Admire the super beautiful mangosteen garden

DONG NAI Organic farming, creating vegetation from grass is the way Mr. Vuong Thanh Nam persistently takes care of and protects the organic mangosteen garden, protecting the ecosystem and environment.

Mr. Vuong Thanh Nam's organic mangosteen garden won first prize in the 2023 "Model Garden" contest of Long Khanh City, Dong Nai Province. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

Learn to be a "good farmer"

Long Khanh City (Dong Nai Province) is blessed with a cool climate, flat terrain with red basalt soil, and abundant underground water, suitable for growing fruit trees such as rambutan, custard apple, jackfruit, durian, orange, tangerine, banana, guava, mangosteen, etc.

Taking advantage of this, the locality has encouraged farmers to proactively invest in developing fruit tree growing models applying science and technology, organic farming, and following nature. From there, many exemplary agricultural models have been formed, lush, and with quality products. At the same time, it has attracted many domestic and foreign tourists to visit and enjoy, affirming the position of tropical fruits in Long Khanh.

Among them, the organic mangosteen garden of Mr. Vuong Thanh Nam (group 26, Bao Vinh ward, Long Khanh city) is well invested.

Entering the garden of about 1 hectare, Mr. Nam's family house is surrounded by 80 shady mangosteen trees. Since 2019, Mr. Nam took over the mangosteen garden from his father and began to renovate it, switching to completely organic farming.

Taking us to visit the garden, Mr. Nam told us about the process of "learning to be a good farmer": "At first, I didn't know how to do agriculture, I was very confused, then I was disappointed with the quality of the fruit, the plants were stunted, had many pests, and the leaves were small. Discouraged, there were times when I didn't take care of them, causing the plants to weaken and the soil to become barren.

After that, I was determined to research and learn every day, just doing it and learning, gaining experience. In addition, the Farmers' Association of Binh Loc commune also sent me to attend training courses on organic farming. Finally, I made more progress, the soil began to recover, the plants grew better, without using any chemical fertilizers or pesticides. Just persevere every day, determined to "be a good farmer", creating quality products, safe for consumers' health", Mr. Nam shared.

Mr. Nam's mangosteen garden is allowed to grow grass naturally, creating a carpet of vegetation. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

What belongs to the earth must be returned to the earth.

Throughout the story, Mr. Vuong Thanh Nam repeatedly told us: "What we take from the land, we must return to the land." That is how he has been persistently growing organic mangosteens with the desire to bring a fresh space to his family, village and bring high income from selling quality organic mangosteens.

According to Mr. Nam, 6 years of organic farming is the same amount of years he let the grass grow naturally (only cutting the tops) to create a vegetation that helps plants and soil to better withstand drought, the soil is well kept moist, and the microorganisms in the soil develop...

In addition, he also adds organic fertilizer, watered with microorganisms, Humic fish protein, and used soil conditioners to make the soil more porous... so that the trees can withstand harsh weather, avoiding latex leakage and fruit cracking. Thanks to that, when the first rains of the season come, he is not afraid of the trees losing flowers, fruit, or being shocked by water or heat.

Not only that, Mr. Nam also invested in an automatic watering system installed throughout the garden and numbered each tree in the garden for easy management.

“When I am away, my father can turn on the switch himself and water whenever he wants, without having to carry a hose and spray the whole garden like he used to do,” Nam said with a laugh.

Mr. Nam’s organic mangosteen garden with 80 trees aged 20-25 years is truly valuable, each tree is green and healthy in the middle of a “forest” of mangosteen trees cultivated using conventional methods around. This is also an advantage for Mr. Nam’s organic mangosteen garden to win the first prize in the “Model Fruit Garden” contest in 2023 of Long Khanh City.

50% of the mangosteen trees in Mr. Vuong Thanh Nam's garden are 20 - 25 years old. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

When asked about the effectiveness of organic farming, Mr. Nam said that, technically, he has now domesticated mangosteen trees using organic methods. Therefore, the soil is becoming more and more fertile and loose; the trees are getting stronger and healthier, with fewer pests and diseases; the leaves are getting bigger, greener and thicker; the fruit quality is stable, with thin skin, fibrous flesh and sweet. Therefore, Mr. Nam's mangosteens are always in high demand during harvest season.

Not only that, thanks to completely organic farming, the environment becomes clean, ensuring the health of Mr. Nam's family when living in the middle of the mangosteen garden.

“My customers are mainly clean fruit stores, supermarkets in Long Khanh City, Hanoi, Kon Tum... Many customers have taken my mangosteens for testing (quality control) and have purchased them to export abroad. Clean mangosteens grown using organic methods are always in short supply for sale,” said Mr. Nam, adding that the output of his garden’s mangosteens this year will definitely increase by about 5-10% compared to last year.

According to Mr. Nam, on average each mangosteen tree currently yields about 50 - 150kg of fruit. Of which, about 50% of the trees in the garden are at their peak, with a yield of more than 1 quintal/tree/year, giving his family an income of over 1 billion VND per year.

In the near future, Mr. Nam plans to invest in research to realize the idea of ​​combining organic farming with ecotourism when he has enough time. At the same time, he plans to study to get organic certification.

Growing organic mangosteen, yield increases every year. Photo: Nguyen Thuy.

“I hope that the locality and media units will support farmers in developing organic agriculture to have a stable consumption market with good prices. Thereby, creating motivation for farmers to gradually switch from chemical farming to organic farming, working together to position and promote the mangosteen brand - the "fruit queen" of Long Khanh to domestic and foreign tourists", said Mr. Vuong Thanh Nam.

According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tai, Asia Organic Agriculture Research and Development Institute (AOI), organic agriculture, circular agriculture, ecological agriculture, and climate change adaptation are trends in the world and in Vietnam for sustainable development, environmental protection, and climate change response.

Developing organic agriculture contributes to creating livable villages, attracting tourists to visit and enjoy, promoting local economic development.

In recent times, the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development have also had policies and guidelines to develop organic agriculture. Many localities have established organic agriculture models with thorough investment from the beginning, so obtaining organic certification according to Vietnamese standards or international standards (EU, USDA, JAS...) is also easier to export to many demanding markets.

“The organic market is growing both domestically and internationally. This is an opportunity for farmers to invest in production, convert to sustainable farming models to go further.

We are ready to support farmers and businesses in consulting, transferring technical processes and participating in building organic production models and organic certification," said Mr. Tai.

Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/chiem-nguong-vuon-mang-cut-sieu-dep-d386768.html