1,000 grapefruit trees and 7,000 pepper pillars, revenue of 1.5 billion VND/year

All of Mr. Dang Van Cap's organically grown grapefruit and pepper products are purchased by Thanh Nien Hoai An Agricultural Cooperative, so gardeners do not have to worry about output...

Carry water to water each pepper plant

35 years ago, when Mr. Dang Van Cap was only 40 years old, the age of "ripe" in business orientation, he left the construction contractor job to return to agriculture. At that time, the land in his hometown - Thach Long 1 village, An Tuong Dong commune (Hoai An district, Binh Dinh) was vast, but the local people did not care because they did not know what to plant. At that time, Mr. Cap had just failed in the construction contractor job and decided to focus on reclaiming 10 hectares of land to switch to agriculture.

Leaders of Binh Dinh province and farmers visit Mr. Dang Van Cap's organic pepper and grapefruit growing model. Photo: V.D.T.

All beginnings are difficult. When he had land, Mr. Cap immediately planted coconut trees (oil-pressed coconuts), but the price of coconut trees was unstable for a long time, so he switched to growing bonsai. Before he could earn any income from bonsai, the bonsai tree was out of date. Accepting defeat, Mr. Cap destroyed all the bonsai trees to plant acacia trees. At that time, planted forest wood was not as "hot" as it is now, and the income was unstable, so after selling the first batch of acacia trees, Mr. Cap switched to planting 200 pepper poles and experimenting with planting 30 green-skinned grapefruit trees. Because he did not have the investment capital, he had to spend his own labor to do all the work.

“At that time, my wife and I had to carry buckets of water from the stream to water each pepper and grapefruit tree. When we realized that these crops were suitable for the local soil and climate and also brought high economic efficiency, each year I planted more pepper and grapefruit to cover the land area. By 2017, my 10 hectares of land had 7,000 pepper trees, 1,000 green-skin grapefruit trees and 30 durian trees on trial. The last batch of grapefruit I planted is now 4 years old. Currently, all 1,000 grapefruit trees have produced fruit, the 30 durian trees have also produced fruit for 3 years, and the pepper has been harvested for many years,” Mr. Cap shared.

Early last April, when we visited Mr. Cap’s farm, we saw grapefruit trees laden with fruit. The 30 grapefruit trees planted in 2017 were at their prime, so they bore a lot of fruit, hanging all over the branches. “There were trees that bore up to 100 fruits, so I had to prune them, leaving only 70 so that the tree could grow enough. For younger trees, I left fewer fruits to match the tree’s growth,” Mr. Cap confided as he led us through the grapefruit trees.

Mr. Cap’s fruit tree growing model has caught the attention of leaders and functional departments of Hoai An district. After many visits, Mr. Nguyen Huu Khuc, Chairman of Hoai An District People’s Committee, encouraged Mr. Cap to switch to organic care of 7,000 pepper trees and 1,000 grapefruit trees.

After listening to the instructions from the authorities, Mr. Cap realized that by taking care of plants organically, the gardener would not have to come into contact with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which meant his health would be protected, so he immediately agreed. From then on, he implemented the organic pepper and green-skin grapefruit care model deployed by the Binh Dinh Provincial Agricultural Extension Center.

“Since switching to organic pepper, grapefruit and durian care, I have been guided and closely monitored by the staff of the Hoai An Youth Agricultural Cooperative, and the products grown on my farm have been consumed strongly. My pepper and grapefruit are fully consumed by the Hoai An Youth Agricultural Cooperative, so my only concern is how to maximize the yield of my crops, not worrying about the output. My mind is very peaceful,” Mr. Cap said excitedly.

Local authorities accompany

According to Mr. Nguyen Huu Khuc, Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoai An district, since 2016, the locality has implemented many support policies for farmers participating in organic agricultural production models. Farmers participating in intensive fruit tree models associated with product consumption according to chain linkages are supported with seedlings and fertilizers. Thanks to that, in a short time, the mixed gardens in the past are now covered with fruit trees with high economic efficiency, many poor families have escaped poverty, many households have become billionaires.

For example, after switching to organic farming methods, Mr. Dang Van Cap's farm received investment from the People's Committee of Hoai An district in a concrete road connecting Diem Tieu - Kim Son route to the farm, an electricity station and an irrigation system.

“For my irrigation system, the People's Committee of Hoai An district supported me with a main pipe of 140mm, a branch pipe of 60mm, and the smallest section of 49mm. As for the pipes leading to each plant, I invested in purchasing equipment and installing them myself. In addition, my farm was also supported with 2 stainless steel water tanks, each tank can hold 10,000 liters of water to irrigate the plants,” Mr. Cap said excitedly.

Mr. Cap briefly outlined the organic grapefruit farming process that is being implemented: In the care process, absolutely no chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used; to prevent pests and diseases for grapefruit, only biological pesticides in the list approved by the competent authorities are used; fertilizers are also only organic fertilizers. When fertilizing and spraying, gardeners must record the production diary in detail, including which day, how much for each tree, etc. Hoai An's grapefruit products have been certified as OCOP products, so they are consumed very strongly in the market at high prices.

After a long time of pouring sweat and money into his 10ha farm, now is the time for Mr. Cap to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Currently, 7,000 pepper trees give Mr. Cap a harvest of 14-15 tons of seeds each year. This year, pepper prices are slightly higher than previous years, and organic pepper prices are higher than those of traditionally grown pepper, giving Mr. Cap an income of about 1.4 billion VND/crop. As for 1,000 grapefruit trees, if he works hard, he should be able to yield 40-50 tons of fruit each year.

“This year, the cooperative purchased organic pepper at 100,000 VND/kg, and regular pepper at 80,000 VND/kg. In previous years, pepper prices were too low, so I reduced my investment, so this year's yield was low, only 2kg/pepper vine, while in previous years it was 3kg/vine. This year, grapefruit costs 25,000 VND/kg. If 1,000 grapefruit trees yield only 40 tons, I will still earn 1 billion VND. Because this year I cut down the grapefruit trees to nourish them for the following years, the grapefruit garden yielded low yields, so the total estimated income from both pepper and grapefruit is only about 1.5 billion VND,” Mr. Cap calculated.

According to Mr. Thai Thanh Viet, a technical officer of the Hoai An District Agricultural Service Center, the current grapefruit area in the district is more than 400 hectares, of which more than 200 hectares have produced fruit, the grapefruit output of the district this year will reach about 700 tons. This year's grapefruit crop in Hoai An is about to be harvested, so from now on, the Hoai An Youth Agricultural Cooperative - the unit responsible for purchasing agricultural products for Hoai An farmers - is focusing on finding a market for farmers.

Huong Hoai (according to nongnghiep.vn)

Source