Growing Israeli melons on Nghia Dan land

Mr. Hau borrowed 250 million VND to build a greenhouse, applying high-tech processes, drip irrigation, self-adjusting the water flow 5-7 times/day and fertilizing the plants with organic fertilizer. The greenhouse frame is made of iron and steel, surrounded by a thin mesh, the roof is covered with a special type of nylon. Inside there is a cable car system, an automatic control system for sun-blocking nets, and an air conditioning system.

After more than 1 month of planting and caring, the melon garden of more than 1 sao with 1,200 plants is growing well, the biggest fruit has started to appear on the net.

Mr. Hau has applied an automatic irrigation control system; automatically adjusting the irrigation flow 5-7 times/day. Photo: Minh Thai

Realizing that the demand for clean food is very high among the people, and his family has the advantage of land, Mr. Hau went to the South to work as a hired worker at a melon growing center, both to gain experience and to earn income. After gaining knowledge, he returned to his hometown to invest in growing melons in his hometown.

Regarding the experience of growing melons, according to Mr. Hau, after planting, the plants are arranged in rows and hung with fixed ropes; during the flowering stage, pollination will be carried out manually. Each plant will only leave 1 fruit, then prune all the axillary branches to create ventilation and limit nutrient loss. When the fruit has a diameter of 2 - 4 cm (about 40 days after planting), the tips are stopped to concentrate nutrients to nourish the fruit.

To achieve productivity, the flowering stage requires manual pollination. Photo: Minh Thai

He calculated the melon care process, programmed a reasonable nutritional chart, especially the manual pollination stage, and applied fertilizer formula to ensure nutrition for the plants, helping to minimize investment costs.

"Nghia An (Nghia Dan) land is suitable for growing high-tech melons, growing 2 melon crops per year, and in the cold season, you can switch to growing tomatoes and lilies to sell on Tet. With 75 days/crop, the investment capital for seedlings, planting, and labor is about 12 - 15 million VND/crop; the harvested melon yield is estimated at 1.8 tons/sao, with the current selling price at the garden being from 40 - 45 thousand VND/kg, excluding costs and equipment depreciation, 1 sao can earn a profit of about 25 - 30 million VND/crop" - Mr. Hau added.

It will take about another month for the melon garden to be ready for harvest, but initially it can be confirmed that this melon variety is very suitable for the soil and climate of Nghia Dan. This is also a model that is highly appreciated by the leaders, the district agricultural department and the local government.

Currently, the melon plants are growing well; Mr. Hau only leaves one fruit per plant to focus on nurturing it well. Photo: Minh Thai

Mr. Dang The Sinh - Vice Chairman of Nghia An Commune People's Committee said: "Mr. Hau's melon growing model is the first to be deployed using high technology in the commune and has initially achieved good results. We highly appreciate it and can replicate it...".