achieved encouraging results, contributing to the economic restructuring, gradually eliminating hunger, reducing poverty and improving people's lives...

We arrived at Minh Thanh Commune People's Committee after a long rain in the morning. This is the locality with the largest peach growing profession in Yen Thanh district - Yen Phu village. Welcoming us was the Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee - Mr. Tran Khanh Tung. Mr. Tung enthusiastically told us that although it was not the end of the year, the peaches had not yet bloomed, reporters who came there would be fascinated by the peach gardens planted on the hillsides. However, he was also a bit worried because the road to Yen Phu village was muddy after days of rain. But anyway, since we have come here, let's endure it. Dao Minh Thanh is now the best. For many years, people have been attached to the peach growing profession, bringing in high income. In 2013, the District People's Committee recognized Yen Phu as a village with the profession of "growing ornamental flowers and trees". Although it is called "growing ornamental flowers and trees", the main profession is growing peaches.

Peach garden of Mr. Tran Quoc Hoan's family.

Having said that, Mr. Tung arranged for Mr. Thanh - an officer of the Commune People's Committee office to lead me. Each person had a motorbike, dodging slippery, muddy roads, clinging deep into the foothills to Yen Phu village. In the conversation with us, Mr. Thanh explained: It is this difficult road that partly affects the consumption of peach blossoms during Tet. Because the weather at the end of the year often has long drizzles, the road surface is muddy, making customers reluctant to enter. People are striving to make the "flower and ornamental plant growing" profession stronger and stronger in the hope of soon being recognized by the province as a craft village...

Peach growing in Yen Phu is not a long-standing tradition, just a few decades ago. Mr. Tran Ngoc Lien, a villager, now 82 years old, recalls: In the late 80s of the last century, people's lives in this mountainous region were very difficult, not enough to eat. At that time, our class brought sugarcane to plant in our home gardens, and at the end of the year, we carried the sugarcane to the local markets to sell, using the money to buy rice. When life was stable, many people bought orange and lemon seedlings to plant, replacing sugarcane. But after 3 years, oranges and lemons gradually withered because the soil was not suitable. At that time, in the village, there were some families growing large, beautiful native peach trees, many people immediately thought of growing peaches. At that time, peaches were grown mainly for the fruit, not for the branches. Later, peaches were gradually grown for flowers to serve the worshiping purpose of Tet.

When people's demand for flowers during Tet began to increase, peach growers also saw the economic value of peach trees. According to Ms. Lien, in the past 10 years, Yen Phu peach growers began to focus more on their profession, and the peach growing profession began to move more clearly towards commercialism. It is known that Yen Phu village now has nearly 50 peach growing households, accounting for 67% of the total number of households in the village, with an estimated peach growing area of ​​over 20 hectares, mainly home gardens. Since it is a profession, earning a living from the profession is natural, and only then can it be sustainable. It is estimated that on average, each year, the total income of peach growing households in Yen Phu village is up to billions of dong. Small households have tens of millions of dong per year, large households have hundreds of millions of dong per year.

Visiting the peach garden of Mr. Tran Van Hai's family. More than 20 years ago, he was the first person to bring the Nhat Tan peach variety to graft onto local peach trees in his garden. Now, looking at his peach garden, we cannot help but be surprised at the scale of planting. On an area of ​​approximately 1 hectare of garden land, he dedicated 7 sao to growing peach trees. Mr. Hai happily said: The garden has over 1,000 trees, mainly stone peach varieties, grafted onto local peach trees. Previously, the Nhat Tan peach variety was often grafted, but about 5 years ago, according to customers' preferences, it was replaced by stone peach varieties. Stone peach varieties were taken from Ky Son and Que Phong to graft onto local peach trees. The characteristics of stone peaches are large, strong trunks, light pink flowers, with 5 large petals, and long-lasting. Customers now often "search" for this type of peach to worship on Tet, so no matter how much they have, they sell out. In total, Mr. Hai has been growing peaches for more than 20 years. At first, it was just for fun, so we didn't take much care of it, but later it became a real livelihood, we had to keep an eye on it every day. In Mr. Hai's peach garden, there are currently peach trees worth 4 - 5 million VND, the smallest tree is 300 thousand VND. Mr. Hai affirmed that growing peaches is the main income of the family, thanks to which life is more and more prosperous and full than before. Now, each peach growing household has 1 - 3 original peach trees (main peach), both to eat the fruit and then to sow the seeds for seedlings. Year after year, the stone peach variety is increasingly popular, bringing value to growers and connoisseurs...

