Noodle squash has been grown by Dalat Home Garden Cooperative for the past 4 years.
Ms. Luong Thi Yen Van - Director of Da Lat Home Garden Cooperative said that she often searches for strange dishes online. Four years ago, by chance, she went on Youtube and saw a type of squash that could produce noodles-like strands. From there, she searched for seeds and brought them back to Da Lat to try planting them and was successful.
The squash has a rough, light green skin. At first glance, this fruit does not look special, with an appearance similar to familiar melons. However, the surprise lies inside, when cooked, they have a special core, made up of many long, thin strands like noodles. The squash strands can be used to prepare many different dishes such as: spaghetti, meat sauce, stir-fried eggs,...
The squash is incubated for about 20 days and can be harvested after 2.5 months.
To expand the area for growing squash, Ms. Van's cooperative has linked up with about 50 farming households to grow squash, the largest household is 4,000 m2, the smallest is 1,000 m2.
"The cassava squash can be planted after about 20 days of incubation and can be harvested after 2.5 months. The cassava squash can be harvested continuously for 3 months. The cassava squash is grown according to a scientific and sustainable circular agricultural model, targeting customers mainly children on weaning food, dieters and diabetics who limit their starch intake. Therefore, the cooperative's squash care process is very strict, not using any chemical drugs, instead only using trap lights and insect stickers to avoid pests. In addition, to ensure the quality of the product when brought to the market is completely organic, the cooperative requires all households to only use microbial fertilizers," Ms. Van shared.
Regarding the risks of disease, Ms. Van said that squash often has powdery mildew. However, this disease has little impact on product quality, so it is not a cause for concern. “You can see with the naked eye on the surface of the leaves, diseases such as powdery mildew appear. However, we still do not spray pesticides or use chemical fertilizers to ensure that the products brought to the market are clean,” Ms. Van said.
Every day, Ms. Van's cooperative supplies the market with about 300 kg of squash noodles.
According to Ms. Van, the cooperative supplies about 300 kg of squash noodles to the market every day. However, squash noodles are currently only sold under contract and are not widely available because the output is not enough to meet market demand. Each fruit usually weighs 1 - 1.5 kg and is sold for 130,000 - 170,000 VND/fruit.
"This year's harvest season, this type of squash is "sold out" right in the garden, traders come to the garden to buy, even though it's sold out, many sources still contact to ask to buy" , Ms. Van informed.
Ms. Hua Thi Thanh Thao (Xuan Tho Commune, Da Lat City) is one of the households associated with the Cooperative. She said that her family grows cassava squash in a greenhouse provided by the Da Lat Home Garden Cooperative. This cassava squash is quite easy to grow and uses all organic fertilizers required by the Cooperative.
To grow cassava effectively, the family has planted it in long rows with a trellis system perpendicular to the garden floor. Up to now, the income from cassava is very stable, helping the family develop economically.
When cooked, squash has a special core, made up of many long, thin strands that resemble noodles.
Ms. Van said that cassava squash is easy to grow and has high economic efficiency, so in the coming time, the cooperative will expand the area to ensure the supply of goods to the market. The cooperative also focuses on organic production to improve the quality and value of the products.
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