Hanoi organizes first contest of specialty jackfruit varieties

Beautiful in form and good in quality are the criteria of the contest to honor, promote and boost the consumption of Hanoi specialty jackfruit varieties in 2024.

Jackfruit tree villa

The first jackfruit contest is organized by the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Hanoi Agricultural Development Center is the standing agency, expected to include 20 teams from 9 districts and towns participating with traditional tough jackfruit varieties. The preliminary round is selected by the People's Committees of districts and towns. The preliminary round, direct judging at the garden will take place from June 20 to 26.

The final round was held at the Culture, Information and Sports Center of Son Tay town from July 4 to 5 with the structure of 1 special prize, 1 first prize, 2 second prizes, 3 third prizes, 13 consolation prizes for the collective prize and 1 first prize, 2 second prizes, 3 third prizes, 4 consolation prizes for delicious jackfruit trees. In addition to fresh jackfruit, the contest also displayed products processed from jackfruit and jackfruit wood.

Posing next to a jackfruit tree. Photo: Duong Dinh Tuong.

On a hot summer day, the judges and I set off to judge the preliminary round with great excitement. The car headed straight for Son Tay town, and we arrived in about an hour. The heat from the sky and the heat from the concrete road were as hot as a pot of stew, making everyone's shirts drenched in sweat, but we didn't mind.

The first place we went to was Co Dong commune (Son Tay town) - a jackfruit orchard of the capital with over 30,000 trees, of which more than 20 households have gardens with from a few dozen trees to 300 - 400 trees, and almost every house has 1 - 2 trees.

Mr. Nguyen Duy Tho - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Co Dong commune said that the locality has participated in the jackfruit competition of Son Tay town twice, in which one year it won both the special prize and the first prize, and the other year it won the second prize. This year, in the city-level jackfruit competition, in addition to displaying fresh fruit, the locality also brought jackfruit sticky rice, jackfruit tea, jackfruit seed cake, dried jackfruit, and preserved jackfruit...

The spirit of the preliminary round is to mark the tree, but if you find ripe fruit, mark it too. If the fruit is still green, tell the gardener to notify you when it is ripe so he can bring the sugar meter up. Then mark the appearance by eye and mark the quality by mouth.

In the past, a “jackfruit tree tiled house” was a sign of a well-off household, but now it is a “jackfruit tree villa”. There are many “jackfruit tree villas” in Son Tay region, and Mr. Ha Van Ha’s in Co Dong commune is one such case.

Jackfruit tree villa of Mr. Ha Van Ha in Co Dong commune (Son Tay town). Photo: Duong Dinh Tuong.

“Farmers only rely on trees. Before, I grew all kinds of lychees, longans, grapefruits, and jackfruits, but now I only keep jackfruits because the other types are too cheap and not many people buy them. When jackfruit is expensive, it sells for 20,000 VND/kg, when it is cheap, it sells for 10-15,000 VND/kg, and I still earn 20-30 million VND per year. My garden has 70 trees from 10 to 20 years old, including a tree that won second prize in the Son Tay town jackfruit contest in 2023. Of these, 4 trees were selected to participate in this year's contest, including 2 red jackfruit trees and 2 chicken fat jackfruit trees. Delicious jackfruit depends not only on the tree and how it is cared for, but also on the weather. If it is too hot, the fruit will ripen and not be delicious,” Mr. Ha shared.

Mr. Pham Xuan Truong in Co Dong commune previously had decades of experience selling jackfruit from the countryside to the city. From there, he selected delicious jackfruit varieties to plant and then filtered 400 trees with an average age of 10 - 30 years.

“I have stopped going to the jackfruit market for ten years now, but the workers who are used to cutting jackfruit still come to the garden to get it. More than 1 hectare of the garden brings in an income of 100 - 120 million/year. I have 4 - 5 types of jackfruit, both tough and sweet, with 2 types of red segments and chicken fat segments. One year, I won first prize in the town jackfruit competition,” said Mr. Truong.

I was really impressed with the fairy-tale-like jackfruit garden of Mr. Nguyen Thiet Dung's house in Co Dong commune with trees over 70 years old, rough bark covered with moss and mistletoe but the fruit still bears fruit from the roots to the top and is very large and even. The garden was created by many generations, first by his grandparents, then his parents and now by his wife and him with about 70 trees that are being harvested.

The jackfruit tree over 70 years old still produces big and delicious fruit of Mr. Nguyen Thiet Dung (Co Dong commune, Son Tay town). Photo: Duong Dinh Tuong.

He recalled the story of when his brother climbed up the tree, his grandmother stood at the bottom and said: “That jackfruit tree, why didn’t you bear much fruit this year? Next year you have to listen to me and bear much fruit, okay?” As she spoke, she lightly hit the tree with a stick. On the tree, his brother answered fearfully: “Yes, ma’am, next year I will bear much fruit.” More than 50 years had passed, but everything seemed to have just happened before his eyes.

