Planting 3 trees in one garden, earning over 1 billion per year

In his family's 30 hectares of garden, Mr. Nguyen Van No intercropped 3 trees including soursop, banana and chili pepper. Many people think that Mr. No's planting so many trees seems "crazy", but every year he still earns nearly 1 billion in profit from the "mixed garden".

Mr. Nguyen Van No, residing in Phu Loi hamlet, Phu Thanh commune, Tra On district, Vinh Long province, led us past hundreds of soursop trees that are growing green and promising a bumper crop in 2018. Next to them are 22 hectares of banana trees mixed with South African peppers ready to be harvested. That is not to mention 8 hectares of oranges that Mr. No has grown for over 10 years, providing a very stable income each year.

Mr. Nguyen Van No next to a row of South African buffalo chili peppers preparing for harvest.

Mr. No excitedly said: “Back then, I specialized in growing 30 hectares of oranges. In recent years, seeing that the price of oranges seems unstable, I only left 8 hectares. The rest I planted buffalo horn chili mixed with soursop and banana trees. At first, when I stopped specializing in oranges and intercropped 3 different trees, many people thought it was crazy, planting short and tall trees, planting haphazardly, taking on too much and then turning into a mixed garden…”.

Commenting on Mr. No's intercropping method of planting 3 trees in the same "house", Mr. Nguyen Chi Cuong - an officer in charge of agriculture in Phu Thanh commune said: "This is a very "safe" way of doing things, taking short-term to support long-term, if there is a risk of pests and diseases, the market will compensate for one tree with another. The 3 trees Mr. No intercropped do not "aggressively" or compete with each other for light, nor do they have the same disease system.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van No, the price of bananas has been stable for many years. He intercrops bananas with chili peppers and soursop.

With 30 hectares of garden, including a model of intercropping 3 trees in 1 garden, from 2015 to now, on average, each year Mr. Nguyen Van No earns nearly 1 billion. Specifically, with 8 hectares of oranges, each year Mr. No earns 250 million VND. Mr. No's main source of income is 500 banana trees sold year-round, bringing in over 400 million VND/year. The lowest tree in the garden is South African buffalo horn pepper, with a fruit selling price of 50,000-60,000 VND/kg, after deducting investment costs, Mr. No earns over 200 million VND. "Next year, I will have additional income from 200 soursop trees that produce fruit, so the income will be 4, not 3 like this year...", Mr. No expressed.

Besides 22 hectares of intercropping land, Mr. Nguyen Van No still maintains 8 hectares of specialized orange growing land.

Mr. Nguyen Van No shared: “The advantage of intercropping is that farmers can prevent risks of pests and diseases, and fluctuations in market prices. Intercropping takes up less land but is highly economical, while consuming less fertilizer and pesticides than monoculture. The important thing is to know which plants to intercrop and have a firm grasp of scientific and technical measures…”.

Mr. Nguyen Van No harvests oranges for sale to traders.

“Mr. Nguyen Van No's intercropping and polyculture model, although not new, is very economically effective and worth referring to by farmers everywhere…”, Mr. Nguyen Chi Cuong, an agricultural officer of Phu Thanh commune, affirmed.

According to To Phuc Hung/danviet