The rain was getting heavier and heavier, sitting and chatting with the peach growers of Yen Phu village, we could see that growing peaches is a very elaborate job. The soil and climate in Yen Phu village are considered suitable for peaches to grow well. So at first glance, it seems that growing peaches here is easy, just plant the tree and it will live and bloom on time. Actually, it is not like that, to have a satisfactory peach tree and branch to display on Tet, it really takes a lot of effort! Mr. Hai said: Growing a young tree until it has big, beautiful branches, takes 3-4 years. For beautiful peach trees, it can take 5-6 years to dig and sell. Taking care of the tree is also very meticulous and careful throughout the year. With bonsai peach trees, the care requires a large investment and meticulous shaping of each branch from a young age. The most difficult thing is how to make the bonsai peach tree have "four blessings" on the branch on Tet: buds, flowers, buds and fruit.

Bonsai peach trees like this are usually for "picky" and wealthy customers. If you want your peach tree to have "four fortunes" at a time, the peach grower needs to have many years of experience in the profession. Mr. Hai shared the secret: Peach growers must know how to invest at the right time, plant the tree at the right time, and shape the branches and create the appropriate shape. If you want your peach tree to have few fruits for Tet, you must adjust it so that a batch of flowers blooms in early November. If the weather is favorable, peach growers can rest assured, but if the weather is unpredictable, peach growers will feel anxious. Therefore, the most important thing is to predict the weather of that year to handle the peach garden accordingly. If the cold weather lasts for a long time, you must strip the leaves early so that the peach blossoms bloom for Tet. If the weather is warm, the peach blossoms will bloom early, and cannot be delayed. If the weather is unfavorable, causing the peach blossoms to not bloom for Tet, then the peach growers will lose their harvest that year.

Planting bonsai peach trees requires so much effort, but naturally grown peach trees require very little care. Mr. Tran Quoc Hoan, owner of a peach garden with 700 trees, said: Naturally grown peach trees are mainly for selling branches. After harvesting, clean up around the peach tree, use compost, mix a little nitrogen fertilizer, sprinkle on the ground (peach roots grow shallowly under the ground). When the peach tree sprouts, cut off the small, weak shoots, choose the large, strong shoots to take care of, let them grow naturally, without having to spend time creating a shape. When the peach tree sprouts, stem borers often appear, so it is necessary to proactively spray pesticides to prevent them. When the tree grows normally, pests often appear: red spider mites, gummosis, stem borers. Therefore, peach growers must pay attention, when detecting signs of pests, prevent them immediately. During the process of peach tree growth, it is necessary to pay attention to prune unnecessary branches, creating conditions for the remaining branches to grow quickly and evenly. On the occasion of Tet, cleaning the peach garden, combined with processing the peach blossoms to bloom on time, creates an impression for customers to buy peaches. Therefore, although the peach growing profession is quiet, it contains its own joy. That joy not only brings economic benefits to the family, but also contributes to beautifying the beauty of spring to each family. According to Mr. Hoan, with gravel soil on the hillside, there is no tree that brings higher income than growing peaches. Taking advantage of the peach garden, the family can also raise chickens very effectively.

Leaving the peach gardens in full bloom on the hillsides, we still recall many stories that the peach growers here have told. There are both joys, worries, and nervousness... We know that in Yen Thanh there are also some places that grow peaches for business, but peaches from Yen Phu village are the most famous. That fame is shown through the unique beauty of peach blossoms and the shape of each peach tree created by the people here. Therefore, customers from Con Cuong, Do Luong, Dien Chau, Vinh... find their way to buy Yen Phu peaches to display on the occasion of Spring and Tet. The hope of the people of Yen Phu is that the province will soon recognize the craft village of "flower and ornamental plant growing", so that the peach products here will become more and more prosperous!

Article and photos:Xuan Hoang