Plum capital of Nghe An
Following in the footsteps of the local people, we entered the plum garden of Mr. Ho Chong Po's family in Muong Long commune. Hundreds of plum trees with rough, mossy bark, each tree was laden with fruit. Mr. Po said that, like every family in the village, this three-flower plum garden was planted nearly 30 years ago, so each tree trunk is sturdy and twice as tall as an adult. Therefore, during harvest season, a ladder must be used to climb to the top to pick the fruit.
Every year, when the plums are ripe, Mr. Po’s family welcomes visitors to the garden. This summer, when the plums are ripe, many tourist groups have come. During the recent April 30 and May 1 holidays, visitors flocked to the garden, picking and eating the ripe fruit right in the garden. Not only Mr. Po’s plum garden, but also other plum gardens in Muong Long 2 village are bustling with tourists.
“Previously, the family had over 400 plum trees, later the two children moved out and divided over 100 trees for each child. As a crop suitable for the cool climate of the locality, and also serving tourists when they come to Muong Long, the children all protect the beautiful plum garden and have income. This year, at the beginning of the season, plums were purchased by traders for 30,000 VND/kg, in the middle of the season it dropped to 15,000 VND/kg, but this is the crop with the highest and most stable income,” Mr. Ho Chong Po shared.
Along the small concrete roads winding through the villages of Muong Long 1 and Muong Long 2, visitors can pick ripe and delicious plums right in the garden. The feeling of picking plums with the powder still in hand and enjoying them is truly a wonderful and memorable experience. In addition to picking plums, visitors can borrow traditional costumes of the Mong people to take souvenir photos next to the plum trees laden with fruit. After freely exploring the vast plum gardens, visitors can go to homestays in Muong Long commune to rest and enjoy unique culinary dishes at the gate of heaven...
Plum season is here, and the whole Muong Long commune seems to be busier. The government and people of Muong Long commune are preparing for the “plum picking festival”; the village management boards are eagerly preparing for the bull fighting festival; the people are preparing specialties to sell to tourists from near and far...
Mr. Va Cha Xa - Chairman of Muong Long Commune People's Committee said: Implementing the policy of planting three-flower plum trees to replace opium poppies, in 1995, the whole commune planted about 50 hectares of plums. At that time, plums were a crop to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty in the locality. However, there were times when plums were difficult to sell, so people cut down a part to plant other trees, so the plum area of Muong Long commune is currently about 23 hectares, concentrated in Muong Long 1 and Muong Long 2 villages. Among them, many families protect and take care of beautiful plum gardens, bringing quite high economic efficiency.
In recent years, the number of tourists coming to Muong Long has increased, especially in the spring when plums bloom and the plums ripen in the summer. Tourists come to relax and visit plum gardens, so the commune has a policy of encouraging people to expand plum acreage to develop tourism. Therefore, in the past few years, many households have planted new plum gardens. Tam Hoa plums grown in Muong Long commune have a fresh and cool climate all year round, so the quality is good, selling at a good price, and many traders buy them all right at the garden.
Happy plum picking day
Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung - Chairman of Ky Son District People's Committee said that Tam Hoa plum is a specialty of Ky Son district in general and Muong Long commune in particular. Not only supplying the market, plum also serves tourism development as more and more tourists know about Ky Son. However, up to now, most people have let plum trees grow naturally without investing in care, plum productivity is not high, and the fruit is not as beautiful as expected.
Therefore, the district directed localities to propagate and guide people on how to properly care for plum trees, aiming to increase productivity, bring high economic efficiency and create beautiful plum gardens as typical OCOP products to serve tourists when coming to Ky Son district. Currently, plums in Ky Son district are grown mostly in Muong Long commune, in addition, they are also grown in the communes: Tay Son, Nam Can, Na Ngoi, with a total area of about 40 - 45 hectares.
The plums in early summer begin to ripen evenly and this is also the place chosen by Ky Son district to organize the "plum picking festival" with many attractive activities such as fruit picking competition, plum tasting, learning competition, introducing knowledge about plums; ethnic sports activities, folk games, bull fighting competition... Participating in the festival, visitors were able to visit, experience fruit picking with the locals and enjoy Tam Hoa plums right in plum gardens with hundreds of trees.
“Plum Picking Festival” aims to introduce and promote Ky Son plum products, honor plum growers; create opportunities for plum growers to exchange, learn, and improve their knowledge and experience in growing and caring for plum trees, create high-value products from plums and promote Ky Son district’s specialty products to all regions of the country; preserve, maintain and promote the value of specialty trees and animals in the district.
This is also an opportunity to attract the attention of investors, create opportunities for cooperation between plum growers and domestic and foreign enterprises to produce and trade plum products, contributing to creating jobs for workers and increasing income for plum farmers in Ky Son district. At the same time, preserving and promoting good cultural values for ethnic minorities in Ky Son district.
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