Restored seedless, crispy and sweet persimmon variety famous in Vinh city

It is unclear when the seedless crispy persimmon variety was introduced to Nghi An and Nghi Duc communes, becoming the main crop in the development of the garden economy of the people here. Currently, the oldest persimmon tree in the people's garden is up to 45-50 years old.

Mr. Phan Van Hai, an elderly person in Nghi Duc commune, said: “It is not clear who brought this seedless rose variety to plant. I only remember that from the 1990s onwards, every garden in Nghi An and Nghi Duc had 5-10 rose bushes, and many families had up to 40-50 trees. This fruit was initially grown for fun, but later became a commodity, bringing a significant source of income to people in these two suburban areas.”

The persimmon variety in Nghi An and Nghi Duc is seedless, with a square and elongated fruit tip and a cross-section shaped like an 8-petal rosette. People usually harvest when the fruit skin has turned yellow, the flesh is smooth, and has orange-yellow sugar grains.

After picking from the tree, soak in clean water for 3 days and 2 nights, then remove and drain before eating.

“At the peak time, there were about 15 rose bushes in the garden, each bush yielded 2-2.5 quintals of fruit, the selling price at that time was 25,000-30,000 VND/kg, each year, 15 rose bushes brought in an income of 50-60 million VND,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, a resident in Nghi An commune.

According to persimmon growers in Nghi An and Nghi Duc, this type of persimmon will bear fruit after 4 years, and will only yield high yields after 10 years. The advantage of this seedless persimmon tree is that the fruit is large, 10-12 fruits make 1kg, delicious, crispy, sweet, and the tree has few pests and diseases, and is not fussy about care. Ripe persimmons are easy to preserve and transport long distances while still ensuring freshness, without bruising or damage. In particular, the fruit is very beautiful.

However, over time, the “village becomes the city”, the garden area is narrowed, so the persimmon trees are also cut down to make room for houses and other constructions. Currently, according to incomplete statistics, the area of ​​seedless persimmons in Nghi An and Nghi Duc is about 6 hectares, scattered among households. The house with the most trees has only about ten trees, the house with the least has 1-2 trees.

Mr. Nguyen Duy Thuan’s family (Kim Binh hamlet, Nghi An commune) used to have dozens of rose bushes, but now only 3 remain because they had to be cut down to build a house. “These 3 rose bushes, the oldest is at least 20 years old, the oldest is nearly 40 years old. Now Nghi An seedless rose bushes have become rare because there are not many left.

For example, this year's persimmon crop, the selling price is up to 75-80,000 VND/kg but there is still no supply to the market. Most persimmons are only enough to serve the needs of gifts for children far from home in the locality, and very little is sold to the market," said Mr. Thuan.

Not only is the area of ​​seedless persimmon trees here shrinking, but they are also suffering from degenerative diseases and pests because they are too old. Mr. Nguyen Duy Tho, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Nghi An Commune, said: "Currently, seedless persimmon trees in the community are also 20-30 years old, some are 40 years old. Therefore, they are susceptible to pests and diseases and degenerate. Due to the characteristics of seedless persimmon trees, propagation also encounters many difficulties."

Mr. Tho said that in the past, people often propagated by blocking the roots, letting the rose roots sprout and then growing them into seedlings. However, this method did not have a high success rate, the rose plants grew slowly and had low productivity.

Starting in 2024, with the support of the North Central Plant Varieties Center, the Department of Science and Technology, the Economic Department of Vinh City and the passion for restoring local rose varieties, Mr. Nguyen Duy Tho successfully propagated seedless rose varieties by grafting.

Accordingly, grafted buds are taken from selected elite rose trees and grafted onto other rose seedlings. Currently, the nursery of 1,000 long seedless rose trees is growing well, supplying seeds to people in the region and other localities to expand the area.

“The Nghi An seedless long persimmon variety is delicious and suitable for the soil in many different regions. During my time working in Nghia Dan, I planted this persimmon variety there. The yield was good and the fruit quality was not inferior to persimmons grown locally,” said Mr. Thuan, a retired soldier.

Currently, local people are eager to restore the persimmon variety and enhance the brand of seedless persimmons. Because it is not only a fruit tree that brings economic value but also a famous local specialty…