The old farmer's grapefruit garden with hundreds of fruit-laden trees in Tan Ky

Old farmer Dau Tien Sy in Thanh Binh hamlet, Tan An commune, districtTan KyPreviously known by many people for his loach farming model, orange and tangerine growing model... now he is the owner of the first Tan Lac grapefruit model (Hoa Binh) in this land.

"Seeing is believing", we found our way to Mr. Sy's grapefruit garden, and were delighted to walk under the tree canopy.grapefruitclosed, green, fruit hanging on the branches. Mr. Sy said, 120 grapefruit trees, each tree has at least 150 fruits, the most has 250 fruits. Because of good care, there is no phenomenon of fruit drop, as well as pests.

Old farmer Dau Tien Sy confided that previously, the grapefruit garden was made of Quang Tien pink grapefruit (Thai Hoa town), but due to poor quality and uneven segments, the economic efficiency was low. In 2020, after learning about the good quality and high economic value of Tan Lac grapefruit, he decided to replace the entire grapefruit garden with Tan Lac grapefruit.

However, while the Quang Tien pink grapefruit tree is still alive, it would be a pity to cut it down. His friends advised him not to take the risk, because the cost of hiring an agricultural engineer to graft another grapefruit variety is very high. With his passion for gardening, he decided to hire two agricultural engineers to graft the Tan Lac grapefruit variety.

The entire Quang Tien pink grapefruit garden had all its branches cut off and grafted with Tan Lac grapefruit in just 2 days, and then 2/3 of the grafted branches were successful and germinated well. During the process of the engineer performing the grafting steps, Mr. Sy diligently observed and learned the technique, so he successfully grafted the grafted branches that did not germinate.

Up to now, after more than 2 years of care with organic fertilizer, both providing nutrients for plants and creating moisture for the soil, the grapefruit garden of 120 trees has now produced fruit for the first year. The characteristic of this grapefruit variety is that it produces fruit later than other grapefruit varieties, so it is expected to be harvested by the end of the year on the occasion of Lunar New Year.

Mr. Sy said that the characteristics of this grapefruit variety are thin skin, even segments, easy to separate, large, tightly packed segments, crunchy, sweet taste and not bitter, not sour, suitable for middle-aged people and older. In the near future, he will expand the area of ​​this grapefruit variety, to replace other crops.

Mr. Cao Tien Thin - Chairman of Tan An Commune People's Committee said: Mr. Dau Tien Sy is a farmer who is not only diligent and hard-working but also has a lot of experience in gardening. Many years ago, he implemented many new fruit tree planting models, bringing a stable source of income for his family. Now he has successfully grafted Tan Lac grapefruit onto Quang Tien pink grapefruit, the first model in the commune. However, not all farmers can do it, because it requires good techniques and care.

According to Mr. Nguyen The Thang - Chairman of Gardening AssociationNghe AnFor a long time, farmers in the province have mainly grown green-skinned grapefruit, Dien grapefruit, Quang Tien pink grapefruit... With the Tan Lac grapefruit variety of good quality, a specialty of Hoa Binh province, currently, besides Mr. Dau Tien Sy's household in Tan Ky district, there are only a few households in Nghia Dan and Thanh Chuong growing it, but the area is not much. Through research, it has been shown that the Tan Lac grapefruit variety is suitable for gravelly soil, so when brought to grow in the mountainous region of Nghe An, it will be suitable and give good quality.

According to Mr. Thang, grafting trees aims to take advantage of existing old tree roots, change to another variety, shorten the planting time, and still maintain the characteristics of the variety to be propagated. To grow this tree, one must know how to care for and nurture the branches regularly, to always ensure the yield and quality of the fruit./.