Building the Quang Tien Pink Grapefruit brand
(Baonghean) -The segments are smooth, juicy, crunchy and sweet, and do not have a bitter or acrid taste like some other grapefruit varieties. In particular, it can be grown and developed to replace acacia and eucalyptus land. These are the outstanding characteristics of Quang Tien pink grapefruit. Recently, the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) has decided to recognize the agricultural crop variety, creating a foundation for Phu Quy region to invest in strongly developing this grapefruit variety.
A grapefruit tree is more valuable than a sao of rice.
Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thuy in Trung Nghia block, is considered the "king" of Quang Tien pink grapefruit.
On the hilly garden area of nearly 14,000 m2With the technical guidance of engineers from the Phu Quy Fruit and Industrial Tree Research Center, Mr. Thuy has planted nearly 400 grapefruit trees, 200 of which have been harvested, the remaining trees are in the basic construction period. Because the hill garden has a slope, all the grapefruit trees are planted by Mr. Thuy in rows. Going up the hill, visiting the grapefruit garden, hundreds of trees are the same: large, even, bright green grapefruit. This grapefruit season is the second consecutive season that Mr. Thuy's family has sold a large amount of fruit. Last year, the grapefruit garden brought Mr. Thuy's family an income of nearly 150 million VND. This year, according to Mr. Thuy's calculation, each grapefruit tree bearing fruit will bring in about 1 million VND/tree, which means that with the above area and the current number of trees, the income will be about 200 million VND. Mr. Thuy gave a very convincing economic calculation: "Each tree I prune leaves only about 100 fruits, with the selling price at the garden of 10,000 VND/kg, each fruit weighs on average 1.2kg to 1.4kg, each grapefruit tree will bring in an income of over 1 million VND, more valuable than a sao of rice field".
Quang Tien pink grapefruit brings high income to Mr. Thuy's family
From the model of growing Quang Tien pink grapefruit for high economic efficiency of Mr. Thuy's family, currently many households in Trung Nghia block under the technical guidance of the center are also actively cutting down eucalyptus and acacia to dig holes to plant Quang Tien pink grapefruit. Many households thanks to grapefruit have had a stable and well-off income such as: Mr. Quyet's family, Ms. Xuan's family, Mr. Nam's family...
The story of the "ancestor" grapefruit tree
The original grapefruit tree, also known as the "ancestor" grapefruit tree of the Quang Tien pink grapefruit variety, was planted in 1976 and is currently living and bearing fruit in the garden of Mr. Quang Nguyet's family, Doc Cao block, Quang Tien ward, Thai Hoa town. The first person to grow and propagate the original grapefruit tree in this area was Mr. Vo Sy Danh. In 1991, due to difficult family conditions, he sold all his house and garden (including the original grapefruit tree) to Mr. Quang Nguyet's family and from then on, Mr. Quang Nguyet's family became the owner of the original grapefruit tree. According to Ms. Nguyet, since her family moved to live on this land, they have inherited the tree's fortune and the land's fortune. Every year, the original grapefruit tree still bears fruit regularly. Not only is the original grapefruit tree green and healthy, but in the garden, there are also 10 other trees belonging to the "generation of children and grandchildren" that still bear sweet fruit. As a retired worker with disabilities, Mr. Quang Nguyet's family's economy is very difficult. Thanks to a grapefruit crop each year (3 trees, of which 15 trees have been harvested), the family earns an additional income of 15-20 million VND. After deducting the cost of fertilizer and other services of about 2 million, this is a considerable income. Talking about the original grapefruit tree, an agricultural engineer said: Until now, no one knows where the original grapefruit tree originated from, but according to regulations, every 15-20 years, fruit trees are recognized as local varieties.
Building the Quang Tien pink grapefruit brand
“The Phu Quy Fruit and Industrial Tree Research Center needs to coordinate with departments, branches, sectors and localities to rapidly develop the area, stabilize the quality, and build the Quang Tien pink grapefruit brand to become one of the specialties of Phu Quy fruit trees in particular and Nghe An in general…” That is the conclusion of the direction of comrade Phan Dinh Trac, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, during a recent working trip to Thai Hoa Town and working with the center.
The scientific report of the Phu Quy Fruit and Industrial Tree Research Center shows that: Starting from 1998, after discovering the valuable and outstanding characteristics of this grapefruit variety, the center has deployed experimental planting to conduct evaluation. From the basic testing results and production testing results, it is shown that Quang Tien pink grapefruit has outstanding advantages compared to Pomelo grapefruit and Phuc Trach gourd, which are higher productivity, crops and fruits are less damaged by pests, especially greening disease (stem borer) and yellow leafhoppers. The outstanding thing is the productivity and quality of the fruit. In terms of economic efficiency after 7 years of planting, Quang Tien pink grapefruit has harvested 4 crops of fruit (starting from the 4th year), with very high productivity (62.5 tons/ha), the average yield after 4 years is 27.5 tons/ha, with an income of 859 million VND, and a profit of 683 million VND (after deducting expenses).
From the results of the research and testing of the Quang Tien pink grapefruit variety by the Phu Quy Fruit and Industrial Tree Research Center, on July 12, 2012, the Department of Crop Production (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) issued Decision No. 298/QD-TT-CCN on the recognition of agricultural plant varieties. This can be considered a very favorable condition, recognizing the legality in agricultural production so that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development can continue to invest in the program and the locality can also focus on development. However, the current reality in Quang Tien ward is that there are households that grow spontaneously, especially households in Doc Cao area. Therefore, it is very difficult to manage the quality of the orchard, the care process, harvesting and consumption of products in a unified manner. Ms. Vo Thi Tuyet, Director of Phu Quy Fruit and Industrial Tree Research Center, proposed: "Localities and related sectors must support households in the planning area to develop this grapefruit variety to guide and supervise households on planting and care techniques, thereby creating the basis for having good gardens to have the conditions to sustainably build the Quang Tien pink grapefruit brand."
Thus, from the success of the experimental model, to develop it on a large scale, to build and register the brand "Quang Tien pink grapefruit", there is still a long way to go.
Huu Nghia
