Transforming off-season plums, student wins second prize in startup

(Dan Tri) - After 3 years of research and experimental application, a group of students from Hanoi Forestry University have started a business growing off-season plum trees in Moc Chau (Son La) with an economic value 2-3 times higher than that of main-season plum trees.

Surpassing other competing teams, the Moc Chau off-season plum group won second prize in the "Forestry Startup Innovation 2024" competition, which took place on November 8 in Hanoi.

Mr. Le Minh Hoan (in blue shirt), Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, tastes off-season plums from a group of students from the University of Forestry (Photo: H. Khanh).

Economic value is 2-3 times higher than main season plums

According to Phung Hai Khanh, a student of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration and head of the research team, the technique of growing off-season plums was first researched and tested by the team in 2019 in Moc Chau district, Son La province.

"Just like humans, when you adopt different diets and exercise methods, your body will change accordingly.

Here, we have applied techniques of plant physiology transformation, pruning, applying science, water-saving irrigation technology, lighting and special care to produce off-season plums, improving economic efficiency for plum growers, social efficiency for the locality, and at the same time protecting the ecological environment," Khanh said.

Prof. Dr. Pham Van Dien, Principal of the school and the winning teams (Photo: M. Ha).

According to the group representative, after the experimental research, the students obtained positive results.

If the price of plums in the main season is about 30,000 - 40,000 VND/kg, the wholesale price of plums in the off-season is about 90,000 VND/kg and the retail price is about 120,000 VND/kg.

"The reason why off-season plums have higher prices and better consumption than regular plums is because the supply of regular plums is abundant and only concentrated in the summer, while off-season plums have less supply while people's demand is very high. This leads to a shortage of supply for consumers when plums are out of season.

Therefore, our goal is to contribute to increasing income, creating more jobs for people, bringing high technology into agricultural production, increasing the supply of plums for consumers, increasing revenue for the state and local budgets, and protecting the ecological environment," Khanh said.

Hope people escape the situation of "good harvest, low price"

According to Phung Hai Khanh, he was born a farmer, his family has a plum garden so he understands this crop like the back of his hand.

Since high school, my brother and I (also a student at the Forestry University at that time) conducted a scientific research project on plum trees, but at that time, our research was not technical.

After being admitted to the Forestry University, Khanh continued to develop this topic with his brother (who was studying for a master's degree at the university) and colleagues to create off-season plum trees for his hometown.

Group of students and teachers in the advisory board (Photo: H. Khanh).

"The Northwest is a mountainous and forested region of Vietnam with difficult and complex terrain, but it is a very good land for growing plum trees. However, in recent times, the difficult situation of high prices and low harvests, and high harvests and low prices of plum farmers has led to the rescue of Moc Chau plums.

With the desire to reduce difficulties, improve the economy for families and farmers and the desire to bring high technology into agricultural production, we - the children of the mountainous region of the Northwest, have applied new techniques to create off-season plums in Moc Chau, Son La," said the group representative.

According to a member of the jury, the off-season plum project is highly feasible but is not new because people have been using it for many years.

However, the novelty that the student group brought up was that thanks to the application of systematic techniques, the fruit yield was higher, and at the same time, it could help the locality do tourism in all four seasons instead of just one season as it is now.

In addition, the jury also raised the issue of the cost of 1kg of plums, which is about 100,000 VND to 150,000 VND, is it feasible to consume the product? Regarding this, the student group said that off-season plums are mainly sold wholesale to supermarkets and in the long term, can be exported.

By applying techniques, a group of students from the University of Forestry made plum trees bloom out of season, no less than in the main season (Photo: H. Khanh).

Evaluating the research topic, Dr. Dang Thi Hoa, lecturer at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, said that this is a topic developed based on scientific research of group members since high school.

At first, the students had a hard time because the school and the actual garden were hundreds of kilometers apart. With their enthusiasm and dynamism, along with the support from the school and the teachers, this topic has been more complete.

"This is a highly practical topic that has been applied and has had results in reality. This is specifically demonstrated when students have coordinated to establish a local cooperative and have brought products to the market.

In particular, determining that agriculture and forestry must be sustainable, the students have completely applied organic, safe, and environmentally friendly care processes," Dr. Hoa assessed.

On November 8, the University of Forestry held the final round of the "Forestry Startup Innovation 2024" competition. After 5 months of launching, 6 out of 11 participating teams entered the final round.

Surpassing the competitors, the team "Vietnamese Agarwood Coffee" won first prize. Second prize went to the team "Moc Chau Off-season Plum". Third prize went to the two teams "Building an application for a database that synthesizes formulas for quickly estimating forest carbon credits" and the team "ROVET - Interior Technology".

According to Professor Pham Van Dien, Principal of the University of Forestry, the school considers students an important resource in development and the future of the school.

Therefore, student success is the number one concern. For them to succeed, starting a business is very important, it is the beginning for them to enter practical production later.

However, starting a business is not just a movement, if using a movement to start a business will not be effective. Therefore, the school's goal is to use the movement to instill in students passion, effort to overcome difficulties, so that starting a business becomes real.

There, there is criticism from teachers and businesses, there is general concern from the school and encouragement from businesses for students to find ideas that are suitable for practice.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/bien-doi-qua-man-trai-mua-sinh-vien-doat-giai-nhi-khoi-nghiep-20241108112122932.htm