Con Cuong farmers in apple harvest season

Through research on mass media, it was found that apples are easy to grow and quick to harvest. 7 years ago, Mr. Trinh Xuan Tao in Quyet Tien village, Chi Khe commune (Con Cuong) decided to invest in renovating and planting 4 sao of big apple trees, with over 200 trees... This is a new apple variety, with large fruit (average weight from 18 to 20 fruits/kg), sweet taste, favored by the market and has a higher selling price than other varieties.

Mr. Tao said: Apple is an easy-to-grow tree but is also susceptible to pests and diseases. Therefore, care requires the grower to invest both effort and technique. The most important factor for apple trees to grow well and produce sweet fruit is to use composted manure, supplement the tree with enough nutrients and regularly water to keep the soil moist. Thanks to the delicious quality of the fruit and beautiful appearance, my family's apples are often sold to clean fruit and vegetable stores at stable prices, very favorable for consumption. This year, the estimated yield is 7 quintals/sao, with a wholesale price of 20,000 VND/kg, each sao brings in an income of 18-20 million VND.

Big apples bring quite economic efficiency to people. Photo: Bao Han

The family of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai, also in Quyet Tien village, Chi Khe commune, is one of many households that have "made a living" from growing apples. With an area of ​​nearly 3 sao, she invested in planting nearly 100 trees. Ms. Hoai said that her family's apple garden has just started the harvest season, which lasts until the end of January. "This year's apples have a good harvest and are priced higher, so my family will earn a significant amount of money during this Tet holiday," Ms. Hoai shared.

Currently, Chi Khe commune has more than 3 hectares of apples, mainly varieties: sour apples, big apples, sweet apples... According to farmers, apple trees are harvested after only 1 year, and need to be replaced after 5-6 years, so the investment is not large. During the care process, just note that when the tree bears young fruit, you must prune the fruit so that the tree can concentrate its nutrients on growing large fruit and not break the branches.

Currently, in addition to wholesale to traders, the people of Chi Khe and Bong Khe communes also sell the apples on Highway 7, along with some markets in the district. The retail price of the apples is quite high, from 25,000 - 30,000 VND/kg, and during the Tet holiday, it can reach up to 50,000 VND/kg. According to calculations, after deducting expenses, growing the apples gives an average income of more than 10 million VND/sao.

Apples are harvested and sold by people right on the main roads. Photo: Bao Han

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thang - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Chi Khe commune said: Along with grapefruit, orange and vegetables..., apple trees are becoming a crop that brings high economic efficiency to farmers because of low investment capital and low risk, easy to consume. To improve productivity and product quality, every year, the commune coordinates with the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Con Cuong district and other units to open many training courses, instructing on techniques of caring for fruit trees, including apple trees to bring high efficiency.

The apple tree was planted in the mountainous district of Con Cuong about 7 years ago, with each household having from 50 to 120 trees on an area of ​​1 to 2 sao of land. Photo: Bao Han

Con Cuong mountainous district with the main spearhead is developing clean agriculture associated with tourism development, therefore, diversifying agricultural products, gradually building typical products and specialties is extremely important.

In addition to orange trees and citrus trees, the district is currently mobilizing people to change the crop structure, experimenting with many new varieties such as guava, green-skinned Thai jackfruit, and apple trees. In particular, apple trees are currently chosen by many households to grow on fertile land and beaches, gradually developing the brand and improving the quality of crops on Con Cuong land.