Mr. Triek Krang, a farmer in Hamlet 2, Lieng S'rong Commune, is waiting for the day to harvest the first durians of the season. As one of the few farmers in Hamlet 2 whose garden has begun to bear fruit, Mr. Triek Krang is very excited about the future of the durian tree.
Mr. Triek Krang recounted that his family's 3 hectares of land were very steep, and they used to grow coffee. However, the steep land made coffee difficult to care for, so the yield was not high. Therefore, learning from farmers and neighboring durian gardens, in 2019, Mr. Triek Krang decided to plant durian in his coffee plantation.
With the terrain being so steep, it is really difficult for his family to take care of and move around. It takes a lot of effort to carry a bag of fertilizer to the top to fertilize the coffee and durian trees. However, the family members still mainly do the labor to take care of the garden.
Although sloping land makes it difficult to care for, durian grown on sloping land also has advantages, Mr. Triek Krang assessed. When growing durian, farmers are most afraid of the roots being waterlogged, causing disease. When growing on sloping land, due to strong stratification, the soil is easily drained, so the trees have less competition for light and strong roots. Because of that, his durian garden is healthy and rarely requires the use of pesticides.
Mr. Triek Krang shared: “Durian is a very difficult plant to grow. I myself find it difficult to grow durian because of the high technique, requiring the right amount of organic fertilizer, potassium fertilizer, and proper fertilization and application. For example, when the durian garden is bearing fruit, the tree only needs to produce a batch of new shoots for all the fruit to fall off. I have to learn from neighboring gardens to spray high concentration of potassium fertilizer to burn the shoots, concentrating nutrients on the fruit. If you are not careful or do not understand the technique, durian growers will not have any income.”
Mr. Triek Krang, a durian farmer on sloping land in Lieng S'rong commune, Dam Rong district (Lam Dong) next to his durian garden preparing to harvest the fruit.
Mr. Triek Krang also admitted that the investment for a durian tree is very high, from 2-3 million VND/tree from planting to harvesting. Combined with the long waiting time, growing durian is still very difficult for farmers, especially farmers with poor economic conditions, living in remote areas like his family. To solve the problem, Mr. Triek Krang borrowed capital from the bank to invest in the durian garden. Fortunately, in the 2024 durian season, Mr. Triek Krang's family harvested a bumper crop of fruit.
He said that this harvest yielded 180 fruit trees, traders came to purchase, count and determined that there were 2,000 fruits that met the first-class standards, weighing about 6 tons. He also provided the price, traders set the price at 78,000 VND/kg. He happily said that with that price, even though it was the first durian of the season, he still saw the effectiveness of the durian garden.
Mr. Triek Krang is also a farmer who is sensitive to the market. He and the entire Dam Rong durian region are working together to build geographical indications and brands for durian. His garden is implementing the growing area code, meeting the safe cultivation process of the Department of Agriculture so that the durian meets export standards. He said that the Department of Agriculture has instructed his family to spray pesticides properly, use pesticides according to the list, and fertilizers are also strictly controlled to ensure the quality of the durian is fragrant, sweet and has no residue of prohibited substances.
From the example of Mr. Triek Krang, people in Hamlet 2, Lieng S'rong Commune are also actively intercropping durian with coffee. Mr. Triek Krang commented that intercropping durian with coffee, during the durian construction stage, still requires investment and care, then coffee trees will help farmers have a steady income every year.
He also assessed that for farmers with conditions, sloping land is an advantage. In addition to the fact that sloping land helps durian trees to be healthy and less diseased, sloping land only needs to invest in an irrigation pond on top, then install a pipe system and irrigation valves to have a complete automatic irrigation system at low cost, without using a pump. In the long term, investing in a reservoir and a pipe system will help durian gardens to be proactive in irrigation water as well as save a lot of costs.
Mr. Ko Sa K'Rim - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Lieng S'rong Commune, assessed that Mr. Triek Krang's household is a very bold farmer in changing the crop structure. In Lieng S'rong Commune, the land is mostly very steep, Mr. Triek Krang's household boldly cut down some coffee trees, planted Thai Monthon durian, and in 2024, Mr. Triek Krang had his first crop with 6 tons. This is a very good sign for farmers in the remote area of Lieng S'rong, helping people boldly invest and grow from the land. Lieng S'rong Commune is also actively mobilizing durian farmers to build growing area codes, build the Dam Rong durian brand, and build OCOP products to bring durian far and wide.
Source: https://danviet.vn/mot-ong-nong-lam-dong-trong-sau-rieng-tren-dat-doc-cay-ra-trai-boi-ma-qua-treo-nhieu-the-nay-day-20240729164819435.htm
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