High income from 'multi-tree' model

(Baonghean.vn) - With the "multi-tree" model, the family of Mr. Nguyen Van Thuong, residing in Hoa Nam block, Hoa Binh town, has an income of hundreds of millions of VND/year.

Mr. Thuong shared: Previously, on an area of ​​more than 1 hectare, the family only focused on growing mangoes, but the economic efficiency was not high. Faced with that reality, after much consideration, he traveled all the way to Binh Thuan, visited fruit tree growing models here to bring back to apply, accordingly, red-fleshed dragon fruit was the first tree he chose to grow, because the soil here is quite similar.

360-root dragon fruit garden of Mr. Nguyen Van Thuong's family. Photo: Dinh Tuan

From the savings, plus loans, in 2014 his family invested 500 million VND to buy seedlings, make concrete pillars - supports for dragon fruit trees, install irrigation systems... After 3 years of planting, up to now the dragon fruit garden with 360 trees has produced fruit, regularly harvesting over 100 million VND/crop.

According to Mr. Thuong: Red-fleshed dragon fruit can be grown in any land, however, attention should be paid to draining water, avoiding stagnation when there is heavy rain; in the hot, dry season, watering should be done appropriately, using grass or straw to keep the base of the tree moist. With the characteristics of being drought-resistant, with few pests and diseases, not requiring much care, so just fertilize the base of the tree with manure, limit nitrogen fertilizer and ensure enough light for the tree to grow. To grow dragon fruit, it is necessary to erect concrete pillars, each pillar is 2.3m high, the part above the ground is 1.6m high for the tree to grow, spreading branches down around. The distance between rows and trees is 2.5m, ensuring that the tree receives the same source of nutrients and sunlight. During the care process, the grower must prune the branches so that the tree canopy spreads evenly...

Mr. Thuong is pruning his family's dragon fruit garden. Photo: Dinh Tuan

Red-fleshed dragon fruit has a sweet, cool taste, so it is loved by many people, without having to worry about product output. With an average selling price of 25 to 30 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. After just over 1 year of planting, the tree has produced its first fruits, but from the second year onwards, the yield will begin to stabilize. Each red-fleshed dragon fruit tree yields about 10-15 kg of fruit, each crop lasts from May when the weather begins to warm up until the end of November, every 25 days there is a harvest. What is special is that dragon fruit trees have a long life span, about 20 years before needing to be replanted.

Mr. Thuong's family's 150-tree lemon garden has produced fruit. Photo: Dinh Tuan

Along with growing dragon fruit, his family planted 150 peach trees, 30 avocado trees, 10 Thai jackfruit trees, 15 star apple trees, 10 Buddha's hand trees, most of which have begun to bear fruit. According to Mr. Thuong's calculations, next year when all the trees bear fruit, combined with dragon fruit, his family will have a stable income of over 200 million VND/year. Not to mention the income from raising chickens, pigeons...

Dinh Tuan