Taiwanese guava 'found its place' in Xoong Con land

“Seeing is believing”, finding our way to this guava growing model on a day in mid-August, we saw hundreds of guava trees taller than our heads, and below were the green of peanuts and other vegetables. Despite the intense heat, the entire guava garden on the mountainside was still lush, thanks to a water supply system using plastic pipes installed to pump water from streams and creeks for watering and care.

Ms. Luong Thi Mai, mother of Mr. Ngan Van Mao, is looking after and taking care of the guava garden. Ms. Mai said that as a Thai ethnic, her children were born into a farming family, had a hard life since childhood, and grew up also clinging to the forest garden, but the hilly land is ineffective in growing any crop, giving low productivity, so life is not better.

“The guavas bear fruit in the first year, and each fruit is covered with a mesh bag, so they are not attacked by insects. The guavas are big, round, with shiny skin and very crispy. These past few days, my children have been picking guavas to sell. Some days, traders come to buy them at a price of 20,000 - 25,000 VND/kg,” Mrs. Mai happily boasted.

Mr. Chu Van Hung - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Luu Kien commune said: The locality is striving to reach the new rural commune finish line, so it hopes to have new business models for people to learn and follow.

In early 2023, the commune organized for Mr. Ngan Van Mao and his wife and some other households to visit some fruit tree growing models in other localities. After that tour, Mr. Mao and his wife were determined to implement the Taiwanese guava growing model on the family's hill garden land.

Seeing that, Mr. Chu Van Hung himself directly surveyed and guided the family to implement the model. Accordingly, the model was supported by the commune with 600 guava seedlings, fertilizers, and a plastic irrigation pipe system. After nearly 2 years of care, 100% of the seedlings survived and developed well, and now bear fruit.

Observation shows that, in addition to growing guava, Mr. Ngan Van Mao's family also expanded the area of ​​pineapple growing around the guava garden. Under the guava tree, peanuts, beans and some other vegetables are also intercropped.

Ms. Luong Thi Mai confided: As someone who often watches TV, she sees people planting short-term crops under fruit trees, bringing in income. Therefore, she told her children to apply intercropping of short-term crops under guava trees, not only to have more income "taking short-term to support long-term" but also to create moisture for the soil and limit weed growth.

According to Mr. Chu Van Hung - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Luu Kien commune, farmer Ngan Van Mao's family is a diligent, hard-working Thai ethnic household, boldly converting ineffective hilly land to grow guava, bringing high income and creating motivation for households to do so.

Growing Taiwanese pear guava requires diligence and a lot of effort. If you want high-quality guava, you must regularly hoe and loosen the soil so that the guava roots can develop. At the same time, you need to cut off the branches and leaves at the base to create ventilation. When the fruit begins to bear fruit, you must use plastic bags to cover each fruit to avoid damage from insects, pests or fungi, and weather factors, and the guava fruit has a more beautiful color.