"King of areca nuts"

(Baonghean) -Although today there are not many generations of black teeth chewing betel, areca nut still holds a certain position in the spiritual life of Vietnamese people. "A piece of betel is the beginning of a conversation", betel leaves and areca nut are the first choice for traditional behavior in Vietnam. Therefore, during the wedding season as well as on normal days, the areca garden of Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh in Dong Luoc hamlet, Kim Thanh commune (Yen Thanh) has traders coming to buy areca nuts every day, bringing them to all regions for consumption. Because he is the largest areca grower in the region, the people here call Mr. Vinh "king of areca nuts".

One sunny morning, we found our way to Dong Luoc. Opening the iron gate, Mr. Vinh enthusiastically invited guests into his house. Before our eyes was a vast areca garden, embracing his small house. Areca trees were planted in straight lines, each tree was tall, bearing heavy areca bunches. Mr. Vinh introduced: My family has 1 hectare of garden land, I invested in planting a total of 1,100 trees, on an area of ​​0.5 hectare. Of those, 800 trees have already produced bunches. This is a areca variety with attached leaves, each tree bears fruit all year round. Traders from Yen Thanh, Tan Ky, Dien Chau... come here to buy areca trees to sell everywhere.
Talking about the areca growing profession, Mr. Vinh confided: “In February 1967, my brother got married. At that time, the bride's family was required to pay a fee of 50 areca nuts. At that time, areca nuts were very rare, although almost every household in the area grew areca nuts, but because the areca nut season was over, I had to cycle all over Yen Thanh district, down to Dien Chau but still could not find a nice bunch of areca nuts. Then, someone told me that in Quynh Thien commune (Quynh Luu), there was a family that grew areca nuts continuously, I went there and bought a satisfactory bunch of areca nuts. After buying the areca nuts, I also ordered 30 seedlings to plant. It was not until 3 years later that someone sold me the seedlings. Since then, I have invested in commercial areca nut cultivation, the areca nut variety is continuous in the leaf, so there are always fruits to sell.

A corner of the areca garden of Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh's family

Asked about the secret of growing areca, after a moment of hesitation, Mr. Vinh said: I will not hide anything from you, after more than 40 years of growing areca, I have gained some experience. This is a areca variety with a continuous leaf, so each time the leaf falls, a bunch of areca will bloom, so on an areca tree there are always 3-4 generations of fruit. Experience shows that in the areca season in October, areca is cheap, the price is only 1/15 of the current price. Therefore, we must know how to adjust to the off-season areca. At this time (in July), when any areca bunch blooms, we use a sickle immediately. By doing so, we can partly avoid harvesting areca in October and partly create conditions for the areca tree to grow, having the strength to nurture the off-season areca crops.

Mr. Vinh’s 800 areca trees in bloom yield about 16 tons of fruit each year. With an average selling price of 10,000 VND/kg, the “areca king” Nguyen Quang Vinh earns about 160 million VND per year. Currently, he has selected 30 areca trees planted in 1971 to collect fruit for seedling. If anyone needs it, he is willing to provide seedlings and instructions on how to plant and care for them.

Areca palm growing, in addition to harvesting the fruit, if the person is healthy and a bit skillful, can also earn extra income from its leaves. Areca palm leaves fall down, invest in some rattan, steel wire, will be made into brooms from areca leaves, sweeping very conveniently and durable. Mr. Vinh said, this areca palm garden drops at least 50 leaves every day, which means that many areca palm bunches bloom, if you work hard to make brooms to sell, you will also have money. Because of his poor health, all the leaves fall to the areca palm roots to create more moisture for the soil. Many families in the village ask for the areca palm spathe to make palm-leaf fans, used during power outages. In this mountainous area, electricity is erratic, every house proactively makes several palm-leaf fans. Areca palms are slender and flexible. Therefore, old areca palms, if used to make rafters, areca palms to tie to the roof, are very durable, not inferior to old bamboo...

Article and photos: Xuan Hoang