Muong Long plum season

Plum blossoms in the "heavenly gate" of Muong Long

Located in a valley on a 1,485 meter high mountain peak in the Truong Son range, near the border with Laos, the climate in Muong Long is cool all year round.

Traveling more than 300 km from Vinh city, the land once known as the "opium valley" welcomed us with a sudden shower in the middle of the bright sunny days of early summer.Plum, lots of plums, mixed among the green leaves are hanging fruits, green and ripe red.

Muong Long in plum season. Photo: Phu Huong

Struggling to prepare baskets and poles to pick plums, Mr. Ho Chong Po in the villageMuong Long2 said slowly: "This season, the mornings are sunny, but in the afternoons and evenings it rains without warning. That's why we have to pick quickly."

From the end of April, plums ripen, the season only lasts until mid-June. In each plum garden, if it rains a lot, the season only lasts about 20 days, the sunshine only lasts about 1 month. Therefore, harvesting must be quick, selling must also be quick.

“Plum trees are very suitable for the climate here. We only need to weed 2-3 times a year, and there are absolutely no pests or diseases. For the past 2 years, the trees have been old and gradually degenerated, and the district has guided and supported us before we started fertilizing. The trees have recovered, grown well, and the fruit is more abundant and sweeter,” said Mr. Po.

Mong people in Muong Long 2 village harvest plums. Photo: Phu Huong

Owning a 2.3 hectare plum garden with nearly 300 plum trees, in good years, each tree produces hundreds of kilograms of fruit, so every plum season like this, Mr. Ho Chong Po's family harvests tons of fruit. It is worth mentioning that in nearly 25 years of growing plum trees, he has never used a drop of pesticide.

Not far away, at the foot of the rocky mountain, the plum garden of Ms. Hu Y Kia's family is also in harvest season. "It takes 3 years for the plums to bear fruit. It's cool here all year round, the plum trees are very healthy, there are no pests or diseases, and they don't need any care. They just flower and bear fruit, and when they're ripe, they're picked and sold, without any fertilizer or pesticides," Ms. Hu Y Kia said.

Coming to Muong Long this season, visitors can take beautiful and impressive pictures in the plum gardens of friendly and hospitable people. Photo: Phu Huong

In 1994, the treeTam Hoa plumwere brought back to replace and eliminate opium poppies on Muong Long land (Ky Son). According to Mr. Lau Ba Cho - Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, Muong Long land is very suitable for plums and peaches, the plum trees just grow, develop, and bear fruit entirely thanks to natural nutrients from the sky and the earth. Only in the past few years, a few concentrated gardens have begun to take care of and fertilize, but absolutely no pesticides are used.

Muong Long plum is one of the specialties of the mountainous district of Ky Son. Photo: Dao Tho

Also from peach and plum trees, the economic thinking of the Mong people in Muong Long has gradually formed and changed. The plum blossom season blooms before and during Tet, lasting about half a month before it begins to fade and bear fruit. Old trees flower first, young trees flower later, in recent years, groups of plum blossoms have begun to appear here and there.touristcome to take pictures. "If there are guests, we are ready to welcome and serve them to increase our income," Ms. Hu Y Kia shared.

Open stable consumption direction

Having been “destined” to Ky Son since before 1995, after more than 30 years of living in Ky Son, Tam Hoa plum trees were brought from Bac Ha (Lao Cai) and are one of the crops that are extremely suitable for the land considered “Sapa of Nghe An”, with a cool climate, high altitude and large temperature difference between day and night. Up to now, plums have been grown in many communes of Ky Son such as Muong Long, Nam Can, Dooc May, Na Ngoi, Tay Son, Nam Can, Huoi Tu... The whole district currently has over 46 hectares of plums, and with a yield of 4-5 tons/ha, Ky Son has about 200 tons of fruit each year.

Muong Long people pack and label Tam Hoa plums of Muong Long (Ky Son) brand. Photo: Phu Huong

As a specialty product of the highlands and especially completely clean, according to general assessment,Muong Long plumThe quality is not inferior to plums grown in other regions, even sweeter and crispier, after harvesting they can be kept fresh at room temperature for 6-7 days, however, there is still no stable output, poor consumption; especially in the past 2 years, due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, there are almost no buyers, many plums fall off.

According to Mr. Lau Ba Cho, traders come directly to the place to order the whole garden, but scattered gardens are very difficult to sell. In very few years, Muong Long can consume 60-70% of the output, most of the time, it can only sell less than half.

“Plum seasonThe plums are concentrated in a short period of time, when the fruit is ripe, it can only be left on the tree for 3-4 days, so it requires quick and neat harvesting and consumption. The commune has tried every way to find a market such as promoting on social networks, attracting tourists, calling on agencies, organizations, and individuals to support plum consumption, but it has only sold 30-40% of the output," said the Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee.

Ky Son district and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development inspect and find ways to increase the value of Ky Son plum products. Photo: Phu Huong

The entire Muong Long commune currently has 23 hectares of plums, of which 5 are concentrated gardens, the rest are scattered in households' gardens. In good harvest years, the output reaches nearly 100 tons. Usually at the beginning of the season, beautiful fruits are sold for 15,000 VND/kg, then in the peak season, the price gradually decreases.

Along with objective reasons of seasonality, transportation, even most of the people here still do not have the mindset of making money from plum trees. Except for a few households that grow plums in a concentrated manner, considering plums as commodities, the rest still consider them "gifts from heaven", do not care about care and harvesting, most of them only harvest naturally, almost without packaging or labeling. According to the representative of the commune leader, if supported in branding,product promotionWith a market and stable output, Muong Long can expand over 100 hectares, increasing income and creating sustainable livelihoods for the people. The commune will also direct and guide people to fertilize, care for, and improve productivity and quality of Tam Hoa plums.

Ky Son plums are crispy, sweet and especially completely clean, because no pesticides are used. Photo: Phu Huong

Plum is a tree that can help people in the mountainous areas of Ky Son district escape poverty, even get rich. Vice Chairman of the district People's Committee, Mr. Tho Ba Re shared: "The most difficult thing is still the product output. Identifying this as one of the key products of the district, we have directed coordination to find ways tostable consumptionfor the people and initially achieved certain, positive results.

Along with finding outlets and expanding acreage, the district will also pay attention to the issue of intensive investment, in order to maintain the "brand" of clean plums, completely ensuring food safety, but also having higher productivity and quality, increasing product value as well as competitiveness in the market," said Mr. Tho Ba Re.
Mr. Ta Quang Sang - Deputy Director of the Provincial Agricultural Market Forum Management Board said: With the goal of linking and consuming agricultural products in Nghe An province, we have supported Ky Son district in building brands, labels, and having solutions to promote and introduce products to consumers inside and outside the province.

In the coming time, along with technical support for caring for and restoring old plum gardens to produce larger, more beautiful, and higher quality fruits, it is expected that some areas will be newly planted in the direction of intensive investment, while at the same time building new areas.ecotourismi in plum growing communes to contribute to promoting Tam Hoa Ky Son plum products in the coming time.

Phu Huong