According to Mr. Dung, jackfruit trees can bear fruit after 5 years of planting, but to be delicious, they must be 10 years or more. The same variety but trees 60-70 years old always have better quality fruit in terms of sweetness and thickness of segments. His "jackfruit tree" over 70 years old has a year of up to 40 fruits, small ones are 8-9kg, large ones are 15-16kg, the record is 25kg, sold for 5 million VND. Talking about the jackfruit garden, he said it gives a stable income, although not very high, about 70-80 million VND/year.

Checking the jackfruit to see if it is ripe. Photo: Duong Dinh Tuong.

Arriving at Trung Son Tram ward (Son Tay town), I was quite surprised when the car stopped in front of the very large campus of Cuc pagoda. The pagoda garden had many delicious jackfruit trees tended by the monks. The group had chosen the most satisfactory jackfruit tree to compete and did not forget to remind them to call us to judge when the fruit was ripe.

Meet the "long legs"

Leaving Co Dong, we visited Mrs. Le Thi Hoan's house in Son Dong commune (Son Tay town). The garden has 10 jackfruit trees, but only 2 are over 40 years old, planted by her own hands. Last year, they won first prize in the Son Tay town jackfruit competition and were given the tag "first tree". Their segments are red, have thick fibers, and are especially delicious, so people often tie strings to mark them and order them when the fruit is still green. The income from selling the fruit of these 2 jackfruit trees alone brings her about 5-6 million VND each year.

Son Dong has laterite soil that is very suitable for jackfruit trees, so there are about 800 households growing them, with a few having 2-3 trees and many having dozens of trees. Jackfruit here is easily recognizable by its thin, dark-colored skin, sparse thorns, and thick, sweet, crunchy, and fragrant segments inside. Garden owners often select delicious jackfruits close to the base, and choose seeds near the stem for breeding because when the tree becomes a tree, it will produce many fruits and retain the characteristics of the mother tree.

The first jackfruit tree of Mrs. Le Thi Hoan (Son Dong commune, Son Tay town). Photo: Duong Dinh Tuong.

The car went to Kim Son commune (Son Tay town) to visit the jackfruit garden of 200 trees planted in straight rows of Mr. Nguyen Quy Thuong, many of which have very beautiful fruit shapes. He lamented that before, jackfruit was sold at 25,000 VND/kg in the garden, earning 200 million VND/year, but now it is only 10 - 15,000 VND/kg, so earning only 60 - 70 million VND/year. Participating in this competition, he wants to learn from the experience of growing and caring for jackfruit from those who have gone before to improve the quality.

After walking all day, when the sky was heavy with lead because of a big storm, we arrived at Mr. Tran Dinh Khan's garden in Kim Son commune. The members of the group felt as if their feet were stuck by a giant magnet when they saw the beautiful jackfruit tree, the fruits all seemed to be cast from the same mold with a long, slender shape and an unusually fresh green color. When the garden owner saw us admiring, he smiled and introduced that in the garden there were at least 30 trees like that with fruits weighing an average of 13 - 15kg, large and long segments, thick flesh, thin skin, and a large proportion of the edible part.

Dr. Nguyen Khac Quynh (Plant Resources Center - Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences) assessed that this jackfruit tree alone has met all the criteria including tree health, fruit uniformity, and no negative points. It is completely worthy of being chosen as the parent tree for the purpose of propagation, commercialization, and even export in the future because some Japanese traders have begun to pay attention to Vietnamese jackfruit products.

The "flawless" jackfruit tree of Mr. Tran Dinh Khan in Kim Son commune, Son Tay town. Photo: Duong Dinh Tuong.

Hanoi has many varieties of jackfruit of good quality, quite uniform, especially the custard apple with fruit from the root to the branches, round and flat, with almost no thorns, crispy segments, sweet and refreshing taste. Mentioning this, I remember the custard apple that Mr. Quynh gave me. Each segment, each segment of it seems to contain the golden sunshine, sweet honey and the scent of heaven and earth, just put it in your mouth and it seems to flow right down your throat.

Mr. Le Luu Cau - Deputy Director of Hanoi Agricultural Development Center said that after the contest, good jackfruit trees can be selected as the first trees, heritage trees associated with the culture and history of a land can be selected, and the production value chain can be linked with the spiritual and ecological tourism value chain to increase value.

“Jackfruit trees have long been associated with the Vietnamese people, especially in the past when life was difficult, jackfruit was also a food crop. Jackfruit is formed from many sources, the quality is not uniform, and for a long time it was not cared for, so it has degenerated to the point that sometimes it is difficult to find a good fruit. This contest will find good jackfruit trees to serve the production of seeds to later create concentrated, high-quality jackfruit growing areas”, said Mr. Le Luu Cau - Deputy Director of the Hanoi Agricultural Development Center.

Source: https://nongsanviet.nongnghiep.vn/ha-noi-lan-dau-to-chuc-hoi-thi-cac-giong-mit-dac-san-d390848.html