The farmer who grows 'finger limes' earns 2 million VND/kg.

Mr. Dao Duy An, a farmer in Ben Tre province - the first person to bring finger lime varieties to Vietnam - said he delivered the product to the hotel a few days ago and received quite positive feedback.

Most French chefs praise lemons grown in Vietnam for their rich flavor and lack of sourness. However, because this is the first crop, the size is smaller than imported products. This year, his family plans to supply about 10 kg to the market.

Finger limes are picked in Mr. Dao Duy Anh's garden. Photo:Duy Anh

According to Mr. Anh, many restaurants have registered to buy this type of lemon, but the supply to the market is still low. Currently, there is a company that wants to sign a supply contract with him, 20 kg of fruit per week, equivalent to 80 kg per month and up to 1 ton of fruit per year, but because the supply is low, he has not dared to sign the contract.

Currently, Mr. Anh’s garden has several fruit-bearing trees and a few dozen large trees for propagation. In addition, he has also expanded to 500 trees about 6 months old.

Mr. Anh revealed that the strange type of lemon he is growing is called finger lime in English, with the scientific name Microcitrus Australasica, belonging to the citrus family and commonly known as finger lime. It takes 16-18 months to grow a commercial lemon tree, and some types take 24-36 months to harvest (depending on the color).

Each mature lemon tree can yield 10-12 kg per year, bearing fruit all year round, and is sold abroad for 2-3 million VND per kg. Many places carry it back and sell it for 3.5 million VND.

Finger limes are quite popular in many restaurants because of their strange shape, long like a finger, slender and not round. The flesh inside has about 24 colors such as: red, green, purple, yellow, pink,... In addition, this fruit is not as juicy as regular limes but has thousands of small seeds inside like caviar. This type of lime can be eaten with seafood dishes such as: sushi, fresh oysters...