Growing seedless lemons off-season on poor soil, Nghe An farmers earn 50 million/ha in profit
(Baonghean.vn) - Many farming households in Do Luong district have exploited many hilly areas and poor soil to successfully build seedless lemon growing projects. Currently, off-season seedless lemons can bring in a profit of 50 million VND/ha.
Mr. Dang Ngoc Phuc's family in Hamlet 4, Xuan Son Commune (Do Luong) is one of the households participating in the trial planting of seedless lemons. In the first harvest, Mr. Phuc's family's seedless lemon products were not enough to meet demand.
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| Mr. Nguyen Trong Binh's lemon model is harvested right on the occasion of Lunar New Year. Photo: Le Hoan |
Mr. Phuc said that after 2 years of experimental planting, this is the most suitable crop variety ever. After the first year of planting, Mr. Phuc's family harvested more than 1 ton of fruit. It is expected that in the following years, they will harvest more than 30 tons of fruit/ha/year. Currently, off-season lemons cost from 20,000 to 25,000 VND/kg, after deducting costs, the profit is about 50 million VND/ha.
In Thuan Son commune, Mr. Nguyen Trong Binh's family in hamlet 7, at the end of 2017, received support from the district with seedlings, fertilizers and technical guidance from agricultural extension officers, and was able to plant more than 1,000 seedless lemon trees.
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| Off-season seedless lemons in Do Luong. Photo: Le Hoan |
Through testing, the seedless lemon variety is suitable for hillside soil and is drought-resistant. Compared with some growth indicators such as tree height, root diameter, and canopy diameter, seedless lemons have the ability to grow stronger than other lemon varieties. The economic efficiency is many times higher than that of traditional trees.
The project of planting seedless lemon trees has been carried out in Do Luong district since 2017, in Boi Son, Dai Son, Thuan Son and Xuan Son communes with 6 participating households, on a scale of 5.3 hectares, which are remote hilly and poor land areas.
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| Seedless lemons grow well and are suitable for the hilly land of Do Luong district. Photo: Le Hoan |
The biggest advantage of seedless lemon trees is their high disease resistance, they are not infected with green leaf yellowing disease like other citrus trees. Growing seedless lemon trees does not require too much investment, the care process is not difficult, the best planting distance is from 3 - 3.5m/tree.
Currently, Do Luong district is actively looking for outlets and consuming products. At the same time, it is expanding the model and building the brand of Luong lemon for seedless lemons grown in the district.
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| 4 communes grow seedless lemons in Do Luong district. Graphics: Lam Tung |
It can be said that with the initial success of the project, it has opened a new direction in agricultural production for farmers in Do Luong; gradually transforming the crop structure, bringing new varieties of plants with high economic value into local production./.