Forming fruit tree material areas and initial effectiveness

Momentum for developing fruit tree

In recent years, a number of new fruit tree material areas have been formed in Dong Thap Muoi region of Long An province, initially bringing high efficiency from crop restructuring models on ineffective rice land areas.

The main converted fruit trees in the Dong Thap Muoi districts are jackfruit, durian, mango, grapefruit, lemon, etc with an area of nearly 4,100 hectares, of which the jackfruit, durian, and mango area is more than 2,300 hectares, with the development orientation to 2025 of more than 3,900 hectares.

Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture and Rural Development - Ho Thi Ngoc Lan said: "Consumption links are still limited, production is small and retail, and there is a lack of cooperation. The proportion of fruit output consumed through cooperatives and cooperative groups is still low.

In addition, after harvesting, processing, and preserving technology has not really been paid attention to, so post-harvest losses are still quite high, affecting product quality, price, etc."

Therefore, the implementation of the project is necessary, as the overall goal is to form a concentrated, modern commodity-scale fruit tree material production area, applying advanced technology on a joint basis between agricultural cooperatives and processing and consumption enterprises; develop and enhance the role and operational efficiency of cooperatives, quality requirements, reduce the cost of input materials for processing and consumption; etc.

Mr. Doan Van Tri (hamlet 3, Tan Hiep commune) rented a field to grow watermelon between two rice crops. According to him, thanks to the expanded roads, farmers can reduce transportation costs because traders can go directly to the field.

According to the project, Thanh Hoa district is assigned to build a fruit tree material area with an area of 770 hectares by 2025. Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Thanh Hoa district - Nguyen Kinh Kha informed: The district has planned the area has suitable soil for implementation (in Tan Hiep commune); At the same time, they improved the capacity of cooperatives and cooperative members to invest in infrastructure. By February 2024, the district has formed a fruit tree material area with nearly 78 hectares of durian, more than 81 hectares of jackfruit and nearly 560 hectares of lemon.

Currently, the district has invested in building a jackfruit processing warehouse at Hamlet 4 Agricultural Cooperative (Tan Hiep commune) with an area of 250m² and is completing the investment project to upgrade and improve the 61 southern canal shoreline; At the same time, the Community Agricultural Extension Team in fruit growing areas has organized seminars, trainings, etc related to local knowledge of fruit growing for farmers to apply in practice.

Mr. Nguyen Bao Du (hamlet 2, Tan Hiep commune, Thanh Hoa district) has switched to growing jackfruit for 2 years. According to him, jackfruit is easy to grow, rarely susceptible to pests and diseases, and is very suitable for local soil conditions

Switching to growing jackfruit for about 2 years now, Mr. Nguyen Bao Du (hamlet 2, Tan Hiep commune) shared: "Previously, my family grew rice but the profit was not high, so we decided to switch to growing jackfruit, now we have about 1,000 trees. Jackfruit is easy to grow, has few pests and diseases, is very suitable for local soil conditions, and has large and abundant fruits.

Thanks to the implementation of the project, the locality is supported with facilities and roads, so itis convenient for traders to purchase, thereby no longer being price pressured as before.

“In the coming time, the district will continue to improve the capacity and operational efficiency of cooperatives and community agricultural extension groups in supporting the development of production in fruit tree material areas. The district will also organize more tours and learning experiences to help farmers have the opportunity to access growing techniques, especially for durian trees, from which to choose suitable farming methods. ” - Mr. Nguyen Kinh Kha added.

Actively supporting farmers

Durian growing model adapting to climate change in Tan Thanh district

Tan Thanh district has been assigned the target of building a fruit tree material area with an area of 3,500 hectares by 2025, of which the durian is 120 hectares. Currently, the district has about 200 hectares of durian but the harvestable area is not much.

To adapt to acidic soil, in recent years, people have built mounds for trees, each mound is 1-2m high. If well cared for, 1 hectare of durian produces 8-10 tons of fruit in the first crop and will increase with the age of the tree.

Implementing the project, many training courses on planting techniques, pest and disease management on durian were organized to help farmers gain more farming knowledge.

Mr. Tran Dang Khoa (Tan Lap commune, Tan Thanh district) confided: "When there are training classes like that, all farmers here are excited to apply to their own gardens. Many traders rated Tan Thanh durian as very fragrant and delicious."

The condition for durian fruit to be officially exported is to have a growing area code and a packaging facility code. The Southern Fruit Institute coordinated with the People's Committee of Tan Thanh district to build 3 models of intensive durian cultivation according to VietGAP standards in Tan Lap commune; 3 durian growing area codes with a total area of 68.7 hectares.

The 1000 Nam canal shoreline is solidly concreted, making it convenient to transport post-harvest fruit.

According to Head of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Tan Thanh district - Mai Van On, in Tan Lap commune, the 1000 Nam canal shoreline has been completed and put into use for agricultural production. Both sides of the canal are solidly concreted, allowing 2.5 ton trucks to move easily, facilitating the transportation of post-harvest fruit. This place will be built to become an eco-tourism area.

The investment project to upgrade the southern shoreline of Canal 61 is gradually being completed (1.5km is still under construction).

It is known that, to implement the project, Tan Thanh district has been supported with equipment and machinery for fruit production, preliminary processing, preservation and processing. Typically, the Department of Industry and Trade supported a fruit dryer for Hoang Anh Agricultural, Production and Trading Cooperative with a cost of more than 700 million VND; implemented 2 models of applying advanced irrigation systems on fruit trees, with a scale of 0.5 hectares/model, to demonstrate the application of advanced irrigation methods, provide sufficient and timely water for fruit trees, especially during the dry season in Tan Lap and Nhon Hoa Lap communes.

According to Ms. Ho Thi Ngoc Lan, the goal is by 2025 to form a fruit tree material area in an area of more than 10,500 hectares, of which the area planted with jackfruit is more than 3,500 hectares, mango is more than 700 hectares, durian is 340 hectares, and the remaining are more than 6,000 hectares (grapefruit, banana, custard apple, etc). It is known that by the end of 2023, the total area of fruit trees was more than 5,300 hectares (durian area was 519 hectares, jackfruit was over 2,620 hectares and mango was more than 220 hectares, the remaining 2,000 hectares are mainly pineapples, lemons, grapefruit, etc), reaching more than 50.4% of the planned area by 2025./.

By Staffs - Translated by Q. Thien

Source: https://baolongan.vn/xay-dung-vung-nguyen-lieu-cay-an-qua-va-hieu-qua-buoc-dau-a175771.html