Model of growing watermelon intercropped with rubber in Tan Phu

(Baonghean) -Arriving at Tan Phu commune (Tan Ky district) in late April, under the golden sunlight spreading evenly over the melon fields interspersed with rubber gardens, leading us, Mr. Ho Sy Van - Chairman of the commune happily said: "Another watermelon crop brings high income to farmers, when implementing the conversion of crop structure. This is the second year that Tan Phu people grow watermelon interspersed with rubber".

Stopping at the watermelon field stretching next to the newly planted rubber trees of Mr. Tran Xuan Cong's family in Tan Yen hamlet, introducing to us, Mr. Cong said: Two years ago, his family contracted 2 hectares of land from Song Con Agricultural Company to plant rubber trees in preparation for harvest. But due to heavy rain, the rubber trees fell and broke. His family lost everything. He struggled to find a new way to earn more income while the rubber trees were still young, without affecting the quality of the soil. Starting over from scratch, currently, Mr. Cong's family's 1,100 rubber trees are only 1 year old and are in the basic construction period.

Through experience, he decided to grow watermelons mixed with rubber. In 2011, he experimented with growing watermelons in an empty land mixed with rubber trees. Although it was only done seasonally with the main purpose of making use of the land, last year, Cong's family had a bumper crop of watermelons, with both a good harvest and a good price, traders came to the garden to buy them, bringing his family over 50 million VND. In the second watermelon crop, he decided to invest 40 million VND in seeds and fertilizer to grow watermelons in the rubber growing area. In addition, he also intercropped pineapples under the rubber trees, taking advantage of the empty land when the rubber trees had not yet closed their canopy and creating contour lines to prevent erosion for the trees. In the last harvest, Cong's family earned 100-150 million VND from watermelons, plus the pineapple intercropped for 1 year also sold for 50 million VND. The total income from 1 hectare of intercropping, his family earned 200 million VND!

Watermelon intercropping model of Mr. Tran Xuan Cong's family in Tan Yen hamlet, Tan Phu commune, Tan Ky.

When the rubber plantations had not yet grown high, Tan Phu people also took advantage of the vacant land to intercrop watermelon, pineapple and other short-term crops. The whole Tan Phu commune currently has nearly 560 hectares of rubber trees, of which 250 hectares have been put into commercial exploitation. The remaining 200 hectares are in the basic construction period, some areas were newly replanted after storm No. 3 in 2010. Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thuan - Head of the Agricultural Department of Tan Phu commune said: "Rubber is a long-term industrial crop, the basic construction period from the time of planting until the first latex exploitation is quite long, usually taking 5-6 years.

Because it is planted in places with thick soil layers, rich in humus and nutrients, this time, when the rubber canopy has not closed, is very favorable for intercropping with many other crops to increase income". From that characteristic, in 2011, Tan Phu commune directed the implementation of the melon intercropping model on 130 hectares of rubber during the basic construction period. Currently, in Tan Phu, the largest melon-growing household has 2 hectares or more, the smallest household has 5 sao. The area of ​​melon intercropping with rubber is concentrated in the hamlets of Tan Phong, Yen Luong, Tan Xuan, Tan Yen... Watermelon is a new crop introduced to Tan Phu fields for the first time, so before implementing the project, the commune opened training classes on science and technology, instructing farmers on how to plant, care for and prevent pests and diseases on melon plants. The Department of Agriculture and other departments, branches and organizations focused on the hamlets to direct the commune members to build the model.

The watermelon variety that Tan Phu commune chose to grow is Phu Dong, the fruit is large, weighs 5-6 kg, has red flesh, and a strong sweet taste. Traders from all over come to buy it right in the field at a fairly high price. Watermelon is a short-term crop, and the weather is favorable, so after only about 3 months, people can harvest. On average, one sao of watermelon costs about 600-700 thousand VND including seeds and fertilizer, not including land preparation and care, because if people do not plant and care for watermelons during this time, they will also have to spend time weeding the rubber trees.

With 130 hectares of melon intercropped with rubber, yielding 13 tons/ha, Tan Phu commune earned 12 billion VND in the last melon crop, an average of 100-150 million VND per hectare. The effectiveness of watermelon intercropped with rubber land has been confirmed, and in the coming time, the locality will continue to encourage people to expand this model, especially in the context of increasingly limited local land funds.

Article and photos: Le Thanh