Vietnam is a country famous for its many delicious durian varieties, which are commonly grown in the Central Highlands, Mekong Delta, Southeast and South Central Coast. However, enjoying durian in a coastal city in the Southeast, specifically in Long Phuoc commune, Ba Ria city of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, is truly a surprise...
The secret to having delicious durian
Following the recommendation of my cousin who is living and working in Vung Tau, we decided to go to Long Phuoc instead of Phuoc Hai fishing village in Phuoc Hai town, Dat Do district as originally planned. After all, fishing villages are the same everywhere, eating seafood is the same, and enjoying durian in a coastal province like Ba Ria-Vung Tau is definitely worth a try.
The distance from Vung Tau city to Long Phuoc is only about 20 km, the road is convenient. It did not take us long to find the address of Mr. Van Van Danh's durian garden, also known as Mr. Tu Danh or Mr. Tu durian, among many durian gardens nearby, located on Highway 110, Phuoc Huu Hamlet. We were welcomed by Mr. Tu Danh's youngest son. Under the shady trees on the concrete road leading straight to the house with a red-pink tiled roof, a tall and thin man was waiting on the steps to take us on a tour of the garden.
However, when I opened the door and got out of the car, the strong smell of durian immediately awakened my sense of smell and brought back memories of six years ago, when I enjoyed durian on the way from Ho Chi Minh City to Ben Tre. The difference was that this time, I was standing in the middle of a 1-hectare durian garden, among many varieties such as Thai durian, Ri6 durian, Cai Mon durian, Chin Hoa durian... The familiar strong aroma made me unable to help but rush to the pile of fruit neatly arranged in front of the house and want to taste a golden durian segment right away.
Around Mr. Tu Danh’s house, durians are piled up everywhere. Some are for fallen fruits, some are for newly picked fruits that can be eaten in one or two days, and some are for fruits that have been ordered in advance by traders. According to the garden owner born in 1956, before us, traders came early to collect all the fallen durians, while he also sold all the large fruits for export, each weighing 1.8 kg or more, with no black skin, no worms, green spines, and round fruit.
Mr. Tu Danh chose a Thai durian weighing about 1.2 kg, used a specialized knife to gently peel it off and took out each segment to offer us. Although the fruit was not fully ripe yet, as he said it would take about two to three days to be edible, the flesh was quite thick, with a light yellow color, and when eaten, one could feel the rich, naturally sweet flavor that was not too harsh and not at all tough. Mr. Tu Danh said that Thai durian trees only take four years to harvest, have high yields and are resistant to some pests and diseases. In addition to this type of durian, on an area of 1 hectare, he also grows other types of durian such as Ri6, Cai Mon... yielding several dozen tons per year. His garden has more than 100 trees, some of which are 18 years old, even 28 years old. He pointed to a large tree outside the gate, adding that the storm in 2006 had caused the tree to fall, but he was able to replant it afterwards. As for productivity, the tree can yield up to 600 kg of fruit at most, while most of them yield from 200 to 300 kg of fruit per tree.
Although not applying the standard growing process such as VietGAP, GlobalGAP, USDA..., Mr. Tu Danh still chooses to grow durian trees organically partly because he affirms that in order to sell durian at a high price and gain high profits, in addition to the beautiful, green, round appearance, the flesh inside must be yellow, powdery, naturally sweet, not hard or burnt. To achieve the above requirements, in addition to preventing fungal diseases and proper watering, the fruit growing part is also very important, especially potassium fertilization to support rice growth...
Mr. Tu Danh enthusiastically told us about his experiences growing durian for more than half his life, about his ability to recognize whether the durian is ripe or not, when it has fallen, whether it has rained a lot or not to have a reasonable fertilization plan... I especially remember one thing he said: when entering a durian garden, looking at the leaves, you can tell if the durian is delicious or not because a tree that keeps its leaves is a healthy tree, the quality of the fruit will be good because the leaves are a source of reserve nutrients to nourish the fruit. In other words, the leaves will convert sugar and make starch for the fruit. If you are not a durian enthusiast, you will not be able to summarize the experience of growing durian so meticulously.
Potential for tourism development
Compared to Vung Tau or Ba Ria-Vung Tau province in general, tourism in Ba Ria city is not as impressive, because many tourists have long been familiar with famous tourist destinations in Vung Tau such as beaches around the city, the statue of Jesus Christ, Vung Tau lighthouse, Nghinh Phong cape, Bach Dinh, Hon Ba, Ho Tram, Robert Taylor Museum of Ancient Weapons...
In return, the average annual rainfall in Ba Ria is relatively low, the soil is good (red basalt soil distributed in two communes Hoa Long and Long Phuoc), the temperature is not too different, very suitable for planting and developing durian trees. Therefore, when coming to Ba Ria, in addition to some places to visit such as Thi Vai mountain, Dinh mountain and especially Long Phuoc tunnel, what impressed us the most was the visit to Mr. Tu Danh's durian garden. Actually, it was not only us because only about 45 minutes after we arrived, the small house in the middle of the large durian garden of the 69-year-old farmer was now bustling with the laughter of many visitors.
Mr. Tu Danh added that he often welcomes groups of visitors. They come here to enjoy durian in the garden and buy it as gifts, especially on weekends. Usually, people tell each other, so if they are not locals, not many people will know that Long Phuoc has such an attractive form of tourism. Because only when coming here can one better understand the "king of fruits", listen to the garden owner tell about how he came to the durian tree or the complete process of taking care of the tree. Stories like that sometimes take place at a small table in front of the house, sometimes under the shade of a 28-year-old tree, and most wonderfully in the middle of the garden, like a forest of ancient trees. The durian trees in Mr. Tu Danh's garden are like giant bonsai trees because they are beautifully shaped.
He was the first person to have the idea of creating bonsai trees like this, after deciding to give up the very successful livestock farming and turn to establishing an orchard in 1996. Having loved durian trees since childhood, he soon realized that durian is a tropical tree that loves light. Therefore, in addition to planting trees at a reasonable distance to create conditions for the tree to receive a lot of light, he thought it was necessary to divide the light by creating a canopy and dividing the branches. Branches that live longer will produce more fruit and delicious quality. Thanks to that, for more than 30 years, he has cared for and pruned the durian garden to become a giant bonsai garden, creating a huge difference between his garden and other households, from the shape of the trees to the yield and quality of the fruit. This place has also become a familiar address for many farmers in the area to visit and learn from experience. According to the Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Long Phuoc Commune, Nguyen Van Minh, the area of durian in Long Phuoc that is being harvested is 41 hectares.
Farmers here often visit Mr. Tu Danh's garden. We came just to enjoy the delicious durian, but everyone felt really excited as if they had just gone on an experiential tour. We were led around the garden, listening to stories about durian varieties, about Mr. Tu Danh's life, about the experiences accumulated over more than 30 years of farming that he really wanted to share with his farmer friends and his sons.
Therefore, it would be great if the Farmers' Association of the commune connected that experience with garden owners and tourist groups, so that anyone who comes to Ba Ria-Vung Tau would feel that they should stop at least once at the durian gardens in Long Phuoc.
Source: https://nhandan.vn/du-lich-miet-vuon-o-long-phuoc-post822568.html
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