Nam Dan has good prices for early melon crop

(Baonghean.vn) - Since mid-May, melon growers in Nam Tan commune (Nam Dan) have begun harvesting early melons. This year, the early melon crop failed but the price was good.

These days, Mrs. Pham Thi Ngoc in Hamlet 6, Nam Tan Commune is always present on National Highway 15 from morning to night to sell melons to passersby. This melon crop, her family planted 3 sao of early melons and 3 sao of main-season melons.

According to Ms. Ngoc, if you want to grow melons early, you have to plant crops early, and after harvesting, you can plant melons immediately. Usually, melons are planted in March to be harvested in May, and you can only grow one crop of melons each year. Ms. Ngoc's 3 sao of early melons have been harvested for 10 days now, with an estimated income of about 4 million VND/sao.

People in Nam Tan commune sell melons along National Highway 15. Currently, watermelons cost from 6,000 - 8,000 VND/kg, cantaloupes and honeydew melons cost 15,000 VND/kg. Photo: Huy Thu

Also selling melons on Highway 15, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang in Hamlet 7 said: "My family also grows 4 sao of early melons with short-term melon varieties Phu Dong and Nong Viet, which can be harvested in just 55 - 60 days; this melon variety has thin skin, is juicy, sweet and has beautiful color.

According to Ms. Hang, this year the weather is not favorable for growing melons. There was a lot of rain during the fruiting period, which resulted in few fruits and many spoiled fruits. Fruits as big as a fist cracked, and small fruits rotted, so the yield of early melons decreased a lot compared to last year.

However, early melons this year are more expensive and easier to sell than in previous years; currently, red melons cost 6,000 - 8,000 VND/kg, and cantaloupes and honeydew melons cost 15,000 VND/kg. According to farmers' experience, the earlier the melons are harvested, the higher the price; planting melons early will delay the harvest time and prolong the melon season.

Traders come to buy melons in the field. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Tien, head of Hamlet 5, said: Hamlet 5 is the hamlet that grows the most melons in Nam Tan commune, about 90 households grow melons with 17 hectares, few households grow 4-5 sao, many households grow more than 1 mau. Of which, more than half of the households grow melons early. The people's concept is "losing early is better than gaining late", so every household tries to grow a few sao of early melons; each crop, people have an income of 4-6 million VND/sao, higher than other crops.

In this year's early melon crop, Nam Dan people planted many varieties of melons such as Phu Dong, Hoan Chau, Nong Viet...Photo: Huy Thu

Currently, Nam Tan commune has 7 hamlets growing melons with a total crop area of ​​over 100 hectares; in 2016, the local income from melons was about 6 billion VND. In Nam Tan, this is the main crop, bringing a good income to the people. In recent years, the melon growing area has been continuously expanded.

Huy Thu