Asparagus on the sandy land of Chi Cong

Following Ms. Do Thi Bao - President of the Farmers' Association of Chi Cong commune, we came to the sandy land running along National Highway 1A, passing through the commune, when the first rays of the day had not yet appeared.

When we arrived, Mr. Pham Van Gia’s family was harvesting the last asparagus branches in time for the traders to come and buy. “Asparagus must be harvested before sunrise. Only then will the asparagus be fresh, crunchy, sweet, and of the best quality.” The young farmer smiled as he arranged the fresh asparagus bundles. His family currently has 3 sao of asparagus land, all of which are being harvested. According to Mr. Gia, on average, 1 sao of land will produce 8-10 kg of asparagus per day. With prices ranging from 45,000-50,000 VND/kg, he pockets about 1.5 million VND/day.

Mr. Gia said that his family used to grow red dragon fruit. However, in 2021, the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic made it difficult to sell dragon fruit. Realizing that asparagus had quite a lot of potential, Mr. Gia traveled to Ninh Thuan province to learn about asparagus care techniques. After that, he boldly bought seeds to try planting. From the initial 1 sao of land, realizing that asparagus was very suitable for the soil and climate of the sandy land of Chi Cong, Mr. Gia boldly expanded the asparagus area by 2 sao, and at the same time, called on surrounding households to grow this plant.

Next to him, Mr. Do Ngoc Hanh was pruning asparagus branches and sharing with us: His family has 1 hectare of land mainly growing dragon fruit. Since converting nearly 2 sao of land to grow asparagus, he has found that the plants grow quite well and provide a stable source of income, so he plans to expand his family's asparagus acreage in the near future.

It is known that the investment cost for 1 sao of asparagus from seedlings, creating beds, trellises and applying an automatic irrigation system is about 40 - 50 million VND. Thanks to the good drainage capacity of sandy soil and suitable climate, asparagus gardens here all grow very well and can be harvested after 4 - 6 months. Up to now, 7 households have switched to growing asparagus with an area of about 2 hectares. Regarding care, according to local households, disease prevention is the decisive factor for asparagus. Because when the asparagus shoots begin to grow, pesticides must be minimized to ensure the cleanest asparagus is brought to consumers.

In April 2023, the Chi Cong Commune Farmers' Association established and launched an asparagus growing cooperative with 6 members. Once a month, the group will meet to share care techniques, fertilizers, disease prevention methods as well as output for asparagus. Ms. Do Thi Bao - President of the Chi Cong Commune Farmers' Association said: Through initial assessments, asparagus plants in the area are growing well and producing high yields. This shows the will to get rich of the people when they constantly research, learn, and boldly convert to crops with high economic efficiency. In the coming time, the association will make recommendations to the superior sectors to have support policies for people growing asparagus, open more training courses on care techniques. In addition, it is expanding the output for local asparagus, contributing to the sustainable development of this potential plant.

The sandy land of Chi Cong is known as the concentrated dragon fruit growing area of the commune with an area of 164.2 hectares. However, recently, some households have boldly started to switch crops to apples and grapes. In particular, the asparagus growing model has achieved the highest efficiency. Thereby contributing to the locality diversifying crops, helping people get rich on their homeland.

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