Red-fleshed dragon fruit - new specialty of Nghe An

(Baonghean.vn) - With its rich, sweet taste and attractive color, red-fleshed dragon fruit grown in Hoa Son commune (Anh Son) is popular with customers.

Visiting the red dragon fruit growing model of Ms. Pham Thi Sinh's family in village 1, Hoa Son commune, when the dragon fruit garden was full of ripe red fruits. While harvesting dragon fruit, Ms. Sinh happily said: In early 2007, the locality had a policy to renovate mixed gardens to grow fruit trees, the family went to Ninh Thuan to buy red dragon fruit seedlings to plant on 4 sao of garden land. After 2 years of planting and caring, the dragon fruit tree began to produce its first fruits.

Dragon fruit garden of Ms. Pham Thi Sinh in village 1, Hoa Son commune.

Red-fleshed dragon fruit has a sweet, cool taste, so it is loved by many people. At first, few people knew about it, but then when she became familiar with the customers, they came to her house to buy, so she did not have to worry about the output of the product. Nearly 170 dragon fruit pillars of hers yield more than 2 tons each year, with the garden price of 20,000-25,000 VND/kg, earning more than 40 million VND.

Currently, the entire Hoa Son commune has 3 hectares of red dragon fruit growing area with over 15 households participating, mainly growing in garden soil. Red dragon fruit can be grown in any land, from arid to sandy soil. This is a drought-resistant plant, with few pests and diseases, does not require much care, just need to fertilize the tree base with manure and ensure enough light.

From the initial effectiveness, Hoa Son commune people are replicating this model.

To grow dragon fruit, you need to erect concrete pillars, each pillar is 2.3m high, the part above ground is 1.6m high for the tree to grow and spread branches around. The distance between rows and trees is 2.5m, ensuring that the trees receive the same amount of nutrients and sunlight. After just over 1 year of planting, the tree has produced its first fruits, but from the 2nd year onwards, the yield will begin to stabilize.

Each red dragon fruit tree yields about 10-15 kg of fruit, each crop lasts from May when the weather starts to warm up until the end of November, with a harvest every 25 days. The special thing is that dragon fruit trees have a long lifespan, about 20 years before replanting. With an average selling price of 20 to 25 thousand VND/kg, a sao of red-fleshed dragon fruit will bring in an income of 10 to 12 million VND, this variety of tree has a yield 3 to 4 times higher than other agricultural crops.

Red-fleshed dragon fruit with sweet taste, fragrant and beautiful color is being chosen by customers.

With the economic efficiency it brings, the red-fleshed dragon fruit growing model in Hoa Son commune has opened up new options for farmers in converting crop structure, developing family economy, contributing to hunger eradication and poverty reduction./

Le Na

Anh Son Mountain