Nghe An farmers "force" custard apples to produce fruit out of season, bringing in high income

In 2014, Ms. Vo Thi Yen's family in Phu Thang hamlet, Nghia Phu commune planted 400 custard apple trees. In 2017, the custard apple trees began to bear fruit. In the last main crop, her family harvested 4 tons of fruit, with traders buying them at the garden for 20,000 VND/kg, higher than other crops.

Currently, the off-season custard apple garden of Ms. Vo Thi Yen in Phu Thang hamlet, Nghia Phu commune has begun to be harvested. Photo: Duc Anh

In fact, Nghia Phu land is suitable for custard apple trees. However, the main crop season usually falls in the 7th and 8th lunar months, many households harvest at the same time, leading to low custard apple prices. Therefore, Ms. Yen's family has researched and learned techniques for off-season flowering to increase income.

"The measure to make custard apples produce fruit off-season is to prune the branches so that the tree can rejuvenate, regularly sprout new buds, and bloom. When the flower buds open and are white, artificially pollinate the flowers. After fruit set, remove flat, deformed fruit about 2 to 3 times per season" - Ms. Yen shared.

With this method, Ms. Yen's custard apple garden has started to harvest off-season, and will enter the peak harvest in about half a month. On average, off-season custard apples sell for 35,000 - 40,000 VND/kg cut in the garden, nearly double the price of the main season. It is estimated that this custard apple season, Ms. Yen will harvest about 2 - 2.5 tons of fruit, with a revenue of 80 - 90 million VND.

Off-season custard apples have big and beautiful fruits, some of which weigh about 400g. Photo: Duc Anh

Currently, in Nghia Phu - Nghia Dan, in addition to main crops such as avocado and orange, there is also custard apple.According to Mr. Ho Thanh Trong - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nghia Phu commune:Currently, in the commune, there are about 20 households growing custard apples, however, only a few households have applied techniques to produce custard apples off-season, increasing income like the family of Ms. Vo Thi Yen.

In addition to Nghia Phu, people in some localities such as Nghia Hieu, Nghia Binh... have converted ineffective production areas to grow custard apples, including off-season custard apples.