Growing pumpkin on alluvial land gives good income

(Baonghean) - In conjunction with the new rural development program, the pumpkin growing model of Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu's household in Hamlet 2, Hung Xa Commune (Hung Nguyen) brings positive economic efficiency compared to traditional crops on alluvial land...

We visited the pumpkin growing model of Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu, these days, he is waiting for traders to import pumpkins. The pumpkin field of over 2 hectares is lush green, every tree is full of fruit. After more than 4 years working at Asia Stevia Joint Stock Company, Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu has accumulated for himself a certain amount of knowledge about some key agricultural products consumed in the market. After studying the reality of his hometown Hung Xa, he realized that the alluvial land is vast but for a long time, people have only produced a maximum of 1 crop/year.

In early 2013, along with the policy of building new rural areas, Hung Xa commune focused on zoning and mobilizing households to contract alluvial land to build economic models. Mr. Hieu discussed with his family and boldly contracted 7 hectares of alluvial land in hamlet 2. He focused on growing 2 hectares of pumpkin, 1 hectare of corn, 2 hectares of watermelon and raising 10 buffaloes and cows. Pumpkin plants on alluvial land have awakened the potential and strength of the alluvial land along the river, which is full of risks and difficulties.

The highly effective pumpkin growing model on alluvial land of Mr. Nguyen Van Hieu, Hamlet 2, Hung Xa Commune (Hung Nguyen).

Pumpkin was not the initial choice. When he received the land for the first crop, he tried growing chili peppers and vegetables, but due to the high cost and unstable output market, these crops were not suitable. He decided to find a pumpkin growing model. According to his analysis, pumpkin is easy to adapt, just need to avoid drought, cold rain, and the price is stable. At the end of January and the beginning of February, the weather gradually warms up, start planting, and after more than 2 months, there will be a harvest. To have a high yield of pumpkin, according to Mr. Hieu, the seed selection stage is very important. His experience is not to buy seeds at retail service points, of unknown origin... He goes to reputable seed companies to choose to buy, such as En Vang Seed Joint Stock Company (Hanoi), although the price can be twice as high as in the market, the quality of the seeds is guaranteed.

Drip irrigation system helps improve crop efficiency on alluvial land

When building a model of growing crops on alluvial land, Mr. Hieu proactively invested nearly 100 million VND in a drip irrigation system, a pump system, water pipes from Lam River and an electric lighting system to the alluvial land, serving the purpose of fertilizing crops. Thanks to ensuring irrigation and careful, technical care, his pumpkin growing model has a high yield.

After Tet holiday until now, Mr. Hieu has sold 1000 kg of squash, estimated 2 hectares of squash yielded 20 tons of fruit, with a selling price of 5-6 thousand VND/kg, he has a revenue of nearly 100 million VND, minus expenses, a profit of over 80 million VND (in 4 months). According to Mr. Hieu's calculation, also in 4 months, if investing in 1 sao of corn on alluvial land, the cost including fertilizer, seeds, herbicides, labor is 800 thousand VND/sao, the corn yield reaches 200 kg/sao, with a selling price of 6 thousand VND/kg, the income is 1.2 million VND/sao, minus expenses, the net profit is 400 thousand VND/sao. Meanwhile, growing pumpkin costs are similar to the yield of pumpkin reaching 8 quintals/sao, with an average selling price of 5,000 VND/kg for an income of 4 million VND/sao, minus costs, the profit is 3.2 million VND/sao, 7, 8 times higher than growing corn. Growing pumpkin can be harvested in separate seasons to avoid overstocking, in addition, pumpkin tops and flowers are also a significant source of additional income.

According to Mr. Hieu, after harvesting pumpkins on alluvial land, you can plant corn, sesame and graze buffaloes and cows. From September onwards, when the rainy and flooded weather has passed, you can continue to grow winter vegetables, pumpkins, and cauliflowers until after Tet to have regular products to sell on the market with an income of hundreds of millions of VND/year.

The effectiveness of Mr. Hieu's pumpkin growing model has affirmed the potential and strength of the alluvial land if we know how to choose the right crops and pay attention to investment to improve production efficiency. According to long-standing practice, due to high risks, each year, farmers in communes along the Lam River only cultivate one spring crop per year, growing traditional crops such as corn, peanuts, and sweet potatoes, but the efficiency is not high. To awaken the potential of alluvial land, currently, the People's Committee of Hung Nguyen district is building a project to develop the alluvial land economy according to the support mechanism of nearly 1 billion VND/year from the district budget for each area.

Mr. Hoang Duc An, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture of Hung Nguyen district, said: The district encourages the economic development of the Lam River alluvial area in investing in electricity and water infrastructure to develop and replicate models of converting crop structure on alluvial land towards commodities such as green squash, pumpkin, squash, carrots, chili peppers, especially in localities with advantages in intensive farming practices such as Hung Khanh, Hung Nhan, Hung Xa. For effective models that have been deployed by people, the district implements a support mechanism based on production efficiency. The district's goal is to increase the land use coefficient, increase the model of combined farms and households to increase people's income, and accelerate the progress of building new rural areas in the area.

Luong Mai